Which bed for my dog? The one it will actually sleep in, and that is not a joke: a dog spends half its life sleeping or dozing, and many beds bought with love end up empty, the dog lying on the floor next to them. The right bed comes down to three questions. What size: you measure the dog lying down, not standing. What shape: curled up against a bolster, or stretched out full length on a flat mattress. What material: a removable, washable cover for every dog, firm foam for the older dog, water-repellent fabric for the one that comes home soaked. Here is the guide, with what we know about how dogs sleep, the size chart, the chewing puppy, the arthritic dog and the dog that prefers the tiles, where to put the bed, how to look after it, and the signs that it is time to replace it.
Dog beds: the essentials in brief
| Why a proper bed | a dog sleeps or rests 12 to 14 hours a day according to the most common benchmark, in many short cycles: it needs a place of its own, where nobody disturbs it, children included |
|---|---|
| Size | measure it lying down and stretched out, from the tip of the nose to the base of the tail, then add 15 to 20 cm for a mattress; curled up, its length plus 10 to 15 cm for a round bed. When in doubt, go bigger |
| Shape | bolsters or a donut for the dog that sleeps curled up and wedges its back; a flat mattress for the one that stretches out; a firm mattress with low sides for the old, heavy or arthritic dog |
| Material | removable machine-washable cover, non-slip base, foam that keeps its shape, water-repellent fabric if the dog comes home wet; no fraying wool for a puppy |
| Where to put it | in the room where the family lives but out of the way, away from draughts and the radiator; ideally a second bed in a quiet room; at least one bed per dog |
| Signs it is wrong | it sleeps on the floor next to it, overflows the bed, takes a long time to settle, or the older dog can no longer get out of it: change the size, the shape or the firmness |
Sources: RSPCA, PDSA, Dogs Trust, Battersea, the Scottish Government's code of practice, Canine Arthritis Management, VCA, MSD Veterinary Manual; studies by Kinsman et al. (2020), Adams and Johnson (1993), Patel et al. (2017).
Contents
What we know about how dogs sleep
Less than you might think. The figure you will read everywhere, 12 to 14 hours a day for an adult, is the most common benchmark, but no measurement commands consensus: the PDSA speaks of 14 to 16 hours, and the only large field study, on 2,332 British puppies followed by questionnaire, finds about 11 reported hours a day at four months as at one year, with puppies sleeping more by day and less at night than young adults (Kinsman et al., 2020). What is certain is that dogs sleep in short bursts. An Australian team that filmed family dogs at night counted an average of 23 sleep-wake cycles in eight hours, roughly sixteen minutes of sleep then five minutes awake, and noted in passing that nine owners out of fourteen woke their dog without realising it (Adams and Johnson, 1993). So a dog needs to be able to lie back down often, quickly, and without being disturbed.
Puppies and old dogs sleep more; a two-month-old puppy has barely four to six hours of activity a day. And lack of sleep shows in behaviour: the PDSA's annual report links fewer than ten hours of sleep a day with more growling and biting. The position says something too. On its back, belly exposed, a dog lets heat out through its thinly furred belly and its pads, relieves its pressure points, and shows that it feels safe; curled up, nose on tail, it keeps its heat in and protects its organs, which it does more readily when it is cold or not entirely at ease, notes the American Kennel Club's chief veterinary officer. It is the first thing to observe before buying: does your dog sleep curled up or sprawled out?
Finally, a bed is not just a comfort, it is a house rule. The PDSA, the RSPCA and Battersea all repeat it: everyone, children included, must know that a dog in its bed is not to be disturbed, and that a sleeping dog is not woken by touching it, because a dog that is startled can bite. The Scottish code of practice, which has statutory standing in the United Kingdom, sums up the need in one line: every dog must have its own comfortable bed, in a quiet, dry, draught-free place, accessible at all times.
Size: measure the dog lying down
"Which dog bed?" always starts with "what size?", and the most frequent mistake is a bed that is too small, bought on the dog's standing size or its weight. The RSPCA sets out the simple rule: the bed must let it lie down comfortably in all its natural positions, stretched out, curled up, on its back, flat on its belly, and a bed that fits it curled up must also let it stretch its legs. To turn that into centimetres, here is the method we apply, which is that of serious manufacturers and not a veterinary standard:
- For a mattress or a sofa bed: measure the dog lying on its side, stretched out, from the tip of the nose to the base of the tail, and add 15 to 20 cm. That is the inside length it needs.
- For a round bed or a bolster bed: measure it curled up, from end to end, and add 10 to 15 cm for the inside diameter.
- When in doubt, go a size up. The PDSA, for crates, says "too big is better than too small"; that is true of all beds, except for the anxious dog that likes to feel enclosed.
- For a puppy, do not buy the adult size of a lovely bed straight away: it will chew it. A cheap blanket or a simple bed in its current size, and the real bed at around six months.
