Don't have any ideas for a cover but just thought you might be interested in the type of dog bed in the attached link. I have no affiliation with the company but I bought one for my son's dog for Christmas. He hopped on it the first day and has been using it every day since. He thought every previous bed was a tug or chew toy. These beds have an excellent reputation and very good reviews. Great for dogs with orthopedic problems. You can order nice slipcovers or fleece pads for them too.
Here's my grand dog on his new bed

Here is a link that might be useful: Dog bed

We have a waterproof crib mattress pad that has quilted cotton on the side that faces out. It seems that something like that under the crib sheet would solve the skin reaction problem. You could also add a layer of cushion underneath the pad it you wanted it to be softer.

Could you use the sheet hooks that secure the sheet to a human mattress so the dog doesn't slide off with the sheet? They should probably work too with a light weight blanket.

I use mattresses as dog beds, too, only I use double bed ones for Wolfhounds. The first layer on all of my dog mattress is a four sided, waterproof mattress protector.
A fool proof one. I had a mattress ruined by a leaky dog years ago and it will never happen again.
The second layer is padding, and the third layer is 3-4 sheets. This way when I need a clean sheet I can just remove the top one. Assuming the dogs are clean, lol.

I would buy as thick and fluffy a twin size mattress pad as I could find, trim it to size, and sew it onto the heaviest duty crib sheet I could find. If you are handy it will be easy. If not I'd have someone make me 2 or 3 at one time.

Alternatively I would put the twin size mattress pad on the crib size mattress and use heavy duty safety pins to secure it and a then put a sheet over top. If the dog isn't one that digs and rips to make his bed you might even get away with mattress garters to hold the various items in place.
But in the long run a sewed one would be easier to keep neat.

I have other dog beds as well but these hold up for decades under some very heavy use, so I get where you are coming from in wanting to use one.

Have you googled "crib mattress protectors? I found several I thought might meet your criteria.

badgergal - does that bed have a surface like a cot or like a trampoline?

I like the mesh-on-frame dog bed that badgergal shows. Our local animal shelter uses those and the dogs seem very comfortable on them, plus they are easy to keep clean.

We've been through many dog beds with ours at home and the current solution, which is working well, is to use dog bed covers and optional inner liners from a pet store near us. They are meant to be stuffed with old clothes or blankets or whatnot, but I bought a few of Ikea's cheapest bed pillows ($1.50 each) and used those instead, 4 in each large cover. The dogs love them and have not chewed the covers up. The advantage with this system is that I can wash the covers easily, and if the pillows inside get yucky I can either replace them or toss them in the wash (they are thin so they fit in the washer easily). Also the covers are a lot more fashionable than the dog beds I'd been buying.

Our old dog beds were the tough-chew kind from Orvis, but it's hard for me to recommend them because the stuffing they come with now is loose polyfill, not something you can wash. They are too expensive not to have more easily-managed innards like they once did.

I got tired of throwing away a series of cheap dog beds; they just didn't stand up to chewing and (again) you couldn't wash the inside stuffing when something leaked through the cover.

p.s. My dogs would have a mattress pad chewed into little pieces in no time flat (esp. if it was squishy and felt even the least bit like a stuffed animal or a RABBIT). Your dogs might be better behaved with that than mine. lol.

susannesl -- not badgergal, but the ones I've seen were sort of like a cot, not as springy as a trampoline but there was some give. The material in the ones at the shelter was a sort of fine mesh, which would be very useful for an incontinent dog I think.

The dog bed I posted is like a cot not a trampoline. There is a very slight give in the fabric but not enough to allow for any bouncing. There are four different types of fabrics you can choose with a 3 or 4 color options to choose from. The beds come in 6 different sizes. My sons dog weighs 60-65 pounds but I just bought him a size large because he always sleeps very tightly curled up.

Badgergirl, your son's dog is so cute. I checked them out but for the size Sparky needs its over $100 and above my budget.

khfl, I'm wish I could get a pad that is not waterproof. Just want to make sure there is enough distance from him and the plastic.

anitamo, I have never used sheet hooks and would have never thought of them. Maybe if I get deep pocket crib sheets I could get a thick blanket in and then the hooks would hold it in place.

cearbhaill, ah there's an idea. I can't sew but I know someone who does. The multiple sheets are a good idea too. Sparky does dig at his bed but he doesn't chew.

suzannesl, I have been googling but all I seem to find are waterproof. We need to avoid waterproof material.

northcarolina, I did see one of those you stuff with old blankets etc. Not sure it would be enough support for him.

