A visit to Petsmart gave us plenty of choices and we decided to try a 'chew resistant' bed made by Kong. That's the same company that makes those nearly indestructable chew toys that some people put stuff inside to keep a dog busy -- like peanut butter, dog treats, or panties from the girl you took to prom.
The best description I can offer is that the Kong bed is made with the material that camping tents are. His previous two beds were soft and cuddly and easy to chew a hole in. This is soft but the material has a little bit stiffer of a feel and hopefully will be less easy for Lucky to bore a hole into.
I took him into the bedroom where he sleeps at night and he was about to get onto the bed and stopped with that "what the hell is this" look on his face (I've seen it dozens of times). A little shove put him on the new bed. He seemed very weirded out about the material and the feel of it. You'll see the reaction photos below.
It'll be two months on the 12th since we brought him home. The progress to help him feel comfortable and happy has been very slow. He looks stressed and scared about 95% of the time. Bright colored things frighten him. He'll come when called but very hesitantly and only after multiple tries... and he has a look suggesting he'll get beaten when he does.
Its been a lot of petting, encouragement, hugs, and trying. I hope one day he'll seem to be happier. I'm not giving up though. He's a sweet little guy.
One other thing: I have finally discovered the one food he'll take out of my hand. I've tried various dog treats, hot dogs, meat, potato chips, french fries... anything to see if he'll do it. It turns out he's a big fan of Kraft American Cheese Singles. He'll actually eat pieces of those from my hand and responds to them. I don't want to feed him too much because I'm concerned it'll upset his stomach but I am encouraged that there's something he's excited about. And, he has that in common with me because I like them too.
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| Lucky tries out his new Kong bed |
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| He tries moving on it and has some trouble |
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| He looks at me as if to say "Hey, where's my old bed?" |
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| I have a feeling ol' nervous Lucky may not get much sleep tonight! |