What Are the Benefits of Bean Bags for Dogs?

Bean bag products abound in the life of your dog. These products provide enormous comfort, health and training benefits, allowing your pet to lead a comfortable and enjoyable life. After your dog exhausts herself playing with her bean bag squirrel, she can flop on her bean bag bed for a good night's snooze. You can even use a bean bag to get your pup to curb her barking.

  1. The Snuggle Factor

    • Dogs, just like you, like to nest in something soft. Bean bags are soft and flexible enough to let your dog "carve out" his own snuggle space in soft corduroy, velvet, polyester, chenille or fleece material stuffed with polystyrene beans, while the bed molds around your dog for a comfortable, secure fit.

    Removable Covers

    • Removable covers on bean bag beds allow you to wash the part of the bed your dog sleeps on. This is particularly advantageous if you have an old, incontinent dog that "leaks" when she sleeps, or a dog that sheds profusely, not to mention the dirt and fur you'll have to wash out when your dog comes in out of the rain and flops down on its soft bed to get clean. A bean bag with a removable cover allows you to keep your pet's bed clean and sanitary.

    Dog Health

    • Soft bean bag beds prevent the elbow calluses that large dogs often get if they flop down on hard floor surfaces. Bean bags are also comfortable for old dogs suffering from joint ailments. According to the Glucosamine for Dogs website, spending all day on a cold, hard surface can aggravate joint conditions and cause more pain.

    Training Tools

    • You can actually use small bean bags---either a bean bag toy or the small, square kind---as training tools to stop your dog from excessive barking. When your dog barks, gently toss the bean bag so that it grazes his shoulder, side or rear legs. You may also toss it in front of him, so he sees it flying by. The bean bag will break the dog's attention, causing the barking to cease while your dog investigates the UFO. Pick it up immediately after your dog investigates, so he won't think it's a toy.