Insulating a truck bed so save for dog storage

A little background: I have an '04 GMC Canyon with a 4' bed that is covered with a matching fiberglass cap. I have very, very limited space inside the cab. I can fit all three dogs in there, but it is tight and they all have to ride loose. I cannot fit even a single crate that is big enough to house 1 ACD in the cab.

At least 2 days out of the week, I spend about an hour in class and then head straight to my dog park job. It would be great if I could have the dog(s) hang out in the truck while I'm in class so that they can join me at work. I do not have the time nor the extra gas money to run home and get them, but the socialization and exercise is much better for them than sitting at home. I'd also like to set it up for trials, hiking, ect, ect. This would also be ideal for me to possibly do overnights at shows and such. I can just camp out with them instead of tenting or needing to stay in a hotel. Also, I can take everyone to work so that we can run at the park after, but I don't have to have everyone inside at the same time.

So basically I'm looking to fab up some sort of situation where I can have it cool in the summer, and warm in the winter. I'm thinking if I insulate the roof and possibly down the sides a bit that should give me a start. Then, I can build a raised platform (the floor is rubberized, to start) and possibly insulate that as well. I'm not positive I'm going to do this just because I am thinking about eventually doing a variocage. I also think I can fab up some insulated crate covers and possibly make a box which I can put straw in.

I'm thinking about installing a roof fan and hooking it up to a 12v battery. In addition, I can cover the windows with a reflective insulation, and buy a reflective cover to put on top for the summer. I can also run separate fans off a different battery and open up windows. If I'm right there and can watch the dogs (such as a trial), I can open up the window and the tailgate as well. I've debated getting cooling coats as well.

Do you guys think this would work? Any other suggestions?

A few of the roof vents I'm looking at:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...=B0027XEKQ8&linkCode=as2&tag=cheaprvliving-20

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...=B000BUQODG&linkCode=as2&tag=cheaprvliving-20

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...=B001MXH9FS&linkCode=as2&tag=cheaprvliving-20

What if instead of insulating the truck, you built insulated crates and put them inside of the cap? The smaller space would make it easier to trap heat and you could even add straw to the crates. Or do you want them loose while back there?

For the summer, I think vents and reflective material over windows would help.

When I had a truck, I had a windshield screen and a box fan I would strap into the window and run off a separate battery. It worked really nicely and I would often camp in the truck so I used it a lot. LOL.

Yes. That would totally work. The one reason I was thinking about doing the whole thing is I was wondering if that would help keep it cooler in the summer, as many times I have no shade to park under.

I could not do this and feel safe. :yikes:


Doing this yourself - questions need to be asked. How will you feel if the dogs are not supervised and the cooling system you came up with is inadequate or heaven forbid, fails? Hate to bring it up but could it happen? Nothing is 100% fail safe I know. Saving money is good but some things are just not worth cutting corners. Life safety is one of them. If you do go down this road, you may want to have redundant ventilation systems. More than one fan and each one on a separate dedicated power supply. Look for something to warn you if the temperature gets too extreme.

Too scary for me.

We train and trial in GA (hot hot hot in the summer) and we have a dog trailer. Some of the things that make it doable for our crew (all of the dogs have traveled/trialed and been fine in the trailer, even in very high temperatures - obviously we monitor them, and they are acclimated):

We have reflective sheets that we drape over the top, and over the doors so that they can be open but prevent the sun from going in. That by itself does WONDERS. The trailer also has an exhaust fan that circulates the air in each box. Plenty of water provided, I also douse groin and feet with water frequently to help keep them cool. Limit, who has Border Collie Collapse Syndrome, often wears a cooling coat. I have several and rotate them if needed (I keep them wet, in a cooler).

I think the most important thing is to make sure they acclimate as the weather gets warmer. If they're used to riding in the car with the a/c on, they will struggle. Our dogs ride in the trailer year around and they do great. With the exception of Limit who has a very hard time regulating his temperature and we keep an extremely close eye on and make a lot of adjustments just for him. The GSDs and the Corgi acclimate phenomenally.

I would figure out a locking system for your crates so you don't have to worry about thievery so you can leave windows and back wide open...

We've brought the dog trailer to MI in the heat of the summer and in the middle of winter and the dogs did fine in it. Just make sure they're ready for it and you know what to expect

ETA: Limit rode in a varikennel with a quilted cover over it in the open bed of the pickup for our last few winter trips to MI and he was WARM (he also had on fleece pajamas). When I opened the back up, I could feel heat come out of his crate and his little ears and body were warm to the touch. That might be another (cheapish) option for helping to conserve body heat in the winter.

Mark- I'm not just going to put this together, throw them in an hope it works. I will have several tests in a controlled environment (several days at home) where I can frequently go check and make sure all is good.

Thanks for the insight Falon! I was hoping you would chime in as I knew you had the trailer.

Meagan,
I am sure you will be careful. I just worry A LOT.

-Mark.

I know nothing about getting the cab set up, but I would definitely want something monitoring the temperature at all times.

I have a few friends with this device that use them in their RVs at trials in the summer and love them:

http://theanimalarm.com/

I did plan on putting a thermometer in there, but that is neat BB!

Wow that is really neat, quite an investment considering you also have to buy a cellular plan for it (either pay as you go or contract) but for the piece of mind I may even have to invest in one.

For summer trials I have huge piece of aluminet. I can crate my dogs in the car with the aluminet over the whole thing. Windows open (can even open doors if I want more air flow.

Even when we are parked in the middle of a field at the hottest part of the day in the blazing sun it stays pleasantly cool. When we were travelling in the US (Maf, the dogs, my son and I) and we were in North Carolina and it was 112 not including any sort of humidex reading we could park in a asphalt parkinglot and leave one of us and the dogs with the aluminet covering the car and it was warm but not dangerously so.

So YAY aluminet

For winter I have very small dogs who hate cold so lots of coats and covering the crates themselves when I have had to leave them in the car. For my dogs I worry more in the very cold than the very hot.