Furhaven Travel Dog Bed Review: Months of Trips With a Small Dog

Pico has slept on motel carpet in three states, and I have learned that a nine-pound Chihuahua mix will not settle on just any floor. The Furhaven Trail Pup travel bed is the one piece of gear that made those rooms feel less strange to him. I bought the small size twelve months ago, and it has ridden in the cargo area of my 2019 Subaru Forester ever since.

I am Corinne. Pico is eight, he weighs nine pounds, and he shakes when the car first starts. We live in Tucson and spend about a third of the year on the road, mostly across the Southwest and up to Colorado. Motels and state parks are our usual stops. I have tried a folded blanket, a towel on the floor, and letting him share the foot of the motel bed. None of those gave him a spot that stayed the same from one night to the next.

How I've Used It

I keep the Furhaven bed in its stuff sack in the back of the Forester. It lives there with the jumper cables and a spare leash. When we stop for the night, I pull it out and put it on the floor beside my bed. At state parks, I put it on the ground near the picnic table. That is the whole routine. No setup, no pumping, no assembly.

The first week I had it, I left it on the living room floor at home so Pico could get used to it. By the end of that week, it smelled like our house. That mattered more than I expected. The first night of our next trip, in a motel outside Durango, he walked a circle on it and lay down in under a minute. At home he does that on the couch. On the road, he did it on the Furhaven bed.

Before that Durango trip I tried the folded blanket again, because it was one less thing to carry. It lasted two nights. Pico scratched at it, bunched it into a lump against the wall, and then stood by the door instead of lying down. The blanket never held its shape and it never smelled like anything except the car. That was the trip that decided it for me. I ordered the Furhaven bed the week we got home, in March, and it has come on every overnight since.

Over twelve months it has been on motel carpet in Arizona, New Mexico, Utah, and Colorado. It has been on the ground at state park picnic areas. It has not been on a plane. For flights to see my sister Dolores in Sacramento, Pico rides in his Sherpa carrier, and the bed stays in the car. This is a road trip bed for us, not a carry-on item.

I wash it at home after each long trip. The bed is washable, and I let it air dry. After a year, the mat still lies flat. The edges have not curled up. The stuff sack has held up. I have not had to replace it.

The Numbers That Matter for a Small Dog

The small Trail Pup measures 32 inches long by 26 inches wide by 2 inches thick. Pico is nine pounds. He can stretch out on it with room left over. The listed maximum weight is 28 pounds. If your dog is near that limit, I would size up or look at a different bed. A 28-pound dog can lie on a 32 by 26 mat, but it will not have much spare room.

To give you a real sense of it, I laid a tape measure on the mat on my kitchen floor last month. Thirty-two inches is longer than Pico from nose to tail base by more than a foot and a half. He uses maybe two thirds of it and the rest goes unused. That unused length is why it works on a bench at a park, too. It is a mat sized for a dog that sprawls, not a dog that curls into a ball the size of a dinner plate.

The bed weighs 14.39 ounces. That is lighter than a filled water bottle. I notice it in the cargo area because it takes up almost no space. The stuff sack is included. I do not have to fold it perfectly. I stuff it in, pull the sack closed, and go. For a small dog owner who is already hauling a cooler, a crate, and a water bottle, that matters.

The mat is 2 inches thick. That is the number I would pay the most attention to. It is enough to soften a motel floor. It is not enough to call this a thick foam bed. Pico is eight and he does not have joint issues, so a thin mat works for him. If your dog is older or stiff, this is a supplement to a better bed, not a replacement.

The shape is oval, and the top is open with no bolsters. Pico likes to sprawl. A dog that likes to curl into a corner might prefer a bed with raised edges. The open style also means there is no wall to block a draft. In a warm motel room, that is fine. On a cold floor, I put it near a wall or on a rug.

What Twelve Months of Motel Floors Taught Me

The biggest change was not in Pico's comfort at night. It was in how fast he settled. In a new room, he used to pace. He would check the door, check the bathroom, check the window, and then pace again. With the bed, he has a destination. I put it down, he sniffs it, and he lies down. That cut the settling time from maybe half an hour to a few minutes.

I can put a date on it. Last October we stopped in Flagstaff on the way to Durango, in a room with tile instead of carpet and a door that clicked every time the heat came on. Old Pico would have paced that room for forty minutes. He was on the bed in three. He still lifted his head at the heater. He just did it from a lying position instead of on his feet. That is the whole difference, and it is not a small one when you have driven six hours and want to eat dinner.

