Dexter wasn't much of a chewer. He had his same old dog bed for a few years, with minimal damage inflicted upon it. Enter Denali into the equation, along with her recent fixation with removing stuffing. After being left along with the bed on a few occasions, either gated in my kitchen or in a crate, Denali eventually tore it up enough to be deemed unfit. Aside from no longer being stuff-able, I have a somewhat irrational fear of my dogs ingesting stuffing and getting blockages.
With Denali's new bad habit in mind, I decided it was time to invest in a durable, "chew-proof" dog bed. I decided to go with
Doctors Foster and Smith's Dura-Ruff Dog Bed. I bought the smallest size, because the dogs tend to curl up tight when they sleep on beds, and I only wanted it to take up a small portion of the crate. I paid $40 plus shipping for the bed, which is more than double what I paid for Dexter's previous bed. That being said, $40 was still very affordable, compared to other durable dog beds.
This bed is advertised as "super tough" and "tear-resistant". I figured it would last a few months, at the very least. Like I said, Dexter isn't a chewer. Denali is persistent, but her mouth isn't too strong -- she's still only a 6-month-old puppy. All I wanted was a bed that could hopefully outlast her chewing phase.
After the bed arrived, I removed it from the box and placed it towards the back of the dogs' big crate. It was considerably "puffy" from being stuffed in the shipping box and needed to be flattened out a bit before use. Dexter, being the go-getter that he is, hopped onto the bed and started stomping around on it. He held the bed with his mouth while stomping, to keep it in place. This is just what he does whenever he's getting ready to lie down.
Less than two minutes go by, and what do I hear? RIIIIP. Yep, that's right. This super tough, tear-resistant bed had a tooth-sized hole cut right in the middle of the bed. Not on a seam or near the zipper -- right in the middle of the so-called "tough" fabric. To avoid any further damage, I shooed Dexter away and hid the hole. The next test would be Denali.
I had to pick up some milk from a store around the corner, so I decided to crate Denali with the bed and see how it fared. I was gone for no more than ten minutes. When I returned, she had successfully chewed a rather large hole into the middle of the bed (unrelated to Dexter's tooth hole). She had gone through the cover, through the interior pad and into the stuffing. Again, this hole wasn't along a seam or the zipper. It was right in the middle of the fabric.
I removed the bed (fear of blockages) and packed it back up. I contacted Doctors Foster and Smith, and they agreed to provide a refund for the product. I still had to pay for the return shipping, but they didn't charge a restocking fee. I sent the package back on Saturday, so it will likely be a few days before I see my refund.
I honestly didn't expect this bed to be totally indestructible. I imagined it would eventually be torn up. But within minutes? That just isn't right. Even the crummy dog bed I had previously lasted longer than this so-called durable bed.
I decided to leave a review for this product, since I felt so strongly about it. I didn't want anyone to buy this bed and leave it alone with their tough-chewer. A wad of bedding material stuck in the intestines can be a huge vet bill, or even worse, deadly. I posted the review to their website, along with the above photo. I explained how Dexter tore a hole in the bed accidentally, and how Denali quickly and easily chewed into the bed. A day or two later, I received this message:
Your opinion is very important to us and the Drs. Foster and Smith community. We appreciate you taking the time to write a review about Dura-Ruff Dog Bed Small 36" x 21" Color: Gray Dura-Ruff. Unfortunately your review did not meet our guidelines for posting on our site.
We encourage you to review our guidelines and resubmit your review about Dura-Ruff Dog Bed Small 36" x 21" Color: Gray Dura-Ruff.Thanks for being an active member of the Drs. Foster and Smith community.
Sincerely,
Drs. Foster and Smith
I was baffled. I read their guidelines to see where I went wrong. First, they suggest that when writing a review, "Focus on the product and your individual experience using it." I did precisely that. I gave a pretty vivid account of how my experience unfolded. Next, they suggest that you, "Provide details about why you liked or disliked the product." I was pretty clear -- the product was not as advertised, and I was afraid the stuffing would land my dogs in the vet. Lastly, they state, "All submitted reviews are subject to terms set forth in our Terms of Use." I guess that means that can do whatever they want with reviews.
I still didn't understand why my review was rejected. The guidelines go on to say the following:
We reserve the right not to post your review if it contains any of the following types of content or violates other guidelines:
- Obscenities, discriminatory language, or other language not suitable for a public forum (Of course I didn't do any of this)
- Advertisements, “spam” content, or references to other products, offers, or websites (Didn't do this)
- Email addresses, URLs, phone numbers, physical addresses or other forms of contact information (Or this)
- Critical or spiteful comments on other reviews posted on the page or their authors (Or any of this)
I e-mailed them back, requesting a copy of my review, since I can't access it anywhere and it was rather long. I'll post the exact review here if I can get it -- although my review on this blog is basically the same. Any company that refuses to post a review, for no obvious reason other than it was negative, really loses my respect. I won't be ordering from them again.
I hope I can counter this entry with a product that provides a solution for tough chewers. Until then, the hunt continues!
Update: This is the review I tried to leave on their website, but they would not publish:
My dog tore a hole in this bed within seconds of getting it out of the box. He wasn't even chewing on it, just holding it in his mouth while pawing the bedding to flatten it out. He often does this before lying down, so he certainly didn't intend to rip it. I hid the initial hole and left the bed in a crate with my 6-month-old puppy for 10 minutes. Not surprisingly, when I returned, she had successfully chewed through the cover and into the stuffing. She is a persistent chewer, but she's small and doesn't have industrial-strength jaws. I can't imagine this would hold up against a bigger, stronger dog. I immediately removed the bed. I cannot leave it with them, for fear they might ingest the stuffing material. That's a vet bill I'd rather not have.