My dog prefers his Casper dog bed to my bed

I run past Casper’s store multiple times a week on my way to Central Park, but I never actually took time to scan the window display until recently. There’s a bed frame stacked high with mattresses, the Casper Glowlight on a side table, the brand’s blanket robe on a mannequin and, tucked away in the corner, a stuffed dog sitting on a pyramid of dog beds. That caught my attention.

My family and I have an 12-year old, 100-pound labrador retriever, so we’re constantly thinking about how to make him more comfortable. Chance has bad hips and sore legs, and as he’s aged, he’s spent more time sleeping. Finding a dog bed that fits his large body, cushions his achy joints and is easy for him to get in and out was a challenge until we found the Casper Dog Bed.

He has many others to choose from, like the Newton Baby Orthopedic Pet Bed and the Furhaven Orthopedic Dog Bed, but the support and comfort Casper’s offers is unparalleled. The brand sent me it to try about two years, and to this day, Chance prefers snuggling up in his bed rather than with me.

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Casper The Dog Bed

Casper Medium Dog Bed

$125.00 $139.00 at Amazon$110.00 at Target$139.00 at Casper

What we like

• Supportive, firm feel
• Removable, machine-washable
• Chew- and dig-resistant

Something to note

• Some assembly required
• May stain easily
• Fur clings to cover

Sizes: small (up to 30 pounds), medium (up to 60 pounds) and large (up to 90 pounds) | Colors: blue, gray and Sand (tan) | Return policy: 30-night trial | Warranty: one-year limited warranty

Casper’s dog bed is rectangular with a raised bolster around its perimeter. It comes in multiple sizes and colors, and it's core is made from two types of foam, giving it a firm overall feel. Since Chance is 100 pounds, I got the bed in a size large. The brand says it's typically best for dogs up to 90 pounds, but I haven’t noticed that Chance’s extra 10 or so pounds impacts the bed’s performance.

When dogs dig into the microfiber fabric on top of the bed's nylon cover, it mimics the sensation of pawing at loose soil, according to Casper. The cover’s zippers get tucked away inside little pockets so they don’t scratch your floors. If you ever need a new cover, the brand sells them separately.

The Casper Dog Bed arrived at my door packaged similarly to a mattress-in-a-box. It comes with five shrink-wrapped foam pieces, the largest of which forms the base of the bed and four of which form the bolster. I unwrapped each piece, let them expand and stuffed them inside the included cover. This was an easy process and a one-person job, but took some maneuvering because of how big the pieces were for a large size bed.

Chance choosing to spend time in a dog bed on his own is my barometer for whether or not he loves it. No bribing him with treats or his favorite toys — I want to know if he’ll lay in the bed totally unprompted. That’s exactly what happened with the Casper dog bed. After I set it up, he climbed in, laid down and went right to sleep. It was love at first sight — or rather, first snooze.

This bed’s sides aren’t very high and the sleeping area isn’t set in too deeply, so Chance doesn’t have to lift his legs very much to step into or out of it. The bolster also acts as a barrier of sorts, providing a sense of security for him. Chance can stretch out across the bed, which is elevated a few inches off the ground, and push his body up against the bolster without feeling like he’ll fall off when he changes positions halfway through a nap. He practically burrows inside and curls up into the bed because the bolster makes him feel so cozy and secure.

When Chance lays on the Casper Dog Bed, he doesn’t sink. Instead, the foam supports his weight, lifts him up and molds to the shape of his body, which takes pressure off of areas that typically cause him pain like his hips and elbows. I even sat in the bed myself and was surprised I didn’t feel the hard ground beneath me. And despite Chance spending hours in the bed every day for about two years, it hasn’t started to slouch. The firm foam gives the bed a lot of structure so it doesn’t lose its shape over time.

Something I prioritize when buying a dog bed is a machine-washable, removable cover — Casper’s has exactly that. It’s reassuring to know that I can strip the cover off the bed if Chance gets it so dirty that my attempts at spot cleaning aren’t making much of a difference. The cover’s fabric can be a bit difficult to get stains out regardless of how I clean it, and Chance’s fur tends to cling to it, so I often have to use the Chom Chom Roller to get hair off of it. It’s totally worth it though, because the cover’s fabric truly is as resistant to chewing, digging and scratching as the brand says. Chance tends to nibble and dig at the cover when he gets excited or before settling down, and I’ve never worried about him making holes in it.

I'm a reporter at NBC Select who writes about pet products, including stories on outdoor dog beds, cat carriers and cat food. For this article, I shared my experience using the Casper Dog Bed, which the brand sent me to try, for about two years with my 12-year-old Labrador retriever.

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