Thank you all for the great ideas!

badgergal, your granddog is quite the looker! I'm off to check out those beds now too, they look amazing.

Thanks for the compliments regarding my grand dog. I am a dog lover but I must admit, I didn't favor pitbulls. I thought my son was nuts to get a puppy and even nuttier to get a pitbull that also happens to be totally deaf. Reggie is 2 years old now, and I absolutely love him. Who would have thought my years of being a speech pathologist would pay off in teaching a dog sign language. He learned signs very quickly and knows lots of them. Reggie is 2 years old now, and I absolutely love him. I drive to my sons house several times a week to take Reggie for a walk. He walks nicer than any dog I have ever owned. Other than chewing up dog beds he has been a great dog. My son would have saved lots of money if he had just bought one of these Kurunda dog beds right away even though they are expensive.

What an awesome story. Reggie is certainly a lucky pup. Not just to get brought home by a great owner, but to get a speech pathologist, sign-language savvy grandma to boot. :)

What about sheepskin crib mattress pad, either real or synthetic? I just googled them and found lots.

Could you get a queen-sized fleece blanket and sew it on three sides, so the crib mattress slid in?

DD2 has 4 dogs, and owns 3 of the Kuranda beds. She has at least 2 chewers, and they are wonderful! She also bought the fleece cover for them (washable) and so far (knock on wood) they have not chewed up the covers. If so, at least the covers are far less than new beds.

They are not bouncy at all. She has a 3 legged pit bull and she doesn't have any trouble with the bed.

If you don't want the Kuranda, she has purchased several Crypton beds - although comfortable, they fill with air, so the back had to stay unzipped some. Bitty had a hard time with it, and then she ended up crawling inside the bed and tore hers up quickly. Which led Truett to tear his up. :-/

Can you still find those beige fleecy lambswool pads? I remember my parents used to sell them in their pet shops, but it was a long time ago. They are machine washable. Maybe a big one from a pet shop would fit a crib mattress.

How about a cotton crib mattress pad, like this one:

Here is a link that might be useful: Sealy Natural Cotton Crib Mattress Pad

My doggie daycare/Kennel uses the Kuranda beds which I thought were so neat because you can throw them in your shower and clean them off. Being tired of the doggie bed smells and the continuous washing of the pads, I bought one to see how my two 60 lbers like it. Neither one will use it!!! I am so disappointed!

They boarded over the holidays so I took their soft beds and I said, if they won't use your Kuranda beds then use their beds because at 10 years old I don't want them on the cold cement floor. Upon pick up they told me they found them both on the floor the first night so replaced the Kuranda beds with their own soft beds. I am saving my Kuranda bed for my next pup because there is no hope of getting my guys to use it!!

Thought we had this figuired out with all the suggestions. Was planning on a new mattress, putting a light blanket under a few fitted sheet with sheet hooks if needed.

Got busy and never ordered the mattress (found the best price at walmart on line). Have been noticing Sparky is not always on the mattress. When he is he sometimes rolls off and has trouble getting up from it. It has very little support. Where he has been laying alot is on a piece of cardboard on the floor. (The cardboard is the cats scatching spot. She is very finicky.) Or he has been laying on a comforter I put on the living room floor for him. We threw out the area rug and he let it be known he wants something to lay on so I put the comforter down.

Sometimes I know what he wants but not sure now. What should I do for his main bed in the kitchen? Get a mattress which will have more support but is 5" high? or find something lower but would have less support?

He does like to lay on flat hard surfaces like the tile floor in the entryway, the carboard, and even the basement floor. Just can't imagine this is good 24/7.

He also did not like it when we put his current bed in the spot under the stairs which the space was designed for. We pulled it out and now are trying to push it into place at about an inch a day.

If you have read this far, thanks. I know no one has the perfect answer.

