Getting Your Dog Acclimated to Her New Bed

Summary: Your dog needs time to get comfortable with her new bed. Here are some effective strategies that’ll help speed up the “feeling out” process.

It might seem straightforward when it comes to introducing your dog to her new bed. Basically, just throw the bed down in an area where she lies, and she’ll immediately start cozying up to it, right?

Dogs need a bit of encouragement at times. If they’ve never had a bed before, they probably won’t understand the idea right away. In their heads, it might look like a chew toy. Here are some strategies that you can try out when it comes to introducing your dog to her new bed.

Attraction Through Smell

Your dog tends to know your scent. Whether it’s through your clothes, shoes or even the mattress foam on your bed, you give off a specific scent that your dog is accustomed to. Try rubbing your hands on the bed or put an old shirt of yours on top of it. This will make your dog feel a bit more comfortable during the curiosity stage. Or, you can place one of your dog’s blankets on the bed, so she knows that the bed is hers.

Place the Bed Where She Always Hangs Out

Even if you want the bed to be in a specific area, you can try speeding up the acclimation process by placing it in an area where she always hangs out. For example, maybe she loves to sleep on that mattress you purchased from The Foam Factory ago. Take the bed and place it on top of the mattress so she can start getting used to it. Eventually, you can replace that mattress (in the example) and leave the bed in its place.