The bed also solved a small problem I did not know I had. Motel carpets are not always clean. I did not love the idea of Pico lying on a floor that had seen who knows what. The Furhaven bed gives him a clean layer between him and the carpet. It is not a barrier against everything, but it is his spot. I know it is clean because I washed it.

At state parks, the bed works on the ground. I put it under the picnic table or beside it in the shade. Pico will lie on it while I eat lunch. It keeps him from sitting in dirt or on hot pavement. I check the ground before I put it down. If the grass is wet, I put it on a bench or skip it.

After a year, the mat has a few marks. The surface has picked up some grit from park grounds. I washed it and most of it came out. It is not a piece of gear that stays looking new. It is a piece of gear that keeps working. I would rather have that.

Packing and Cleaning Notes

Packing is simple. I fold the bed in half, then in half again, and push it into the stuff sack. It takes about twenty seconds. The sack goes in the cargo area next to the cooler. I do not have to rearrange the car to make room for it. That is the main reason it comes on every trip. Gear that is annoying to pack stays home.

I will tell you what happened the one time I got lazy about it. Coming back from Colorado in June, I packed the bed away while it was still damp from a dewy morning at a park near Cortez. Two days later the stuff sack smelled like a wet basement. I washed both the bed and the sack in the machine at home, aired them on the patio for a full afternoon, and the smell was gone. Nothing was ruined. But it cost me an extra wash cycle and a morning of wondering whether I had ruined a bed I like. Now the bed rides home loose on the back seat if it is damp, and goes in the sack dry.

Cleaning is also simple, but it is not instant. After a long trip, I shake it out outside, then wash it at home. I let it air dry flat. In Tucson, that takes most of a day. I plan for that. I do not wash it the night before a trip and expect it to be ready in the morning.

The stuff sack is not a place to store a wet bed. If the bed gets damp from morning grass, I let it dry before I pack it. That is not a flaw in the product. It is just how I take care of my gear. A little air goes a long way.

Where the Trail Pup Falls Short

Two inches is not much. On a hard tile floor, Pico still feels the floor. He does not seem to mind, but I would not call this a plush bed. If your dog is used to a thick foam bed at home, this will feel like a step down. That is the tradeoff for something that packs into a stuff sack and weighs less than a pound.

The bed also slides a little on smooth tile, which I found out in that Flagstaff room. Pico does not launch himself onto it, so it never mattered for us. But if your dog runs and flops, the mat will skate an inch or two on a slick floor. I put a corner under the leg of the nightstand when the floor is tile, and that holds it.

There are no bolsters and no raised edge. A dog that likes to rest his head on a rim will not get that here. Pico tucks his nose under his tail instead. That works for him. A dog that needs a sense of enclosure may not settle as easily. This is a mat, not a cave.

The maximum weight is 28 pounds. That sounds generous for a small bed, but the usable space is what matters. A 25-pound dog can lie on it, but he will fill it. If you have two small dogs, this is not a two-dog bed. It is one dog's spot.

Pico is not a chewer, so I cannot speak to how it holds up with a dog who destroys beds. I would not leave any soft bed with a dog who chews unsupervised. The stuff sack is also not a toy. I keep it out of reach when we are not using it.

Last October in a Flagstaff room with tile floors, Pico was on the Furhaven bed in three minutes. Old Pico would have paced that room for forty.

Who This Is For

This is for the owner of a small dog who travels by car and wants one consistent spot in every room. If your dog is under 20 pounds, like Pico, the small size is right. If your dog is between 20 and 28 pounds, measure him first. The bed is 32 by 26 inches, and a bigger dog will take up most of it. It is also for the owner who is tired of folding a blanket on the floor and watching the dog rearrange it.

It is for the person who wants something light and simple. I do not need a bed with straps, a pump, or a frame. I need a mat that goes from the cargo area to the motel floor in one motion. That is what the Furhaven Trail Pup does. It is also easy to clean, which matters when your dog has been lying on park ground.

Who Should Skip It

Skip it if your dog needs a thick orthopedic bed. Two inches is not enough for a dog with joint problems, and I would not pretend otherwise. Skip it if your dog chews beds, or if he needs a raised edge to feel secure. Skip it if you have two small dogs and want one bed for both of them. This is a one-dog mat.

Also skip it if you fly often and need something that fits in a carry-on. For our flights to Sacramento, Pico uses his Sherpa carrier, and the bed stays in the car. The Trail Pup is a road trip bed. If your travel is mostly by plane, a different setup will serve you better.