Designer Dog Bed

I was commissioned to make a dog bed by someone who had heard of me, but I had never met, for someone else I had never met. It was a very "soft" referral that found me with a strange phone number scribbled on a scrap of paper next to the title "dog bed". I picked up my phone and dialed...no one answered...and there I was...

SC- Hello, uh, I was calling about a referral that I got-that you need someone to make a dog bed? That's all I know so...if you could give me a call back, we can discuss the details of exactly what it is you are looking for.
So later that week....
SC- Hello
DB- Hello. I was just returning your call. What exactly were you calling about?
SC- I'm not sure. A dog bed?
DB-Oh yeah! Yeah, I've been looking for a bed for my dog. She's crate trained and she's part coyote so she needs a den. She likes to nest. I was looking all over the place and haven't found anything for a 50 pound dog that doesn't totally suck.
SC- Okay, so...uh..how big is your dog?
DB- About 50 pounds.
SC- I mean, like how tall? How long? Approximately?
DB- I dunno. You'll probably just have to come over and measure her.
SC- Okay. Yeah. That sounds appropriate (I guess?). What do you want this bed to look like?
DB- It needs to be high, not too high, but you know...she is part coyote and likes to "den".
SC- Got it. Do you want it square or round or oval like those soft foam-core dog beds?
DB- Yeah, oval. But you know, I want it to be solid because those foam ones suck, but ovals are nice.
SC- Do you want it painted any color or?
DB- I either want it painted or out of wood.
SC- Something oval with a wood grain would cost quite a bit more...
DB- I just want something that will look nice in my apartment, but will blend in..so a white oval would be nice. I want it to look like furniture.
SC-How high would like the walls?
DB- Like...sort of coffee table height.
SC- About 18 inches?
DB- I think that sounds good. You'll have to show me when you come over to measure the dog.
SC-..okay...sounds good.


Yeah. Sounds good. A giant oval dog den for a wild coyote/dog. It sounds reasonable that I should be able to make an elegantly inconspicuous-behemoth piece of custom designed furniture for a 50 lb feral dog. Why the heck not!
So I pulled out the cloth measuring tape and went to size this dog as if I were a tailor fitting her for a puppy prom dress.
I met and measured her, as I like to know who I'm designing for, even when they're canine. At the "fitting" I saw a Noguchi table that inspired a more specific direction for the design. My goal then became the creation of a piece that would compliment the table.
I began laminating 1/8 inch strips of masonite together until there were 3/4 " thick walls wrapping around an oval base. I then cut a plunging rounded entry and smoothed the whole piece out with Automotive Bondo. Primed and painted with white semigloss paint, the bed was dog ready.
I loved the way this bed came out and luckily so did my clients, coyote & human alike. The bed is displayed aside the Noguchi table and I was told that when guests come over they say, "Nice dog bed".