Elevated Dog Dish and Controlling Mice

I was browsing Instructables the other day and noticed a "Pest Control" contest had recently started. Fortunately for me, I just finished a project that fit perfectly. My hope is that you either find this Instructable helpful in controlling any pests or you simply enjoy the design.

If you happen to know someone who lives in a location surrounded by farm fields, ask them about winter weather and rodents. Trust me, I bet they have a few war stories. As the temperature drops here in Indiana, you start setting all of your seasonal traps. After not catching anything and seeing signs of mice, I began to investigate where the mice were obtaining their food. I walked into the back room one morning and found a mouse eating from my dog's food bowl. It was then that my own personal war story began.

I decided I needed to get the food and water dishes off of the floor and out of the reach of the mice by building an elevated food station. This is my story.

As always, before we start any woodworking project, follow these famous words from Norm Abram - "Before we use any power tools, let's take a moment to talk about shop safety. Be sure to read, understand, and follow all the safety rules that come with your power tools. Knowing how to use your power tools properly will greatly reduce the risk of personal injury. And remember this: there is no more important safety rule than to wear these — safety glasses."

Step 1: Gathering and Prepping Your Materials

Here is a list of the materials I used:

• Wood (sourced from a friend)
• Wood filler
• Wood glue
• A 10' piece of 1" PVC pipe
• 4 x 1" PVC elbows
• 8 x 1" PVC tees
• 4 x 1" PVC end caps
• 4 x 1" galvanized pipe brackets
• PVC Primer/Cement
• 2 x Food safe bowls (picked up from my local restaurant supply store)
• Random screws (details in build instructions)
• Drill/Table Saw/Jigsaw/Orbital Sander

A friend called the day I had planned to head to the local big-box hardware store to pick up my supplies and asked if I wanted a shelf system he built for an old 4H project as a child. I believe my response was, "Obviously!" After picking it up, I took a few minutes to pull nails and remove screws from the shelf system and ended up with a nice selection of old yellow pine.

I then took some wood filler and plugged up any nail/screw holes and any imperfections on the face of the wood. After that dried, I sanded all of the surfaces of the wood and cut two pieces of the 3/4" thick yellow pine to size - The base platform being cut to 28" x 11" and a backsplash cut to 28" x 5". I then took my orbital sander and rounded all of the edges and corners of the pieces, minus the edges of both pieces which would meet in the front of the platform.

Step 2: Adding Food Dishes and Protecting the Wood.

I spent some time doing the math to perfectly center the dog food bowls on the platform. To save you the time of figuring out all of the dimensions, I've included my measurements in the attached image. I started by measuring a horizontal line across the face of the platform to set my bowls in the center of the platform when the backsplash was attached. Since the backsplash sat on top of the platform and was 3/4" thick, I measured 5 1/8" from the front and placed a horizontal line across the platform (5 1/8" + 5 1/8" + 3/4" = 11"). I then went 4" inches from the side of the board to allow me to attach the stand from below without getting in the way of the hanging bowls. From this point, I measured over 8 1/2" to account for the 8 1/2" bowl. I left a 3 inch space between bowls and then marked another 8 1/2" from that for the second bowl. The last measurement was another 4" inches for the other side of the stand. When added up, they totaled my overall 28" platform. - MATH!

I split the 8 1/2" space and made a center mark so I could cut out the hole for each bowl. I used a compass set at 4" to mark the cut out for my bowls. Each bowl has a 3/8" lip from the edge to the start of the bowl and I wanted the 8 1/2" bowl to sit flat on the platform but also have a little wiggle room so the bowl could be easily removed and cleaned. Cutting the holes at 8" gave me that needed room. I used a drill to start a pilot hole and a jigsaw to rough cut the holes from the platform. I then used some sandpaper to round the edges of each hole.

After dry fitting each bowl to make sure my math was spot on, I coated the platform and backsplash with 3 layers of polyurethane, sanding between each coat. I finished with a layer of rejuvenating oil, followed by a light sanding with 0000 steel wool.

Step 3: Building the Stand

After a trip to the local big box hardware store and an hour on the floor laying out various types of piping, I decided to go with 1" PVC. The decision to go with PVC was made due to overall cost and weight of the final project.

After some internet research, I found that the average mouse can jump upwards of 11-12 inches. I found that I needed to fit my pipe connections as close as possible to both keep me above a mouse's jumping ability and to keep it low enough where my dog could reach the bowls without issue. Here are the specific sizes of each piece of 1" PVC:

• 8 x 1 1/2"
• 2 x 22"
• 4 x 5 1/4"
• 4 x 4 5/8"

You can find the layout in the attached image. (Please pardon my sketchy mock-ups and please let me know if you have specific questions on the construction.) I did a rough fitting to make sure everything fit properly, which it did, and then began to clean and cement the pieces together. Being I had to work quickly with the cement, I did not get a lot of pictures of each step. I built the frame in sections, building the back supports, front sections of legs, and back sections before putting it all together at the end. Doing this is sections allows you to square up all of your joints. After each section was built and cemented together, I put all of the pieces together and quickly worked to square up all of the pieces and ensure the platform would lay level on my newly constructed stand.

I then applied a layer of primer and once that dried I spray painted the stand with a few layers of flat black paint.

Step 4: Attaching the Platform to the Stand

I then flipped the platform over and centered the stand on top of it. I used galvanized pipe brackets and a set of small screws to attach the platform to the stand in 4 locations - 2 on each leg.

I was smart enough at the beginning to square up the backsplash to the platform and pre-drill 5 screws holes from the bottom of the platform up into the backsplash. I then used some 2" screws and wood glue to attach the backsplash to the platform and set it upright.

