Got rid of Alfies crate the wkend. It kept him safe whilst he was a baby but he doesn't need it anymore, doesn't chew anything around the house and can be trusted. Glad to see the back of it, didn't like putting him in there at all.

He seems quite happy sleeping on his blanket in the kitchen in the day and at night will wander between mine and my daughters bedroom and sleep on the floor.

Should I buy him a proper bed??

It's entirely up to you whether to get him a dog bed or not. The only advice I can give is that for a dog to get the proper amount & type of sleep, they usually need to lie flat on their sides (lateral recumbency) with room for their legs to stretch out. In this position they are far more likely to reach R.E.M. sleep, which is vital for their health & well being. If you insist that Alfie sleeps in a dog bed in which he has to curl up, you may find he won't use it!

I've found with my 2 labs that are they are more than happy with the large pillow type dog beds or folded up duvets. I've watched where they chose to sleep & put out several duvets (old ones or cheap single ones from Tescos) in these places. If they don't use certain beds I remove them & just leave the ones that are used. Also I would recommend that any duvets/dog cushions have removable covers that can be popped in the washing machine ~ keeps the "doggy" smell at bay & they often get covered in muddy foot prints or soggy bits of rawhide.

Alfie seems to be coming on well ~ i can remeber your early posts about crate training,toilet training etc & it's lovely to hear how he's getting on as he grows up.

We have a variety of beds, having three dogs & two cats.

The Cresties like to sleep curled up and can often be found in the cat beds, though prefer to sleep next to one of us if we are sat on the sofa, usually with Buffy curled up on top of Hansel. Though Hansel also likes Murphy's big 'duvet' bed. They also sleep in their crates - though they change their minds about which crate is which and sometimes both sleep in Hansel's. Their crates and beds are big enough to stretch out.

Their absolute favourite place though - on the big sofa on top of clean laundry!!

Murphy likes to stretch, so will sleep on the Sofa if we aren't using it, on his armchair or the floor or half on his duvet bed, half on the floor - wouldn't mind but we got the big size so he could stretch out!!

I'd get Alfie a bed - but don't expect him to use it!!!

One tip - as he has blankets he likes, put them in/on the bed. Buffy will sleep anywhere her favourite blanket is.

I must admit that my dogs will also sleep on the sofas when they can too. Or on the bed ~ depends where we are. If we have bagged the sofas in the evenings then they tend to sleep on dog beds or duvets. As our ground floor is completely tiled, the dogs tend to sleep on the tiles in the warm weather as they are nice & cool for them.

But both of them have several favourite sleeping places & I just leave them to sleep where they choose. If they're uncomfortable, they soon move!

honestly, if he's swapping from room to room (which is what our miss does) just an old duvet, or the pillow type beds
possibly even just a rug, as that's all she has in my sisters room, she likes to get in down the far sides of the beds and lay there, between the bed and wardrobe/wall, so still close to you.

he might use them, there's no making them use them though!
mine both rather like doorways to sleep

one of jakes favourite places is at the kitchen door, upside down, plums erect for the world to see! proper gentleman, like

or the same at the bottom of the stairs

when placing the bed though, they like to have their back up against something, hence why i have a king sized bed to myself, but when the boy joins me, i still have him laying, trapping my legs despte all the space!

Thanks Yes he's turning into such a luvly dog.Had a fab day with him on Sun walking by the river and he didn't run off!! He kept stopping and waiting for us to catch him up - operation??

Thanks again for the advice

Talk about talk to soon, come home today and Alfie has chewed out the back of my leather sofa Gave him a right rolicking, he knows he has done wrong as he was sat there hanging his head in shame and cowering abit.

Luckily the sofa has had it anyway. Any suggestions welcome!

I am currently thinking of buying a dog duvet bed type thing.

I have two dogs, and the last posh bed i bought was a padded one, and it cost me about £80. The youngest dog, who was then about 6 months old - chewed it up within the week !!!!

I decided that a blanket would have to do .... and they have used a blanket ever since. But i worry that it isnt comfy. They always sleep in the kitchen at night or when left alone, and the kitchen floor is hard tiles. The must be uncomfortable, and cold in the winter ?

But if i splash out a fortune on a bed again, i will be mortified if they chew it up within days. I really dont know what to do.

Porcupine ~ what about trying a cheap duvet before you fork out on a custom-made dog cushion or padded bed? Tescos were doing cheap single duvets for about £6-7 a while ago. At least if the duvet gets chewed up it's not going to break the bank like a £50 dog bed! I've had the large padded cushions for my dogs for ages & when the insides get a bit lumpy or smelly I just replace them with cheap duvets.

Alfie Blue Eyes ~ oh dear! It's difficult to know what made him chew the sofa without knowing the circumstances but it could be many things ~ boredom, anxiety, a creepy crawly that vanished underneath, a toy that got lost or just that there was a bit of thread sticking out of the back of the sofa that got his attention & he decided to investigate but got carried away! Unless you know why he did it it's difficult to know what to do to stop him. All I can suggest is to see if there's a way to stop him getting access to the back of the sofa, e.g. putting it against a wall? Or spraying the sofa with something citrussy, e.g. lemon-scented furniture polish (I'm trying to think of something that will smell ok for you & your family but not to Alfie & won't damage your sofa)?

Just a word of caution on giving him a "right rollicking" ~ are you absolutely sure that Alfie knew WHY you were telling him off? It's easy to say that he "looked guilty" or "hung his head in shame" etc, but in Alfie's mind, he may not have made the association between chewing the sofa & the rollicking, particularly if he'd stopped chewing before you came home. If that's the case he won't know why you were cross with him, just that you are a bit unpredictable & he may be a bit wary of you when you come home. But you're the best judge of this so I'm sure you can tell if he knew why you were cross with him.

I can remember coming home from work just before Xmas one year, & the dogs just peeked round the kitchen door at me instead of bounding up to greet me. When I went into the sitting room there was a whole carton of Cadbury's chocolates scattered across the floor, some chewed but luckily most were still whole. I just stood in silence, then said, very slowly & quietly, "what have you done?" Barney just rolled over on his back & Wilma scuttled off to the other room. I'm pretty sure they knew that the chocolates were off limits & that I was cross. I had a hard time trying not to laugh though.

Oh bless em!

I had a job to keep a serious face too, normally if I tell him off for picking up something or doing something he shouldn't he turns it into a game and starts running around, but I really do think he realised the enormity of what he had done as he just took it all in. It was abit like the last time he had a pee in the house, he knew he shouldn't have and that was the last time he did it.

He hasn't been near the sofa since. I don't think he would do it again, however, living room is off bounds now whilst any of us are out for a while. Tbh I was more worried bout him choking on the foam than anything.

Still, more reason for me to get a new sofa will wait till he's abit older tho!

BTW does anyone know out of interest wether home contents insurance covers this type of thing?

Sounds like Alfie knew he shouldn't have eaten the sofa.

I'm not sure about home contents policy covering the sofa damage ~ you'd have to check the policy. If it covers accidental damage & "new for old" you may be ok but if the sofa was old, the depreciation in value might mean that you'd only get a small amount (even the excess may not cover it). Perhaps something to check before you get a new sofa!

I've got leather sofas too & I must admit they're a godsend with a house full of hairy pets. The cats don't scratch them either but they do use them as springboards so the back of one sofa is covered with pinpricks from their claws.