I’m probably not the only dog owner who has spent a ridiculous amount of time and effort on making sure her spoiled dogs are comfy.

The best dog beds I’ve found yet – meaning the most practical and durable – are a couple I got about 8 years ago at the hardware store. Basically, they’re bags of chipped foam stuffing inside a zippered cover made of PVC-lined canvas.

There wasn’t enough of the original stuffing, of course, and it all balled up in one corner within a couple weeks – you’ve got to go to the really high end dog beds for adequate stuffing, don’t you find? – but those PVC/canvas covers were pure genius. You can just hose those beds down when they get dirty!

Eight years later, I’m still using those PVC-lined canvas dogs beds (well, the dogs are still using them, to be precise) although I’ve long since swapped out the old chipped-foam stuffing for a few layers of egg-crate foam I got secondhand on Kajiji.

And just today I noticed that there’s a 3 inch gap along one seam, so I’ll need to make a few repairs…

Really, there’s just one drawback:

They’re kind of more like crate pads than proper dog beds now.  While that’s actually perfect for my elderly Golden Retriever, who struggles to get to her feet if her bed is too soft, a flat canvas-covered pad is just not cosy enough to suit my two skinny pups on a winter night. The Greyhounds are more the fluff-up-the-bed-and-nest kind of dogs… and if you can’t fluff it, they don’t consider it an adequate dog bed. Sulking and fidgeting will occur. Also, loud sighing.

Now, I’ve got a friend who found a wonderful dog bed at one of those big department stores off in the Big City, and only about thirty dollars, too!  It’s an oval cushion with a sort of big fat bolster attached along one side and the ends. We call it “The Princesss Bed” – it’s sort of a rich girly brocade kind of fabric, very luxurious-looking. In fact, it looks comfortable enough to put in your own boudoir for lounging on. I’ve got my eye out to get one of those, but haven’t found it in local stores yet.

Meanwhile, Value Village and the Salvation Army Thrift Store to the rescue…

You can get a double or queen sized comforter for between ten and fifteen dollars at a secondhand store, if you don’t mind some truly eye-popping colours and patterns.  (I did end up making an envelope of a nice plain beige fabric, just like a big pillow slip, to cover up a comforter that had huge ugly purple cabbage-roses all over it. Yes, I bought such a monstrosity –  what can I say? It was cheap; and I was desperate for dog bedding, thanks to a foster dog with a yen to redecorate.

Throw a couple of those big of comforters around, on top of the foam pad dog beds, and voila! you’ve got oodles of sleeping space for the canine kids!

Okay, so it’s not tidy.  Or all that attractive, although the dogs don’t seem to mind.  But, hey, it’ll do for now, suitable for both the sleep-flat dog and the pair of nesters… and my quest for the Platonic Ideal of a dog bed shall go on.

Happy Canada Day!

Photo: Phillie Casablanca

We’ll get to the low-key-Canadian-patriotic celebrating stuff in a minute.

First, I want to say thanks to all you lovely Internet People who sent emails, noticing that the Domestik Goddess was uncharacteristically quiet and wondering if I’d died… got me all misty-eyed, some of you!

“Rumours of my death are greatly exaggerated,” to crib from Mark Twain.

The truth is that I’ve been working super-long hours on a big new project, and it’s almost done. Well, done enough that I can come back to the real world now that the end is in sight! (Did I just call the Internet the “real world”?!?) Anyway, today I celebrated that long-awaited “Almost Done” milestone (and Canada Day, too) by spending a little quiet quality time with dogs, food and the traditional Maritime icons of beer and music…

Healthy Outdoor Exercise

The best part of the day for me (and, frankly, the most productive) was taking my dogs for a long long long walk in the gentle warm rain. Three white-tailed deer stood and watched us wander out from the woods trail into the open fields, and didn’t seem at all troubled by the presence of the dogs. I do believe that they couldn’t even see the Golden Retriever over the tall grass, and they think the long-legged Greyhound is just another deer!

Here are the dogs, at home — I didn’t have the camera with me, so you’ll just have to imagine the deer:

Food!!

For supper, I invented a new recipe. The dish is too simple to deserve to have a name, but it turned out very well for something so very healthful and high-fibre/low-calorie, so I thought I’d share it here:

Cooked chicken breasts (I had some waiting in the freezer, previously cooked for just such an occasion): thaw and slice thin. Thin-slice some carrots, celery, yellow bell peppers, and onions. Heat a splash of olive oil in a giant frying pan, throw in the veggies and cooked chicken, and sort of stir-fry them for a few minutes until the carrots start to soften. Salt and pepper to taste. I also sprinkled on just a touch of cayenne. Then splash in just enough gingerale to moisten, and cover the saucepan. Let it simmer until heated through. At the last minute, toss with about a tablespoon of lemon-poppyseed salad dressing. Serve over flax/whole wheat spaghettini.

The Traditional Brewski

And afterwards, a refreshing glass of Dooryard Summer Ale. Yes, that really is the name of a beer — I’m not making it up. It’s an organic wheat ale made by Picaroons, a micro-brewery here in our region.

What goes with a brew?
Tunes, of course!

Sing Along!

Because this is Canada Day, I was digging deep at Blip.fm for some dusty Canadian classics and having a great time doing it — but the song that summed up the whole mood of the day, for me, is this one by Julie Doiron that I heard for the first time today on CBC radio’s all-day CanCon programming, part of the Canada Day celebrations.

Here’s my new favourite song, “Nice to Come Home” by singer-songwriter Julie Doiron for your listening pleasure:

And there you have it.

If you’re not Canadian… so sorry you didn’t get a holiday today!
(Your turn is coming, right?)

And tell me, my fellow Canadians — how did you celebrate? Drop a note in the comments (since I’m not actually dead, and thus able to read it) and share the joy. And if you blogged about your Canada Day celebrations, leave a link so I’ll be sure to come visit your blog and read all the festive details!