I have a saint bernard, and aside from doggie hair making it necessary to wash my quilt more often him laying on them has not posed a problem.... now the kids playing tug of war with him... that is a whole other story :(

I have an old store bought quilt I fold in half and put on the cat's side of the bed. She knows it's hers.

no one would romp on my quilt. when i had my Loki (cat) i had a soft purple blanket throw for him to lay on and a small store bought quilt for summer for him. Now i have three cats and need to put a large blanket over my quilt if i use one. they tend to jump off the bed quickly and use their claws!! so, pretty much no quilts on my bed. I hate that but it's better than having them ruined.

We have three cats and four dogs, and no quilts on our bed. I would keep to wall quilts for our room and only use bed quilts for the guest bedrooms. The cats like the bed in one of the guest rooms so I cover that quilt with a sheet so they can nap without getting hair - or hairballs - on the quilt itself.

The same is true of my german shepherd. No harm done to the quilt...just gets lots of washings.

A quilt isn't a quilt unless your doggie helped you make it.

Like this one I'm trying to pin:

We have 2 dogs and 2 cats. There is always at least one on the bed. Its never been a problem, I just wash them regularly.

Make yourself a scrap quilt and save the heirloom one for the spare room. Scrap quilts are meant to be used and washed frequently. Because I have little invested in them (I use a sheet for the back) except my time, I don't worry about a furry one having a nap there. Quilts should be made to be used and loved with the user in mind. If dogs are a big part of your life, don't spend the time making a hand quilted or embroidered quilt for your bed. A corduroy/denim combination might be a better idea.

I have two labs, a total of almost 200 pounds. They sleep with me and I wouldn't have it any other way. I am fairly certain I was a pack animal in a former incarnation and I know I sleep best with the dogs cuddled against me. So, I make the quilt pattern I want but instead of fancy quilting, I simply meander over the whole top. That allows it to take more of a beating. In the summer, the quilt we used lasted about 10 years. It began to shred at the seams a bit so I took it off and replaced it. My dogs don't chew or damage the quilt other than sharing their hair on it and using the bed for sleeping and naps.

My dogs recline on my bed during the day and sleep with me. They do no damage other than leaving behind dirt, but the frequent washings are too hard on a quilt. My bed is covered in an inexpensive preprinted quilt from a big box store with pretty homemade pillowcases. When I complete a quilt for me, it will go on the couch in the LR and another on the wall in the family room, which has turned into my quilting room. I have a Trip Around the World in a guest room, but they don't get on that bed. Their beds are end to end on on side of my bed, but they sometimes slip over to sleep close to me.

I will not buy an inexpensive quilted cover. The laborers who do those don't work in good conditions and that's putting it mildly.