Condensation Under Dog Beds

Water gathering under dog beds can happen for two main reasons: 1) Your dog’s bed is not waterproof and it is so damp from having a wet dog lying on it that it is wet right through. This is an extremely undesirable situation and you will need to make sure you get a dry dog bed situation for the health of your dog. 2) You have a waterproof dog bed, but the relative humidity in the room is high and/or the floor is cold. Any dampness will condensate and accumulate water drops under the bed. Your dog will be fine and dry and insulated from the cold floor, but the constant wetness underneath is likely to allow mould and smells. A form of ventilation under the bed will help this.

The perfect waterproof bed. A nest.

Problem with most conventional dog beds

Most dog beds for sale in pet shops in the high street or on line are made to look great with little consideration of practicality, durability, hygiene or dog comfort. To be honest, they seem to be sold in a race to the bottom based on price. Therefore they are made out of the cheapest fabrics possible along with the cheapest filling possible. The dog beds are given to the dog and at first it is a great success because these dog beds are usually fluffy and puffy and the dog will sink in to his new bed and look wonderfully comfortable. Then you take him for a walk, where he seeks out the muddy puddles because that’s where the fun is or he likes to stretch his legs running through the dew covered grassy fields feeling his coat getting wet and cleaned. Then, when you get home, he goes on his dog bed to sleep. He might not be terribly wet, but there is always a bit of damp coming out of his coat, drawn out by the absorbent fabric. Once the water from the coat has been absorbed right in through the cover to the middle of the bed, it will take longer to evaporate.

A little dampness like that is nothing to worry about, but during prolonged spells of rain, the dog bed will slowly accumulate a lot of dampness and if it gets really bad, you will find that there is dampness all the way to the floor.

By now, the bed is so damp right through that all insulating properties have been lost and the dog is lying on a cold bed even if it still looks nice and cosy. Imagine your own bed being thoroughly damp right through the mattress? It would make for a most uncomfortable sleep.

The other problem is that the inferior filling will collapse faster when constantly damp and drawing the warmth from the dog sleeping on it. With inferior dog beds the filling will only last months before it is flat, providing no insulation and no support to the dog’s joints and muscles.

There is really not much use in a dog bed that lasts only months. In general we are talking about bigger dogs that are heavier and who likes the outdoors more than small dogs.

When it comes to carbon paw prints, the throw-away habit is seriously bad. We, as humans, do not throw our beds away after only months of use because we invest in a good product from the start.

Waterproof dog beds: the solution to dampness in dog beds.

Unless you have a little dog that is either not very interested in the outdoors and muddy puddles or is at least very easy to wash and dry off when it comes in, you really need a waterproof dog bed with a professionally made mattress inside to ensure that your dog remains comfortable and healthy for his whole life. The best dog beds for dog comfort, health, hygiene and durability is a top quality bed made with a thick mattress inside that does not collapse. The fabric used for all the parts must be a durable, waterproof fabric with the best type of waterproofing on it. The waterproofing membrane must NOT be of a breathable type as this is only for jackets and horse rugs, where there is no pressure put on the fabric and where the human or horse underneath it is perspiring. Once there is water on top of a breathable waterproof fabric and pressure is applied, like a wet dog lying down, the water goes through the fabric. There is much misunderstanding around this as many people think that a dog needs a breathable dog bed fabric. Dogs do not need this as dogs do not have sweat glands on their bodies. When dogs get hot, they pant and sweat through their paws. Therefore no need for a breathable surface. The fabric must be completely impermeable for water to provide best longevity.

Once you have the right dog bed as above, you can have it on the floor or a bench or a kennel. However, you now need to consider condensation.

How to prevent condensation under a waterproof dog bed.

In most cases you will have a fairly warm floor made from wood or you have a floor covered with carpet.

Getting condensation under dog beds or other furniture is a combination of two things: Temperature differences and relative humidity in the air.

Just like a pub on a really rainy day when everyone comes in with wet clothes, the cold beer glass instantly creates condensation on the outside. This is because the warm air around the glass is full of water as a gas. As the water in the air gets in contact with the cold glass, the water precipitates from gas to liquid and you see it as droplets on the glass. If the glass was not cold, there would be no condensation on it. Equally, if the air was dry, there would be no condensation on the glass.

The same happens under the waterproof dog bed. If you have a very cold floor, for example a concrete floor without carpet, it is like the beer glass. If you have a high relative humidity in your house, you will find that the water gas will condensate on the floor. In a house where there are people walking through and doors are opened regularly the open floor will not look like a beer glass and be wet, but under covers a solid cover there will be a build-up of condensed dampness and it will be wet.

Most houses have only a very small problem with high humidity or cold flooring, but if you have, the answer is to raise the beds a tiny bit from the floor just so there is enough ventilation for the vapours to disappear when a small draught goes through.

There are many solutions to this from a couple of door mats or a pallet to very neat and professional floor coverings such as these.