PVC cots for dogs

Nikki and Ellie aren’t the first Labrador Retrievers I’ve had so I am aware of the ongoing genetic issue of hip dysplasia in their breed. I wanted my girls up off the floor with their hips cushioned.

Both were crate trained for the first 2 years of their life — meaning if I wasn’t home they were in the crate. I loved it because I missed the whole having my home chewed phase. When they hit 2 years old the crate was removed and a cot put in its place. Since they are 2 years apart in age, that means I moved Nikki to a cot when I got Ellie because she needed to be in the crate. I couldn’t face training more than one dog at a time so I spaced them out.

When I brought Ellie home I started building the frame and sewing the slings for Nikki’s dog cot. I bought enough materials for 4 cots — 2 downstairs where they stay when I’m gone and 2 in the bedroom for sleeping at night.  The whole time I was making the cot I was thinking I’d do all that work and they wouldn’t so much as look at it. Wrong.

I put the first cot down in the kitchen when I was spending a lot of time remodeling it and they both climbed in. Ellie was really little at this point so they cuddled up together to nap.

Don’t even try to tell me I don’t have adorable dogs…

So here are the directions for making the cots. The most difficult part is finding the corner PVC fittings. I found them on the internet at US Plastics and had them shipped to me. Lowe’s and Home Depot do not carry these fittings.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

If you’re interested in making your your own cots I can send you the dimensions I used for these. If you’d rather just put one together, email me and I can make it and ship it to you.