Product Review: Kuranda Dog Beds

Markus sleeping well on his new Kuranda bed

Like so many of you, my wife and I are meticulous shoppers. Whether it be online or in-person, we tend to put a lot of research into the things we purchase so that we know we're putting our hard-earned money on the proper products. There are so many options for even basic items like leashes and collars that it's easy to get lost in what we're buying.

We will be writing reviews as we purchase and use these items ourselves. As you do your research for products you're planning to buy, our goal is to add another layer to that research.

About the Kuranda

Markus sleeping all sprawled out on his Kuranda bed

This week, we're reviewing Kuranda dog beds. Kuranda makes a line of a dog beds for dogs with the tendency of destroying traditional cloth or cotton beds. The frame of the bed is made with PVC piping, which is lifted up from off the floor. The bed is completed with a nylon mesh that covers the opening of the frame, which naturally creates a hammock where the dog sleeps. Since dogs can't get to the edges of the nylon, it's nearly impossible for dogs to chew through this bed.

We got this bed for Markus a few weeks into his adoption because he had already chewed through his bed within the first couple of days. We had a feeling that this would be the case since we saw torn up pieces of cloth and blankets in his adoption photos from the rescue shelter. We knew it was going to get expensive if we didn't do something about it, so we went searching for a bed for dogs with the tendency to chew and landed on the Kuranda.

It's been a few weeks since Markus has been sleeping on the Kuranda. We had to get him used to getting on the bed at first, but he's adjusted quickly. He usually associates his space with his blanket, so we were able to get him comfortable with the Kuranda by placing his blanket on it. He seems to like the bed and he's able to sleep in his usual positions of curling and sprawling out on his side.

We purposely got him the size of the bed that's the full length of Markus so that he's able to spread himself out as comfortably as possible. If you're thinking about purchasing one for your dog and was wondering how to measure them, I'd recommend trying to catch them when they're fully sprawled out. We want to them to be comfortable rather than cramped!

Obviously, I don't know what Markus thinks, but the bed doesn't look as comfortable as a cotton bed. It's a lot more structured and stiff, but it does the job as Markus hasn't even attempted to chew up the bed. He does hang his head over the sides and sometimes he doesn't position himself well. Instead of giving himself the full length of the bed, he'll sometimes start in the middle, which only gives him one side of the bed to work with.

For now, the Kuranda is his permanent bed, but we're also viewing it as more of a training tool to teach Markus not to bite his bed. The upside is that we're likely not having to replace this bed anytime soon. The downside is that it is stiff and perhaps not the most comfortable. We hope that as he becomes more used to playing with dog toys instead of his bed, that we'll be able to switch him back to using a cotton bed in the future, but we're happy with the Kuranda anyhow.

We would recommend the Kuranda to any dog owners whose dogs are tearing up the beds. It’s more expensive than the traditional bed, but the cost of having to replace torn up beds makes this purchase worth it. I can't speak much on the comfort aside from my thoughts as a human, but Markus seems fine with it. We have since seen doggy daycares that also use this bed because it's the most cost effective solution rather than constantly buying replacement beds, so you can trust that it works.

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