Dog beds gather more dust and mildew on the ground.
There are many benefits in providing an elevated bed for your dog. With the bed raised, your dog will be protected from the temperature extremes that can exist at ground level. Luckily, it is simple and affordable to build your own elevated dog bed out of PVC. PVC is a plastic piping that is durable, inexpensive and requires little effort or skill to cut and fasten. PVC can be used to make a wide variety of simple structures like elevated dog beds.
Instructions
1. Calculate how wide, long and high the bed should be to accommodate your dog, as Many large dogs will be comfortable on a bed about 32 inches long and 28 inches wide. Smaller dogs could use considerably less space. Consider the height to be about 3 to 6 inches off the ground. You want your dog to fit inside the PVC perimeter, but the fabric measurements will be much larger.
2. Measure and cut your PVC pipe with a hacksaw to fit the dimensions you determined for the dog bed. Remember that the PVC fittings will add length. You will need four pipe lengths for the frame of the bed and another four for the legs.
3. Connect pipe to the three-way corner fittings. The pipe should slide right into the female ends of the fittings. Insert the cut ends of the bed legs into the fittings. When assembled, place the bed on the floor to check if it is level. Remove any excess length from individual legs to make the bed as level as possible. Once satisfied, fasten the pipe to the fittings with screws on the underside of the bed. Each fitting requires three screws.
4. Trim your fabric to fit the bed structure. The fabric will be pulled over the top of the frame and attached with screws on the underside. Leave an additional inch, which will be folded under to hide the edges of the material. The fabric should be several inches longer than the dimensions of your frame. Choose a durable fabric -- tor large dogs, use a strong canvas.
5. Lay the fabric flat on the ground, wrong side up, and center the frame of the bed on it with the legs in the air. Fold the corners of the fabric toward the center so that it is underneath the PVC fitting, leaving the corner of the fitting slightly exposed. The fabric should not gap at the inside corner. If it does, unfold it slightly so it travels along the corner fitting.
6. Fold the last inch of fabric under on one side to hide the cut edge. Pull the fabric over the PVC pipe. Starting a half-inch from the fitting, secure the fabric to the underside of the PVC pipe with screws. Position screws about 4 inches apart. Repeat on all sides. Turn the bed right side up. Insert one screw at the top of each fitting to secure the corners of the fabric to the top of the bed.
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