Sasquatch! Pet Beds for the Pampered Pooch and Kitty

by Ann Brenoff (RSS feed)
Feb 24th 2010 at 9:02AM

For as long as man has befriended beast, the relationship between our dogs and our shoes ( at least in my household) has been long-established. Voila! Along comes a pet bed that resembles a giant shoe -- and not just any shoe, but a well-known comfort shoe that (again, at least in my household) has been my little dog's favorite indestructible chew toy.

The Sasquatch! Pet Bed, make no bones about it, is a well-constructed, comfy alternative to sleeping on my husband's side of the bed. Shaped like a giant Croc and available in a half-dozen colors including bright pink, the pet bed accommodates small and medium size pets. Our 90-pound Golden Retriever tried it out and found that while perhaps suitable as a helmet, his girth would preclude its intended use. We hope the bed manufacturer, Unique Beast, will come up with a larger size shoe for those who perhaps dip too often into the biscuit box. The Sasquatch is 31" long x 14" wide and 14" tall. It sells for $99.95.

Quite clearly, there is no other pet bed on the market like this one. It's a conversation piece as much as a place for your cat or dog to sleep. The over-sized shoe is lined with a fluffy fleece-like fabric that purports to keep pets warm in the winter and cool in the summer and is of course, machine washable. The rubberized exterior can be washed down with the garden hose and is made of a lightweight, non-toxic material -- should the urge to chew simply become irresistible. The base is also odor-resistant and anti-microbial.

Gallery: Sasquatch Pet Beds

The shoe bed was the brainchild of Tony Deitch, from Middleton Wisconsin. Says Deitch, "Pets have always been affiliated with footwear, whether they're chewing them on laying on a pile of them. It was a natural connection." True words, certainly in my household.

The Sasquatch debuted last year and has already cleaned up, so to speak, at the key pet product shows. It was named best of show at the SuperZoo trade show in Las Vegas and the H.H. Backer Pet Industry Show in Chicago, which led to a mention on the "CBS Morning Show."

"Our product has a shock value to it," admits Deitch. "It's OK that people laugh at it. It makes them smile -- nothing wrong with that."

Certainly nothing wrong with a smile in this economy. And it's smart business too. Despite the depressed economy, the pet sector continues to do well. The American Pet Products Association says that Americans will spend more than $45 billion on their pets this year.

"Pets are members of the family," Deitch said, and "even in hard economic times, people take care of their family first."

Tags: dog bed, DogBed, pet bed, pet supplies, PetBed, PetSupplies, sasquatch pet bed, SasquatchPetBed