While driving home last night, I was regretting rushing out the door earlier, and hastily herding our two dogs into a bathroom we keep them in when we're away from home for a short while. The rug that is normally in there was in the wash, and the bathroom has a hard floor. I somewhat lamely confessed to my wife that it was a bit ironic that I was putting together a blog post about the importance of dog beds when I had just locked our dogs in a room with nothing soft to lay on.

So what's the big deal? Do dogs really need a foofy dog bed? I mean, they sure didn't have things like that before they were domesticated, right? Wrong.

Even Wild Dogs Have Cushy Dog Beds

Would I lie to you? (Don't answer that). It's true. Wild dogs almost invariably have cushy beds that they assemble themselves from materials available to them. Nesting mothers will create the most luxurious dog beds, using soft grasses, thatch and anything else that offers great padding for her young. The behavior isn't limited to canine mothers, though. Almost all wild dogs spend considerable time softening the areas where they lay down for a rest. If nothing else, they dig up the dirt to keep it from getting too packed down. Does your dog tear up your house while you're at work, only to have you come home and find him or her snuggled up among your formerly clean laundry? Now you know why.

Dog Beds Reduce Arthritis, Prevent Hip Dysplasia and Calluses

If you love your dog as much as I love mine, it makes sense that you want to treat them well and help them to live a longer and healthier life. I have vivid memories of my grandmothers' old poodles from when I was a young boy. They were the crankiest dogs you've ever seen, and had horrible arthritis. The older they got, the worse the arthritis was. The dogs used to lay by the heat register on her vintage sixties blue linoleum floor, with no padding whatsoever. According to the American Vetrinary Medicine Association, dog beds can reduce problems with arthritis in dog, especially as they age.

Dog Beds Reinforce the Home

Several years ago, as the number of kids in my family outgrew the size of our house, we moved to a larger home just a few blocks away. Our dog, a Shi Tzu/Poodle mix, was incredibly uneasy for the whole process. When we brought him over to the new place, he constantly tried to escape. That ended once we brought his bed over, and he got to lay down. Suddenly, he was home. It all made sense. In a dog's world, just as in ours, home is where you lay your head. If all your dog has to lay on is the floor of your home, he's more likely to stress out when the inevitable changes come along.

Dog Beds Save Your Furniture

I've always been fascinated with Whippets. They're incredibly fast, graceful dogs, and are a bit more manageable in size than a greyhound. They're amazingly slender, and probably have less than an ounce of fat on their entire frame. When we were last getting a dog, we ended up not going for a Whippet because they absolutely have to be on the furniture. They have no padding, and so are obsessive about seeking it out. Just Google "whippet sleeping" on Google image search, and you'll be greeted with dozens of pictures of people who have covered all their furniture with blankets to protect them from the pictured dog. While not all dogs are that intent on being on the furniture, most have the inate desire for a more comfortable place to rest (see "wild dogs" above). If you have trouble keeping your pet off the furniture, a dog bed can go a long way towards restoring your sanity.