Visiting Just Got Comfier!

Hello NLGA Dog Blog Readers!

We have a greyt crafty project to share with you today!  Brought to us by Day's Mom, Gilly!

Visiting family and friends with a newly adopted Greyhound, I've come to realize, isn't the easiest or most comfortable (according to Day anyhow) task to take on; it's for this very reason that we have instead become the regular 'Visitees' these days.

Don't get me wrong, I am more than happy to have people over and Day just goes beyond excitedly ecstatic in wait when he knows that he has company coming.....

"Are they here yet? Are they here yet??
Are they here yeeetttttt???"

Once he knows they have arrived and parked in the driveway, if his people happen to take a little too long to make it from their car to the front door... his feelings tend to get a little hurt.

"Why are they taking so loooong??"

After his people are fiiiiinally inside the house, he generally feels the need to do a little showing-off to share just how happy he really is at their arrival!

Add it all up and being a constant visitee isn't really so bad, after all! However, I do want for my sunshiny Day to feel comfortable, confident and just as at ease as when he's home wherever we may visit.

We did try to visit at Gramma's house a couple of times this winter but the snow-covered front steps leading into slippery wooded floors just weren't quite up to Day's standards of inviting comfiness. I asked him one recent afternoon, "Shall we go to Gramma's for a visit?"

This was the look of reply that I recieved...

" Really, Mama? Really?? Gramma's house is a LOT of work for me! She keeps it soooo cold for Derby, there are stairs, there are slippery floors and though I've tried there are no spots squooshy enough there to make me want to leave this one..... read the pillow, I'm going back to sleep!"

For anyone wondering why Day's uncle Derby might prefer a chillier house to live in... this picture of the two boys out for a walk together might help in explaining the situation.

I knew, if we were ever to get out to visit comfortably, I needed to come up with an easy travel-bed plan and, as I generally do when the need arises (or when I'm just bored... but this was an actual need so I make no apologies!) I turned to internet shopping. I found many choices for travel pet beds but none were quite calling out their perfection to me. I knew what Day's uninsulated and unpadded yet entirely adorable little body needed in order to be both warm and comfy wherever we might venture and I just wasn't finding the all-in-one that I wanted for him. Trust me, no one was more surprised at my lack of findings than me; I seriously excel when it comes to internet shopping, likely this comes from my severe dislike of actual in-store shopping but whatever, it works for me... only this time, it wasn't working at all.

It was time to take matters into my own hands and a trip to the fabric store was first on my list... have I mentioned my incredible dislike of stores?? But, for my Day, I will do absolutely anything and before long I had flannel, fleece and an idea I hoped would work.

Back at home, Day and I headed out to the workshop to work together at making him a take-anywhere-rollaway-nap-mat.

This is what Day considers to be helping in matters such as these...

I decided to quilt just a large piece of flannel for the mat top rather than piecing an actual quilt top just in case I screwed things up; it worked out well, though!

Next, I finished the edges of the fleece before attaching it, along with the pillowcase flap to the top piece.

It was finally time to sew the top and blanket pieces to the bottom piece before slipping a foam kennel pad into the newly quilted case. I also decided to attach a large piece of matching vinyl (by way of velcro squares) to the bottom piece of flannel just for some extra protection when necessary, like for picnics, hiking, camping and such; I figured the vinyl would be easy to wipe clean but I wanted it removable so the rest could be just tossed in the washer and dryer for a good cleaning.

Woohooooo... We were now ready to actually test our creation with a trial run!

Unfortunately, Day's initial excitement had wained with the waiting of creating and he had taken the search for squishiness into his own little impatient paws.....

Even with his newly proclaimed lack of enthusiasm for our project we, at last... ta-daaaa....... had ourselves a travel bed! And even better than that? After Day had finished his bed nap he hopped straight down onto his new mat and already seemed to like it!! If he is warm enough he can just curl up atop the quilted mat, even turning to use the fleece blanket as a pillow if he chooses to (which he often does).

Or, if he needs a little help in the department of warmth he can cozy on up beneath the cover of the soft fleece. Either way, he will be one comfified boy, wherever our visits might take us!

Now that Day has his perfect all-in-one travel mat we never have to worry about whether or not he'll be comfortable wherever we visit; we just 'roll' with it... 'cause Day's cool like that! ;)

Do you have a greyt ideas for making life with greyhounds more comfy, colourful and fun...?!  If so, share your ideas or patterns with fellow dog blog readers! nlgahounds@gmail.com