Say the word “expedition” and you probably think of legendary explorers such as Magellan, Marco Polo, Edmund Hilary, Christopher Columbus and Neil Armstrong. Now you have to add Biggles to that illustrious list, because he’s just come back from an adventure of Beagle proportions in our local Pets At Home store. He didn’t bring back potatoes, or tobacco, or set foot on a new world, but he did return with a pair of exceptionally comfy beds for himself and his sister.

Although he really likes his crate in our bedroom, he hasn’t been at all happy with the bed inside it. Originally he had a big super-comfy paw-shaped bed just like Beanie, but recently we had to throw that out after it got a bit wet. Well, a lot wet actually. I don’t want to start a rumor that Biggles – who’s going to be 5 years old later this month – still wets his bed but.. well it’s like this. If you send him out into the garden to “do his business” you’d better hope he doesn’t get distracted by anything before said business is completed, because there can be.. repercussions. After one too many goes in the washing machine his old bed was finished, so I bought him a new one from Amazon. I got the best reviewed and most economical replacement I could find, but you know what they say: buy cheap, buy twice. It doesn’t fit his crate too well and the stuffing has already lost a lot of its spring, and his lordship was stiff and uncomfortable when he got up this morning. Time to get something better!

We decided to take him on a solo outing to Pets At Home to try out a few of their beds. It was far from his first time in the store, but it was his first time in there without his pesky sister. The bedding section was towards the rear, and I have to say it took a while to get there. For some reason, we experienced quite a few delays in the cat aisle..

Cats have loads of cool stuff that dogs don’t.

I mean look at this! You can get your head right in it!

And here’s another one in a different color!

Progress was slow in the food section too. Ever helpful, Biggles wanted to make sure that none of the big bags of kibble had split and spilled their contents at the back of the shelves. I mean, if the staff had missed such a spillage they could soon have a mouse problem on their hands, and no-one wants that, right?

No, nothing here…

Or here. Bugger.

Aha! Now you’re talking. No need to worry the staff about this, I’ll take care of it.

I don’t know what’s in there, but I’d like to be right in there with it..

At long last we did make it to the bedding section. A lot of the beds were like the one I’d bought; filled with low quality stuffing that wouldn’t provide any decent support. I found one by Wainwright that was better, and although not cheap it did come with a detachable bone-shaped pillow. Biggles seemed to think that it was OK, but nothing to write home about.

Then Susan spotted a good deal on Pets At Home’s own brand memory foam mattress. It seemed much more substantial than any of the other bedding. The price included a cover of our choice, and we could also get a waterproof liner to keep the mattress safe from any, er, wetness. The only downside was that it was apparently filled with “crumbs”, and Biggles had already demonstrated how he deals with crumbs in the food aisle.

Despite that slight concern we decided to give it a go. It was easily the best bedding in the store, and quite reasonably priced. Of course we couldn’t get a brand new uber-comfy bed for Biggles and not get one for Beanie too, so we loaded up with two of everything and headed straight for the tills before we could be tempted by anything else.

Back at home, we made up the beds and plonked them on the sofas for testing. Biggles immediately took to his and within barely two minutes of getting on it, he was on his way to the Land of Nod.

From awake..

To snoozing.. in barely 120 seconds! Can’t be bad!

Beanie took a little longer to nod off, but soon she too succumbed.

For the rest of the afternoon it was as if both of them had been drugged. No bouts of restlessness, no noisy bed telling-off incidents. Obviously only time will tell if these new beds are all they’re cracked up to be (and don’t get nibbled for the crumbs they contain) but I have to say they’re off to a good start.