Sorry. I don't understand dogs. What about an inexpensive flannel sleeping bag--might even be able to slide a mattress inside it if he looks uncomfortable. Mine sleeps in a beanbag he stole from the kids. Or on the rug. Or on the floor. Or on the lawn with his naked bits roasting in the sun. Even a log.

So are you waffling on using a mattress at all? My dog is only 5 but she too sleeps on all surfaces. We have a cedar type bed in the living room and she will use that sometimes but in the summer likes the coolness of the kitchen tile.

She prefers to sleep and take her longer naps in our bedroom on an old king sized pillow and sham. We run together in the morning and she promptly comes home, gets her biscuit and retires back to the bedroom - if only I could go back to bed! The sham is nice because I can take it off and throw it in the wash. If she is ever 'missing' during the day I find her in our room on her pillow.

She too sometimes lays entirely on the pillow - or sometimes just her head on the pillow or sometimes her body on the pillow and her head off the pillow. ??? Right now she is on the wood floor with half her body on the area rug. I am not sure what she will need as she ages but right now she really does like just the king sized pillow.

She is 70 pounds and fits quite nicely on the pillow (I have no pics of her on it though).

What a sweetie. If you go to Houzz and look up kitchen dog beds bet they have some. I remember one that was built in the kitchen, Kind of an open under desk area framed out with a nice looking cushion that of course went with the kitchen decor. The dog looked happy there : ) We have dog bed all over the house but my older dog insists on sleeping on the chair in the bedroom, lol. Our Golden sleeps all over the place but likes the Costco sofa like dog bed. But why do I bother buying dog beds?

Oh my...I want to hug all the doggies !!!
cearbhaill---wolfhounds ! I love them and can't wait to get one. I might have to eat beans & rice though to afford to feed them though...

Thanks for all the nice dog photos.

Yes I wasn't even sure about the mattress. We decided to get the new mattress and follow the original plan. With better support hopefully he will like it better.

I wish Sparky fit on a pillow. He is 75 lbs plus but likes to stretch out.

Here is a photo from his younger days. Has some gray now. Doesn't likes cameras so its hard to get photos. Runs where you turn the camera on. It must make a high pitched sound he doesn't like.

triplicate post! Sorry

This post was edited by Autumn.4 on Wed, Jan 30, 13 at 8:53

gr8day-classic comfort pose and she almost looks like she's smiling. Love goldens - our dog is part golden.

Debrak-thanks for sharing a pic of your sweet man! My dog hates cameras too - won't look at them ever. I have that one of her outside only because I zoomed in and wasn't really close to her. She didn't know I was looking at her, she was busy watching the boys shoot hoops.

Let us know how the mattress works out and if Sparky uses it. She is our first so I'm not sure what she'll need as she ages. I guess I'm blocking that out for now since she's my exercise partner....

duplicate and triplicate? Sorry - system errors this morning.

This post was edited by Autumn.4 on Wed, Jan 30, 13 at 8:54

Everyone's doggies are so precious. Love them thanks for posting pics.

Badgergirl, your granddog looks very similar to my baby, Bella, who lives with my STBX POC DH. I miss her terribly. She has black spots like a cow, though, but has the same smile as your sweetie.

Pits (and Rots) are incredible dogs. (My Rot, Shelby, died a few years ago. I still miss her little dances.) They're so smart they'll do anything to please their owners. They're great natured, but because of their quick intelligence, easy to ruin. They learn what makes the owner happy, and if it's horrible, how are they to know? Their owner is happy and safe, and that's all that matters. I'm all for the death penalty for those who train these smart, loving dogs to be aggressive and dangerous.

I'll get off my soapbox. They're fabulous. 'Nuff said.
Fori, your baby looks like he got caught doing something! That's a funny place, a log!

My Morgan sleeps on a cold tile floor. She can tear up a bed in less than 10 minutes. I started buying comforters at the thrift store, which she'll fight with, roll around with, and eventually sleep with a paw or sometimes her head on the blanket. They'll last about 6 months.

My foster Pugs sleep on the comforters. They're just weird, sweet, funny little dogs who could do a bed, I'm sure, but they don't care as long as they're together.

Thanks for the bed links, though. Morgan is 12-14 years old and I'd like to get her off the floor!