Bedding for a Foster Who Destroys Everything
Short answer: stop giving soft bedding to a foster who shreds it. Start with a raised cot or a heavy canvas mat that has no filling and nothing to grip, give them something legal to destroy instead, and only hand back a padded bed once the chewing has settled into a routine. Most destructos are not being naughty, they are bored or unsettled.
The worst bedding I have ever lost was a brand new orthopaedic mattress, four days into a foster stay with a fourteen kilo cattle cross called Ned. I was out for ninety minutes. When I got back, the mattress was open along one seam and the foam was spread across the hallway like snow. That was the day I stopped buying nice bedding before a dog had arrived, and I have not gone back on it since. Eight years and more than forty fosters later, I still buy the bed last and the containment first.
What a shredder does to a bed
A destructive foster rarely eats the whole bed. The usual pattern is one corner, then a seam, then the whole side opens and the filling comes out in handfuls. I have watched a dog pull a zip open with two front teeth. What surprises people is how quiet it is, and that you usually find the damage after the fact, not during. The other pattern is the digger. A dog who scratches at the bedding for ten minutes before they lie down is not always settling. Sometimes they are testing whether the surface gives way, and if it does, that bed is a target from then on. A digger can often keep a bed when the surface is taut. A chewer usually cannot.
Start with bedding that has nothing to shred
The first bed I give a new foster is a raised cot with a metal frame and a taut canvas or mesh panel. There is no filling in it. If the dog works at the edge for an hour, they get a scuff mark and nothing else. It sits about 15cm off the floor, which matters in a Ballarat winter when the tiles are cold. The second option is a heavy canvas mat of the kind sold for ute trays. A 60cm by 90cm mat suits most fosters up to about 20kg. There is no loose edge for a tooth to find and no crumb to swallow. If you can pinch part of the bed between your fingers and pull it away, a determined foster will find it in the first evening.
The first fortnight rule
I keep every new foster on hard bedding for at least fourteen days, and longer if they arrived wound up. This is not a punishment. It is about finding out who I have in the house before I spend money on them. In that fortnight I learn whether they dig, whether they chew when I am out, whether they toilet in the bed, and whether they drag bedding around the room. A dog who swallows foam or fleece can end up at the vet, and I would rather ring my vet about a scuffed paw than about a blockage. So the good bed stays in the cupboard, and the foster gets the cot, a mat, and one blanket I am happy to lose.
Give the chewing somewhere to go
A foster who chews has a need, and taking bedding away does not remove the need. It just moves it onto the skirting boards. So I always give them something that is meant to come apart. A cardboard box with the tape and staples removed does more for me than any toy. So does a plain paper bag or a few sheets of packing paper. I put it in the pen next to the bed, never on it. My working rule is that there is always one thing in the pen that is allowed to be destroyed, so the cot is never the most interesting object in the room. A foster who has had twenty minutes of nose work before I leave is a different animal at two in the afternoon.
- A raised cot with a taut panel beats any mattress for a dog you have not assessed yet.
- Anything you can pinch and pull apart will be opened inside the first week.
- Give one thing a day that is allowed to come apart.
- Soft bedding goes back only after a fortnight of nothing being shredded.
- If filling is being swallowed, take it away and ring your vet.
Fabrics, fills and what lasts a week
By the time I am ready to buy something softer, I work from a shortlist, and most of it comes from the beds we keep on rotation. Heavy cotton canvas and 1000 denier nylon webbing have lasted longest in my house, and both take a scrub with hot water and dry on the line in an afternoon. Fills are where the money goes wrong. Loose shredded foam comes out in a stream the moment a seam opens and is nearly impossible to pick out of carpet. A single block of firm foam stays in one piece even when the cover is gone, and polyester wadding sits in the middle. The cover matters more than the fill. A cover with a hidden zip, a fabric flap over that zip and no loose binding tape will outlast a prettier one with a decorative edge.
| Bedding | Who it suits | What a shredder does to it | When I use it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Raised cot with a taut panel | Dogs who dig and pace before lying down | Scuffs the edge, rarely opens it | Week one, every foster |
| Heavy canvas mat, no filling | Chewers who work on corners | Takes days to start a corner | Week one for quiet or older fosters |
| Block foam mattress with a covered zip | Dogs with no chewing history | Opens the cover, foam stays whole | Week three onwards, supervised |
| Loose shredded foam bed | Nobody I have fostered | Empties onto the floor in minutes | Never for a foster |
| Fleece blanket or doona | Dogs who nest and circle | Shredded in under an hour | Only while I am in the room |
Handing a soft bed back
I hand soft bedding back in stages over about a week, and I expect to go backwards at least once. Day one, the padded bed goes in the pen while I am home and the foster is awake. Day two, the same, but I leave the room for ten minutes. Day three, an hour out of the house. If I come back to an intact bed three days running, it stays. If I find a corner started, the bed comes out for another week. Early on I treated one chewed bed as proof that a dog could never have one. It usually means the bed went back a day or two too soon, or the foster had nothing else to do that afternoon.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is it unkind to give a foster dog a bed with no softness in it?
No, and I have never had a foster look unhappy about it. Dogs settle on cold floors, wooden decks and tiles quite happily, and softness is something we want for them rather than something they need for sleep. What they need in week one is a space where nothing bad happens.
Why does my foster chew the bed and ignore the toys I bought?
Because a bed has edges, seams and stuffing, and most toys do not. Chewing is often about pulling something apart rather than about squeakers, and the bed is the biggest soft object in the pen. Give them cardboard, paper and a rag they are allowed to destroy, and the bed stops being the target.
Should I take the bed away at night?
If your foster has been caught chewing bedding, yes, and it is easier on both of you. I swap to the canvas mat overnight and put the padded bed back in the morning while I am home. Most damage happens overnight, when nobody is watching and the house is quiet.
How long before a foster can be trusted with a proper bed?
In my house it runs between two weeks and two months, and it is not always about the dog's age. The quickest was a seven year old greyhound who never put a tooth in anything. The slowest was a young working breed cross who chewed for eleven weeks and then stopped. Ask your vet if the chewing itself worries you.
What should I do if my foster swallows the filling?
Take the bedding away straight away and ring your vet. I note what the filling was, roughly how much is missing and when I last saw the dog swallow any, because those are the details my vet asks for. I would rather make a phone call that turns out to be nothing.
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