Management of how wet your working dog is during the day is very important. Dog beds are essential.
The Dog Bed can't Solve Every Problem.
We have to be realistic when searching for a dog bed for working dogs in wet conditions. This needs managing. As a minimum, you will need a dog bed containing an orthopaedic mattress base with a 100% waterproof cover. This is to prevent the dog bed from getting all soggy and damp inside. If a dog bed becomes damp inside, the all important insulating properties disappear. This, in turn, means that the sneaking chill from a cold floor will reach the dog and arthritis in early life becomes a big risk. But on very wet days, this is not everything. If your dog is coming in to the dog bed in a car and you might be having him back out 30 minutes later, it is a very good idea to have dry towels to hand. Put a dry towel as a base in the dog bed to absorb most of the moisture from his coat. You might not have time to rub him down with a towel several times a day, but a towel in the bed helps a lot. You might need to swap this over with new, dry towels during a long, wet day if he is out working a lot.
On the Way Home.
After a long day's work, you might have a journey to get home, so this is a good time to put in a fresh, dry towel. If you have run out of dry towels, at least you have a dry dog bed for your dog. With it being totally waterproof, your dog has a chance to dry up on top of it and be pretty dry by the time you get home. A so called dog bag where you zip the dog in to a fleece bag is another way of dealing with the wet and cold. Be very aware how much draught your dog experience in the back of the car. Sometimes a cab in a pickup can be surprisingly cold and draughty. Close enough windows to keep him warm, but make sure you take advantage of the ventilation that will help drying everything off. The main thing is to keep everything as dry as possible for your dog's health.
Back Home.
When you come back from a long day's work with your dog in wet conditions, it is important that he gets dry as soon as possible. Give him a totally dry, waterproof dog bed with an absorbent cover so the moisture in his coat can disappear. You can always take that cover off to dry later. It is all about good management and good dog beds.