Step 5: Setting Everything Up

I placed the new platform in its final location, added the bowls, and filled them up. Otis Puppy took to his new food dish platform in no time... thanks to a couple of pieces of pepperoni I placed under his normal food.

The good news is that I have yet to see any signs of mice on the dog food platform and have actually found a few in my traps. I believe this is due to them finding alternate sources of food since their old source is now out of reach.

Comments

[matthk]

What's with the photos around the wrong way?
I'm constantly putting my laptop on its side just to see what you've done. :-P

[Caroline-Zoey]

Do you think the mice don't or can't climb up the legs due to the bench being wider than the frame? This is a new problem at our house and so far it's Mice 5, Humans 0. I refuse to be beaten by a cute little rodent.

[benjaminsutton]

That’s part of it but the more important aspect was the height, which was, according to internet research, just higher than a mouse can actually jump. For my issue, the elevated dish definitely helped control mice in the dog food dish. I am sure those crafty little buggers could find a way up if they wanted but this definitely was a bit of a deterrent.

[Caroline-Zoey]

Now I'll have to talk one of my brothers into making it for me. I have a Golden Retriever so height isn't an issue. Thank you so much for putting up the plans and specifications, and answering all the queries.

[benjaminsutton]

I hope it is at least helpful in guiding you to a perfect solution for your issue. I’d love to see some finished photos of what you end up designing. I already have plans for my next version which brings an aspect of automation into the mix. It’s likely overkill but that is part of the reason I enjoy building.

[SueE34]

would love to be able to do this. The issue I'm reviewing at this time is I have two smaller dogs so I need to pay close attention on the height. I live rural and know exactly what you are referring to when it comes to the war issue with mice; I'm going through that matter myself and having quite the issue when it comes to mouse traps; I empty them out often and it is getting quite frustrating. I would like to take care of this matter so I am hoping to locate an answer what to do for smaller dogs.

[benjaminsutton]

I did luck out on the larger-dog front. I'm not sure how effective a smaller version would be at combatting mice. I had a few other designs, including a pad on the floor connected to an arduino that would sense my dog walking up to the dish and would open a lid when he stood on it and shut it a few seconds after he got off of it. In the end, this solution worked well enough not to have to go program a bunch of code.

Good luck!

[1rubberduck]

We use a pet feeder that opens in response to an RFID tag attached to the collar and shuts when they have finished eating, so mice, rats and other pests cannot gain access. The feeder will let you set separate allowances/diets for up to 8 pets and you can allow or lock out any pet you wish. More info at Wireless Whiskers site wirelesswhiskers.com

[JenniferR197]

I have a small dog how would this work for her? She is smaller the 11-12 inches she is at least 8-9 inches tall.

[benjaminsutton]

First off, sounds like a lovely mix. I think you could go two ways with adjusting these plans. Firstly, you could shorten the legs to bring the top of the food tray to just under shoulder level of your puppy. Secondly, you could likely build a little ramp up to a platform, giving her the ability to reach the top of the food tray. My build was created to be high enough to keep mice from jumping up into the food bowls. If you don't have a mouse problem, I think something like this would be purely for aesthetics and the overall height really wouldn't matter then.

[JenniferR197]

she is a lab mixed with beagle and is build like a beagle

[LanetteS]

Your raised dish looks very nice. The one I made for my dogs is ugly but it works.
Please let us know as soon as the bird proof dog dish is finished. Birds are well fed on my patio. Your idea sounds like a keeper.

[benjaminsutton]

Thank you for the kind words on the look of the stand. I always put functionality over design but find a little spray paint and finishing oil can really turn a project up a notch. I will definitely post the bird-proof design once it is finished. I am working with a friend who is far more proficient when it comes to working with an Arduino than myself. I think he is going to program the electronics while I build it. I hopefully will get started on it soon but I am in the middle of a kitchen remodel and that is occupying a good deal of my time.

[titchtheclown]

A good feature of your design is that the legs are set in from the edges. Mice are good climbers and the overhang needs to be big enough to stop them climbing up the leg and reaching round up onto the top.

[benjaminsutton]

I was a bit worried about that but so far, no signs of mice near the water or food bowls. I guess it is working.

[lapenta]

I think the best way to avoid mices on dog food is to teach them - dogs, not mices :D - to eat as soon as you serve them. This will avoid mices, birds, ants...
As said, mices are very good at climbing and entering small holes, and other super powers.

Anyway, that's a sweet project, not only to avoid mices, but to make eating more confortable to your dog!
I'll try make one myself, for sure. Nowadays my dogs eat with their plates over 2 bricks. it works, but it's ugly as hell. Yours is a very neat.

I'll post here if I manage to do an elegant solution based on yours, but considering my wood working skills and tools, mine will be far less pretty.

Thanks for sharing your project.

[benjaminsutton]

My dog definitely was better at eating as soon as he was served when he was a puppy. Over time, he got a bit more lazy in his eating habits. I should probably work on that with him.

[AnsonW4]

This is a well-done project and a beautifully written and illustrated Instructable. Those considering duplicating it might consider this, however:

Bloat in dogs is a killer second only to cancer, and one of the risk factors in bloat is eating from a raised bowl. It might be wise to Google bloat before deciding to build one of these for your pup. Unfortunately, that leaves you with the mouse problem!

[lapenta]

damm I didn't know about that. I'll search for more info

[benjaminsutton]

I think I have a second Instructables to build now that will bring the bowls back down towards the ground once the mouse invasion is over. The good part is I think I have controlled the mouse issue in a very timely manner. Thank you for sharing this information.