I ordered a new Fire Hose dog bed for Lizzie the other day to put in the car, and I was pretty excited about getting it!  I converted the back of my SUV to a dog kennel, and I’ve had a regular cloth bed back there.  The problem with that is when I go out with Lizzie to track, she often gets her feet dirty or just plain muddy.  Then, she has to get back in the car with her muddy feet on the cloth bed.  It makes a damp, smelly mess that’s not an easy clean.

I saw the Fire Hose bed description on line and it said that it was water resistant and you can just wipe it off to clean, so I thought, perfect!  And I think it really is perfect for what I need.  When the dirt dries, it just dusts right off and you can just shake it or wipe it off.  Nice!  I don’t feel bad about her jumping onto it with dirty wet feet.  It’s the perfect combination of utility and comfort.

This bed is for people with dogs that like to go out and get dirty or tend to destroy their beds.  It’s tough; nothing frou-frou about it.  It’s a little like an air mattress as well.  When the dog gets on it, the air deflates out of it.  It may weird some dogs out at first, but again, for the rough and tumble dogs, it’s just right. If you’re looking for a plush bed, this isn’t it.

Here’s how I am using it:

It fits perfectly in the cargo space there with her water.  As you can see, I have donated the cargo area to make it a big dog crate.  I didn’t like folding the seats down all the time to fit in a giant crate, so I got the dog barrier and it’s worked great.  I installed it a little differently than the directions tell you to, but I think it works better that way.  You are supposed to lengthen the legs until the barrier braces against the floor and ceiling.  I didn’t like that for several reasons: 1. When you brace something that hard against your ceiling it causes damage 2. the barrier has to go vertically and you lose a lot of space against the inclined seats and 3. it’s not very secure.  I just tied the barrier with that yellow nylon cord to the hooks in the back.  It’s worked great.  I got this type model, the ones with the big bars seemed like they may not hold as well or the dog would try to push it’s way through:

All in all, it’s a good set-up.  I used to let her hang out in the back seat, but there were several reasons I stopped that.  She kept sleeping on the floorboard and it was turning into a hair nightmare trying to get it out of the carpet.