Slumber Balls

Slumber Ball (5 biscuits)

Our take: If your dog likes to curl up and sink into a pile of laundry, he'll probably love this polyfill-and cedar shavings-stuffed bed. If he's more of a sprawling sleeper, he won't like it. My elderly mutt Fred was one of the former. He loved the Slumber Ball beds so much, he went through more than one in his lifetime--not because they wore out, but because our Toy Poodle Clint kept stealing his, so I eventually broke down and got the thief one of his own...and then because I changed colors in the living room. (Go ahead and laugh--it looked great!)

The microfiber suede covers look pretty snazzy, and the makers say dog hair sticks to it rather than wafting everywhere. Still, I miss the Berber fleece covers of older models--it just feels better. However, you can still unzip the cover and throw it in the washing machine.

When the fill gets squashed, which it eventually will, you can order replacement fill. My advice: Don't be cheap like I was and skip the interior cover that holds the fill. It's a real pain to get loose fill out and then back in.

The dogs weigh in: Fred loved dog beds in general, but the Slumber Ball was his favorite. The only problem was that by the time he turned 15 he had a little trouble getting in and out of it, but he was determined: He just slept on the edge instead of going to the deep middle. Now my dog Ginger uses it once in a while, although she generally prefers my bed or the couch to dog beds of any kind, and I have even found my cat Dickens in it.

Cost: middle

--Phyllis DeGioia

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