What was a "dog-room" in 1847 (or 1773)?

[Jesse Sheidlower]

On Sat, Dec 17, 2005 at 02:49:56PM -0500, Joel S. Berson wrote:
> In a story published in America in 1847, I have the following sentence:
>
> "The furniture, though evidently of an age anterior to that of the
> inhabited part of the house, was of a style and description better
> befitting what our ancestors used to call a "dog-room" than a bed-chamber."
>
> The story itself is set in 1773, and describes a house in South Carolina.
>
> "Dog-room" is not in OED2.  What does it mean?

It looks like it means 'a room for a dog'. Is there some additional
context that would help?

Jesse Sheidlower
OED