Sleeping arrangements

One question I've been getting lately is "where will Gus sleep?"  My friends and family know that Gracie sleeps in bed with me. Or rather, I sleep in bed with her. Most nights I have a narrow strip of the queen size bed and she stretches  out on the rest. Over the years we've made it work, but this isn't how it always was.

I believe in crate training. For the first year of Gracie's life with me, she stayed in her crate at night. Her crate was her sanctuary, a place she could rest completely without feeling compelled to watch for errant neighbor cats violating the Smith property line or to follow me each step as I puttered around the house. Her crate was also her time-out zone when she pushed me too far. 

We expanded the crate concept to include a luxurious 9 by 12 foot kennel in the garage. As Gracie got older, this would be where she would spend her days while I was at work. Initially, the kennel sat on the the concrete garage floor. 

And I felt bad about that, so I bought Gracie a dog bed.

But not just any dog bed. I bought a bed from Orvis called a Tough Chew durable bed.  The description promised the beds were chew-resistant with a double-layer construction that would stand up to the most persistent chewers (e.g., Gracie). What sold me was the final sentence: If your dog can chew through one of these durable dog beds, we’ll refund your money. No questions asked.

When I ordered the bed, this was my expectation:

In reality, this is what happened. 

But true to their word, Orvis did refund my money after I stuffed the sad remains of the tough chew bed in a box and sent it back to the company. 

So back to the question at hand: where will Gus sleep?

Gus will also be crated trained. I will have his crate in my bedroom at the foot of the bed. It will be his sanctuary and, when needed, his time-out zone. 

But expectations are hard things to release, so I recently ordered a new Tough Chew bed from Orvis for Gus to use. 

Although, I'm saving my receipt and the box it came in, especially after reading this warning on the box: