Elevated Dog Beds

Printable Instructions

1 Using a corner piece, put one short and one long pipe into 2 of the 3 holes

2 Once the frame is built, use a hammer to on each corner to firmly hit each side to force the legs into the corner pieces,
don't worry about hitting too hard, the pvc is strong

3 Insert 4 legs into holes, turn bed over and hit the top of each corner 1-2 times to be sure legs are in as far/tight as they can be --no picture for this

4 Lay the cloth on a flat surface and lay the frame on top, with legs pointing up, center frame on cloth

5 Fold cloth corners under frame, be sure to keep frame centered on cloth when doing this
(note: fold of cloth, 2nd picture, should be centered just inside of corner piece)

6 Take one long side of cloth and make 2 one-half inch-ish folds, the material should hit the center of the pvc on the bottom side
of the frame

7 Place one screw in the mid point of the PVC and screw the cloth to the PVC.
Be sure that the screw goes thru the folds of the cloth

8 Place screws evenly spaced on each leg,
(5 screws, short side of small bed, 6 screws for long side)
(6 screws for short side of large bed, 8 screws for long side of bed)

Text Box: Check here for an option for
an elevated dog "couch" 9 Screw one screw to the opposite side of the frame then use channel locks to tighten plastic frame, which will tighten cloth
    important: do not use channel locks on top of cloth, it will tear it, tighten so cloth is taught, screw in rest of screws



Important Note (July 3, 2008)
Be sure to place 2 screws on the bottom of 2 opposite corners so they hold the legs and stop them from turning under the weight of the dog on the bed.
We didn't do this on earlier beds and the weight of the dogs makes the legs turn which causes puckering of cloth, which is an invitation to CHEW !
These screws should be the last thing you do.

10 Finish putting in screws for opposite leg, repeat steps for other sides of bed
     If the frame doesn't sit square on the floor, put the frame on its side, legs facing you and twist the legs a bit

11 On the top side of the bed, place 5 screws thru the cloth and into the corner of the pvc corner piece, this serves 2 purposes
    1 keeps the cloth from being chewed
    2 keeps the side frame pieces from turning
    Be sure the end screws are near the end of the corner piece so they also pierce the side frame pieces and keep them from
    turning,if these screws do not pierce the side frame pieces, the weight of the dog will eventually turn the pvc and the cloth will
    pucker, which leads to chewing, or they will laying in a hammock like bed that will touch the ground

      1    2      3

           You can't use too many screws on the corners. The corners are the point most likely chewed so extra reinforcement is best.
           Picture 2 is best as the screws will be a deterrent to start chewing. Picture 3 shows screws inserted too far from the edge.
           Be sure to have volunteers place screws as close to edge of the cloth as they can..

Elevated Dog Beds Columbus Dog Connection was moved to create a low cost elevated dog bed. A few Doggedly Dedicated Dogmanity Do'ers, pulled their creative talents and came up with an easy & inexpensive way for anyone to build an elevated dog bed. Below, you will see simple, inexpensive plans to help dogs in shelters who must sleep on wet concrete kennel floors. Your cost to build the bed will vary depending on how much of the materials you are able to get donated. Watch our You Tube Video of how to build one Printable Instructions Click here to see our Elevated Dog Bed Building Days Click here to see our beds built by groups across the US		The inspiration for our beds: Dogs on wet kennel floors. Notice the dog in the white container above ? As of October 2011, Columbus Dog Connection has received donations for, paid for, made & donated 879 to shelters in OH, Indiana, W Virginia & Kentucky. Orange signifies donated beds.
How the beds make a difference Hi Kellie, We are so grateful for your generous donation of the 50 elevated dog beds....It is AMAZING, the immediate effect the beds have! As we made our rounds with installing the beds, the combined echoed dog barks and shelter tone quieted with each dog getting on their beds, checking them out and then balling up on top of them to rest- it was remarkable! The same thing happens now each day- the folks go in to clean, take the beds out for the day for scrubbing/drying, etc...the dogs bark and squeal with the days events and as SOON as the beds are put back in, there is this crazy silence with them hunkering down for the night on the elevated beds. (until something gets them barking again, but they settle down faster when the beds are in the kennels) Fascinating to see this time and again, the calming effect of the beds. With constant use and cleaning our dogs are tearing through the canvas pretty good at this point, so we are saving the frames and have contacted Kuranda for new material to re-cover the beds you sent us. The are sending enough to cover all the beds you wonderful ColumbusDogConnection.com folks gave us for the shelter dogs! ( bright red 50 ounce vinyl) With your kindness, we have gotten the dogs off the concrete and we are extremely grateful for that! THANK YOU! Melissa, Marion Co WV Oct 2011
Columbus Dog Connection has donated over 800 elevated dog beds to rural counties. Henry Co OH Holmes Co OH Auglaize Co OH Clay Co Indiana Fayette Co, OH Jackson Co, OH Monroe Co, OH Seneca Co, OH Mercer Co OH Meigs Co, OH Paulding Co OH Harlan Co KY Putnam Co, OH Highland Co, OH Preble Co, OH Morgan Co, OH Marion Co WV
Revisions/Improvements July 26, 2010 we changed the legs from 6" to 4 " so dogs could get on the beds more easily see new spreadsheet for mass production numbers Nov 23, 2009 New size added, medium which is good for mass production for shelters Dec 2, 2008 Info regarding screws on corners, new pictures below. Sept 13, 2008 Addition: calculations for bulk building (see mass production below) New Sewing Instructions Nov 3,2008 June 25, 2007 Sewing Instructions November 13, 2006 improved Corners Materials Needed and Where to Purchase Them -PVC Pipe, 1 ¼ inch, schedule 40 pvc comes in sticks, 10', can be purchased at any hardware store, runs about $4.38 from big box stores for 10' stick 20' sections are least expensive, purchased from suppliers rather than big box stores -corner pieces (only a few companies in the entire country make these pieces, ordering directly from them will be least expensive) 1 ¼ inch not carried by hardware stores, can be ordered on line C & S Plastics (mention you reached them via our web site for possible discount, Don is the bomb and loves to help the dogs) US Plastics IPP Industrial Plastics Products Savco (store located in Columbus OH) -cloth -the best option is 50 ounce vinyl -creative option, contact your local awning company or boat companies that makes awnings for businesses/boats, ask for scraps or shorts -any durable cloth may be used, to test if it is strong enough, take a key and try to gouge through it ...if it can hold up to that....likely it can hold up to dogs scratching at it -dogs will chew the beds, best to remove beds from dogs who are chewers as they will ruin the bed -cordura is the least expensive, good option as it is moisture resistant, durable, low cost cloth to use -order 1000 denier cloth, must be ordered in 50 yard lengths often times, check for specials and ask for shorts or ends or drops (shorts are ends of reams of cloth material) -if awning is donated, we have found that well used awing will likely not hold up to a dog's nails, we scrape all used awning with a screwdriver or key to see if it breaks though, if it does, don't use it -sources for cordura, -Top Value Fabrics, -`look under promotion section under Nylon for seconds, cheaper, typically color is a little off -Top Value only sells full rolls, only good for people who are making a large number of dog beds -Send email to this company for newsletters on seconds`-Astrup.com -FabricFarms.com in Hilliard OH -MagnaFabrics.com Cleaning of beds or cloth like Sunbrella like material Best to mark plastic of frame to alert shelter staff not to throw away frame as it can be recovered with new cloth. -screws Round Washer Head #8 x 1/2 " NOTE The You Tube video shows our screws being 8 x 3/4 inch. You can use either size, we happen to have had the longer ones donated for a recent bed build. Home Depot, $5.60 for 250 screws www.Fastenal.com carries boxes of 1500 and 3000 for much less Fastenal Screw Check local construction supply companies
Cutting the PVC If you are making numerous beds for a shelter, we recommend building the medium sized beds and add a few large ones. The medium beds will accommodate most dogs. As an option for the medium sized beds, you can added 3 inches to the long side and subtracted 3 inches from the short side (or any amount you need) to better fit into narrow kennels. Be sure to make appropriate cloth sizes if you change the frame size.
Small Bed `Cloth size` 36” x 29” 1 10 ft stick or 112”, will have 12" left over -2 pieces at 18.5 inches each -2 pieces at 25.5 inches each -4 pieces at 4 inches each`Final Dimensions 22" x 29"`
`Medium Bed Cloth size 34.5" x 38.5" 1 10ft stick will make one complete bed including legs, -2 at 24" -2 at 28" -4 pieces at 4 inches each (legs) Final Dimension 27.5" x 31.5"`	`Abbey is a 70lb dog`
Large Bed Cloth size 36” x 45” 144” needed You will need 1-10 ft stick of PVC and an additional 20" to make one complete large bed -2 pieces at 25.5 inches each -2 pieces at 34.5 inches each -4 pieces at 4 inches each Final Dimensions `29" x 38" x 8"`	Peppy the Dalmatian is a 76lb dog
			Tools Needed -Hammer -Drill -Saw (to cut PVC) -Tape measure -Channel Locks (to turn pvc after cloth is applied to tighten)	Channel Locks
PVC Mass Production of beds Mass production spreadsheet Use the Beds tab if you know how many beds you want to make, but need to know how much PVC to get Use the Sticks tab if you have PVC pipe and want to see how many beds you can make If you're only making small beds, you need 1 stick for each bed and you'll have 8" left over from each stick. 1 stick = a 10 foot piece of PVC (120 inches) 1 stick = 1 small bed with legs and 1 extra leg (plus 2" scrap) 1 stick = 1 large bed and no legs 1 stick = 20 legs, enough for 5 beds 5 sticks = 4 small beds and 1 large bed 6 sticks = 5 large beds 11 sticks = 4 small and 6 large beds
Building Instructions for Elevated Dog Bed Tips if you are having a large group make the beds -not everyone is use to using a drill, tell everyone to stop drilling when the screw is flush with the cloth, we ended up having some stripped entries from folks who were continuing to drill once the screw was as embedded as possible -you will make a better bed if you have 2 people working together, one to fold and hold, one to drill, we had folks attempting to fold and screw by themselves and the results are not as tight and neat as if you have 2 people. It is critical to get the corners neat and tight or, as we have found, the dogs will chew on anything they can grip. In the shelters, this pvc and cloth are the most chewable thing, and they will try to chew it.
Printable Instructions 1 Using a corner piece, put one short and one long pipe into 2 of the 3 holes 2 Once the frame is built, use a hammer to on each corner to firmly hit each side to force the legs into the corner pieces, don't worry about hitting too hard, the pvc is strong 3 Insert 4 legs into holes, turn bed over and hit the top of each corner 1-2 times to be sure legs are in as far/tight as they can be --no picture for this 4 Lay the cloth on a flat surface and lay the frame on top, with legs pointing up, center frame on cloth 5 Fold cloth corners under frame, be sure to keep frame centered on cloth when doing this (note: fold of cloth, 2nd picture, should be centered just inside of corner piece) 6 Take one long side of cloth and make 2 one-half inch-ish folds, the material should hit the center of the pvc on the bottom side of the frame 7 Place one screw in the mid point of the PVC and screw the cloth to the PVC. Be sure that the screw goes thru the folds of the cloth 8 Place screws evenly spaced on each leg, (5 screws, short side of small bed, 6 screws for long side) (6 screws for short side of large bed, 8 screws for long side of bed) 9 Screw one screw to the opposite side of the frame then use channel locks to tighten plastic frame, which will tighten cloth important: do not use channel locks on top of cloth, it will tear it, tighten so cloth is taught, screw in rest of screws Important Note (July 3, 2008) Be sure to place 2 screws on the bottom of 2 opposite corners so they hold the legs and stop them from turning under the weight of the dog on the bed. We didn't do this on earlier beds and the weight of the dogs makes the legs turn which causes puckering of cloth, which is an invitation to CHEW ! These screws should be the last thing you do. 10 Finish putting in screws for opposite leg, repeat steps for other sides of bed If the frame doesn't sit square on the floor, put the frame on its side, legs facing you and twist the legs a bit 11 On the top side of the bed, place 5 screws thru the cloth and into the corner of the pvc corner piece, this serves 2 purposes 1 keeps the cloth from being chewed 2 keeps the side frame pieces from turning Be sure the end screws are near the end of the corner piece so they also pierce the side frame pieces and keep them from turning,if these screws do not pierce the side frame pieces, the weight of the dog will eventually turn the pvc and the cloth will pucker, which leads to chewing, or they will laying in a hammock like bed that will touch the ground 1 2 3 You can't use too many screws on the corners. The corners are the point most likely chewed so extra reinforcement is best. Picture 2 is best as the screws will be a deterrent to start chewing. Picture 3 shows screws inserted too far from the edge. Be sure to have volunteers place screws as close to edge of the cloth as they can..