Start with how your dog sleeps. Sprawlers need a flat mattress sized to their stretched out length, while curlers settle better in a bolstered nest. Older or stiff dogs want firm support and a low entry. Chewers need a tough cover and no bean filling. Then check the cover comes off and washes.
Watch how your dog sleeps before you buy anything
Spend a couple of evenings noticing where your dog settles and what shape they make when they do. Most dogs lean one of two ways. The sprawler flops onto their side with their legs pushed straight out and their chin hanging over whatever edge is nearest. The curler tucks nose to tail and presses their back into something solid.
That one observation decides more than any product description will. Put a sprawler on a heavily bolstered nest and they end up half on the floor, because the raised sides eat the flat area they were after. Give a curler a bare mattress and they will often drag a blanket over and build their own walls. Neither dog is being difficult. The bed is simply not the shape they sleep in.
Plenty of dogs do both, depending on the season and the heating. They stretch out on warm nights and ball up when the house cools. If that sounds like yours, a roomy mattress with one raised end usually keeps everyone happy. It gives a headrest for the curled nights without stealing the room they want on the sprawled ones.
What size dog bed do I actually need?
Measure your dog at their longest, stretched out from nose to the base of the tail, then add a comfortable margin at each end. That figure is your minimum, not the size name on the box. Sizing is not standardised between ranges, so a large in one brand can sit closer to a medium in another.
Err on the generous side every time. A bed that is a little too big never causes a problem. A bed that is a little too small gets used for a fortnight and then quietly abandoned in favour of the sofa or the cool kitchen floor, and you are back where you started.
Puppies are the one case worth thinking through. Buying for the adult frame works fine when the bed is a simple mattress, because there is nothing to grow out of. If you have your eye on a snug nest for a young dog, expect to buy again later. Our breed pages give a rough sense of the adult size you are building towards, which helps you judge whether to size up now or wait.
Which bed suits an older or stiff dog?
Older dogs want support rather than softness. A deep pile of loose filling looks inviting in the photograph, then gives way under the shoulder and the hip, so standing up becomes a scramble on a surface that keeps moving. A firm, supportive flat mattress holds its shape under weight and gives the legs something honest to push against.
Entry height matters just as much. A dachshund or corgi needs that low edge most of all, and looking after a long back goes further than the bed. High bolsters and thick raised frames ask for a step up that a stiff dog would rather not make, and the bed gets skipped. Look for a low front edge, and put the bed somewhere with grip underneath. On a polished floor the first push slides it away.
Comfort here is a care action and nothing more. If your dog is struggling to rise, limping, or suddenly sleeping somewhere new, your vet comes first. On the everyday side, an older dog's routine is worth a wider look. Our guide to feeding an older dog covers the parts of the day that sit either side of a good sleep. Diets built for the later years are gathered in our senior food reviews.
What if your dog chews, digs or scratches the bed?
Some dogs treat a new bed as a project. If yours does, rule out anything filled with polystyrene beans before you look at anything else. A split seam turns into a room full of static beads, and a dog who swallows them is a call to your vet you would rather not make. Solid foam or a bonded filling behaves far better when a seam gives way.
Then go up a grade on the cover. Tightly woven, heavy fabrics with reinforced stitching and hidden zips survive a digger's evening routine, and a tougher cover usually outlasts two soft ones. Raised camp style beds are a reasonable answer for a determined chewer too, because there is very little to get a tooth into.
Digging and shredding are often about energy, and the bed itself is rarely to blame. A dog who has had a proper walk and something to think about tends to lie down and stay down. Rotating what they get in the evening helps, and there are plenty of ideas in dog toys for the hour before bed.
Why washability is the quiet dealbreaker
This is the part people skip and then regret. Dog beds collect muddy paws, wet fur and a general background of dog. If the cover does not come off, the whole bed goes in the machine or it never really gets washed. Long before the filling wears out, the smell will have decided the bed's future.
So check three things before you commit. The cover should unzip fully and the zip should be sturdy. The inner wants to be something you can wash or wipe as well. A removable, machine washable cover is worth more in daily life than any amount of clever marketing about the filling. A spare cover is the small luxury that actually pays off, because the bed stays in service on wash day and never vanishes for an afternoon.
Most of the mess is preventable at the door. A quick rub down after a wet walk keeps half the mud out of the bed in the first place. A proper drying towel from our dog towels range does that job faster than a bath sheet from the airing cupboard.
Where should the bed go, and what about the crate?
Dogs choose a sleeping spot for two reasons. They want to be near their people, and they want their back covered. A bed pushed against a wall in the corner of the room you actually sit in will nearly always beat a beautiful bed in a quiet spare room. Avoid the draughty patch by the back door, and avoid the middle of a walkway where every trip to the kettle interrupts a nap.
Two beds is not indulgent. One in the main living space and one where you sleep gives your dog somewhere to be at both ends of the day, and it stops the sofa becoming the default. Does your dog feel the cold at night? A bed with sides and a blanket to burrow under does most of the work. For the rest of the house, see our guide to keeping your dog warm this winter. In a hot spell the opposite applies, and cool floors and shade do most of the work.
Crate sleepers need a slightly different answer. The bedding wants to be flat, low and cut to fit, because a plump nest squeezed into a fixed frame loses the floor space that made the crate feel safe. Sizes and layouts are set out in our crates category, and it is worth matching the bedding to the crate rather than the other way round.
Frequently asked questions
My dog ignores the new bed. What do I do?
Give it a week before you judge it. Put the bed where your dog already chooses to sleep, not where you would like them to sleep, and add something that smells of home, such as a worn jumper or their old blanket. Feed the odd treat on it so it earns a good association. If they still refuse it, check the shape against how they sleep, because a curler on a flat pad is the usual culprit.
How often should I wash a dog bed?
Once a fortnight for the cover suits most households, and weekly if your dog swims, rolls or sheds heavily. Wash on a warm cycle with an unscented detergent, because strong fragrances put a lot of dogs off their own bed. Air or tumble the cover until it is properly dry before it goes back on. Keeping a spare means the bed never leaves the room while the first cover dries.
Is memory foam worth it for a young, healthy dog?
Usually not. A young dog with easy joints sleeps happily on a firm mattress with a decent depth of filling, and your effort is better spent on a cover that survives the year. Supportive foam earns its place once age or weight starts to tell. Slowness getting up is the clearest sign. Anything that looks like pain is a conversation with your vet, not a bedding upgrade.
Should my dog sleep in the crate or on an open bed?
Whichever your dog settles in fastest, and plenty of dogs use both. A crate suits dogs who like a covered den and puppies still learning the night routine. An open bed suits confident dogs who want to see the room and the people in it. If you use a crate, keep the bedding flat and cut to the base so the usable floor space stays intact and the door still closes cleanly.
