How to Choose the Best Dog Bed: Size, Shape and Filling

September 22, 2026

A collie lying on a grey foam mattress dog bed in a living room

The best dog bed is not the most expensive one, nor the one with the most filling. It is the one that fits your dog, suits the way it sleeps, and survives the place you put it. This guide takes you through those three questions in order, with the measurements we use ourselves when we describe a bed.

Start with the size

Most beds are returned for one reason: they are too small. A dog that cannot stretch out will lie half on the floor, and a bed that is too large for a small dog feels exposed rather than snug.

How to measure your dog

Wait until your dog is lying down in its usual sleeping position. Measure from the tip of the nose to the base of the tail, then add 15 to 25 cm. That is the guide one of our suppliers prints on its size charts, and it works well for most breeds. If you would like a figure to start from, our dog bed size guide by breed gives the average adult weight of 32 breeds common in UK homes.

If your dog sleeps curled up, measure it in a ball instead. A dog that sleeps in a tight circle often prefers a smaller round bed with a rim to lean on.

Which size for which dog

Every product page on our site gives the outer dimensions and, where the supplier states it, the weight each size is meant for. As a starting point:

Small dogs and puppies

Chihuahuas, dachshunds, toy poodles and young puppies usually fit a bed of 60 cm or less. You will find round nests, little caves with a hood, tent beds and little houses with a pitched roof in our small dog beds.

Medium dogs

A cocker spaniel, a beagle or a French bulldog generally needs 60 to 90 cm, for a dog of roughly 5 to 22 kg. Our dog beds for medium dogs cover that range, in walled beds, donuts and corduroy nests.

Large dogs

From about 25 kg, or for any dog longer than 90 cm when it stretches out, look at our large dog beds. The biggest reach 135 x 100 cm, and some are rated by the supplier for dogs of up to 80 kg.

Match the shape to the way your dog sleeps

Watch your dog for a few evenings. How it lies down tells you more than its breed does.

Dogs that curl up

A dog that tucks its nose under its tail likes walls around it. A donut bed, with its high padded rim, lets it curl inside and rest its chin on the edge. Our calming and donut dog beds run from 40 cm to 110 cm across, including the large donut dog bed, which comes in seven sizes. The word calming describes the shape, not a medical effect.

Dogs that stretch out

A dog that sprawls on its side needs length and a flat surface, not a rim that gets in the way. A mattress suits it best, or a bed that is open along the front. If yours sprawls but still likes to rest its chin on something, a high sided dog bed gives it both: a wide flat floor inside a 14 cm rim.

Dogs that lean

Some dogs sleep with their head propped up, on a cushion, the arm of the sofa or your leg. For them, a bed with a raised back or a bolster makes sense. Our dog sofa beds are built like small pieces of furniture, from a faux leather settee to a chaise longue on rubber wood legs for dogs of up to 25 kg.

Choose the filling

Filling decides how a bed feels on the first night and how it looks after a year.

Fibre filling

Most soft beds are filled with PP cotton or polyester fibre. It is light, warm and washable, and it suits dogs that like to dig and nest. Its limit is weight: under a heavy dog, fibre slowly flattens.

Foam: the orthopaedic option

A bed built on a foam base keeps its shape where fibre gives way. We only call a bed orthopaedic when it has a real foam core, and every bed in our orthopaedic dog beds collection does: sponge foam from 5 to 12 cm thick, egg crate foam or shredded foam. The thick foam mattress goes from 8 cm of foam in the smaller sizes to 12 cm in the largest.

Think about where the bed will live

The same bed will not suit a crate, a kitchen floor and the boot of a car. Decide where it goes before you choose it.

In a crate or kennel

A crate needs a flat mat without walls, so the door still closes and the dog can turn round. Measure the floor inside the crate, not the outside of the frame. Our crate and kennel beds run from 40 x 30 cm to 150 x 90 cm, including a foam crate mattress with a waterproof liner and a cover that zips off for washing.

With a puppy or an older dog

Accidents happen at both ends of a dog's life, and so do wet coats after a walk. A waterproof layer protects the filling: a coated Oxford shell that wipes down, a membrane under the cover, or a liner around the foam. Browse our waterproof dog beds, or look at the flat foam mattress with a waterproof lining and a plush pad that zips on for winter.

On a cold or warm floor

A raised bed lifts a dog off cold tiles in winter and off a warm floor in summer, because air moves underneath it. Our elevated dog beds are mesh cots on steel frames, like the large elevated dog bed, which stands 15 to 20 cm off the floor depending on the size.

In the car

A car bed has to stay put when you brake. Look for straps to the headrest and the seat belt, and a harness tether inside. Our car and travel dog beds include an elevated car bed for small dogs up to about 11 kg, a hammock for the back seat and a folding ramp, and the foam booster seat takes one dog of up to 25 kg or two small ones. If getting into the car is the hard part, our guide to choosing a dog ramp or steps covers the boot as well as the sofa and the bed.

Washing and care

Check the care line before you buy. A removable cover that goes in the machine is the easiest to live with. Long shaggy plush usually needs a hand wash and a full day to dry. Beds that arrive vacuum packed need a shake and a day or two to recover their shape, so give yours time before judging it.

For the dog that has everything, a blanket is often the best bedding of all: something to lay over the sofa, line a basket or cover the boot. Our dog blankets and mats go from 20 x 20 cm to 200 x 160 cm.