As a guide, the sizes of our own beds, with the indicative weight given on each product page:
| Bed | Sizes and dimensions | For a dog weighing |
|---|---|---|
| Donut bed, curled up | S 40 cm, M 50 cm, L 60 cm, XL 70 cm in diameter | up to 2.5 kg, 5 kg, 10 kg and 14 kg |
| Oval bolster bed | S 50 × 40, M 60 × 48, L 70 × 60, XL 90 × 66, XXL 100 × 85 cm | up to 4 kg, 10 kg, 16 kg, 25 kg and 40 kg |
| Sofa bed with bolsters | M 50 × 38, L 70 × 50, XL 90 × 60 cm | up to 3 kg, 10 kg and 15 kg |
| Flat mattress with removable cover | M 58 × 40, L 73 × 46, XL 90 × 58, 2XL 105 × 65 cm, 4 cm of foam | up to 7.5 kg, 15 kg, 25 kg and 45 kg |
| Plush mattress, large dog | 120 × 60 cm | medium and large dogs |
Weight is only an indication: a 30 kg greyhound is longer than a 30 kg bulldog. The measurement comes first.
Shape: curled up or stretched out
The dog that sleeps curled up: bolsters and donut
Round or oval beds with sides suit dogs that sleep curled up, writes the RSPCA: the bolsters keep them warm, block draughts, and serve as a headrest. The faux-fur donut bed is the most enveloping version, and it is the favourite bed of the small dog, the puppy and the dog that feels the cold. A word of honesty about the "calming" label these beds carry: we have found no published study that measures a calming effect of the donut bed, and we do not promise you one. What is documented is that shy or nervous dogs appreciate a bed where they can feel enclosed, or even a closed den or a crate covered with a blanket, front open, which cuts out noise and light, according to the RSPCA and the PDSA. The oval bolster bed, a little more open, goes up to 40 kg.
The dog that stretches out: the flat mattress and the sofa bed
The dog that sleeps on its side, legs outstretched, or on its back, needs room and few bolsters: a flat mattress with a removable cover, or a sofa bed with low bolsters that leaves the seat clear and gives it a headrest. For a large dog, the plush 120 × 60 cm mattress. It is also the shape that suits summer, when the dog tries to spread as much skin as possible over a cool surface.
The old, heavy or arthritic dog: firm and low
This is the dog for whom the bed matters most, and the one for whom people most often get it wrong by choosing the softest. Canine Arthritis Management, the leading British organisation on arthritis in dogs, describes the right bed as both supportive and enveloping: it cushions without sagging, the dog gets into it without obstacle and changes position in it easily, it is placed somewhere warm, away from draughts, on a non-slip floor. An arthritic dog that cannot settle, that circles and gets up again, is often expressing poorly controlled pain. The organisation also advises preferring a bed on the floor to the sofa, which it has to jump off, or adding a ramp. In practice: a firm foam mattress that keeps its shape, memory foam or dense foam, what manufacturers call an orthopaedic bed, at least 4 cm thick for a dog over 15 kg by our benchmark, with low sides or no sides, and a second bed where the family lives so that it no longer has to climb the stairs. Large dogs that sleep on hard floors develop elbow hygromas, pockets of fluid caused by repeated pressure, which VCA says thick bedding prevents. The rest of arthritis management, weight, exercise, adapting the home, is in our article on arthritis in dogs.
Material and care
- A removable, machine-washable cover is the first criterion, before colour. A bed gets washed often: the dog brings back mud, smells and, when it happens, fleas. The MSD Veterinary Manual points out that a flea lays up to fifty eggs a day, which fall where the animal sleeps: in an infestation, you wash the bedding, vacuum around it, and start again for six weeks to three months, the length of the cycle. Wash the cover at the hottest temperature its label allows. Our guide to fleas in dogs details treating the home.
- Foam that keeps its shape. Foam that sags within three months is a bed to throw away; a dense or memory foam mattress stays flat under the weight. For a dog over 15 kg, at least 4 cm.
- A non-slip base, essential on tiles and wooden floors, especially for the older dog that struggles to get up.
- Water-repellent fabric for the dog that comes home wet or lives between garden and house, recommends the RSPCA; a waterproof blanket also protects the sofa, which for many dogs remains the favourite bed.
- For the puppy that chews, no expensive bed and no fraying wool it could swallow: a cheap fleece blanket, to be replaced, and chew toys within reach. The PDSA points out that a puppy chews because it is teething, bored or worried, that you redirect it to a toy instead of scolding it, and that a puppy should not be left alone for more than four hours.
- In winter, the PDSA advises raising the bed so that it is not in a cold draught at floor level, and adding a blanket; arthritis gets worse in the cold. A self-heating mat, which reflects body heat without electricity, warms the bed without the burn risk that the AVMA attributes to electric heating pads.
- In summer, it is the opposite: the dog looks for the tiles. The PDSA suggests a cooling mat or a damp towel laid on the floor, re-wetted as needed, in the coolest room. No wet towel laid over the dog, warns Dogs Trust: it can raise its temperature instead of lowering it.
Where to put the bed
Where the family lives, but not right in everyone's path. The RSPCA advises a warm, draught-free spot, and ideally two beds: one in a quiet room for real rest, one in the living room to stay near you, and at least one bed per dog. The RSPCA's version for schools adds: away from the television, out of play areas, not next to a door. Dogs Trust adds keeping it away from heat sources, fireplace and radiator included. A dog that has the choice between several beds of different shapes will soon tell you which one suits it.
In the bedroom or not? That is your choice, and it is not bad for your sleep: in 40 adults who slept with their dog in the bedroom, sleep efficiency remained good, at 81% on average, but it dropped when the dog slept on the bed rather than beside it (Patel et al., 2017). If the dog sleeps in your bed, the CDC's epidemiologists remind you to keep it wormed and treated against fleas, and advise against it for young children and immunocompromised people. For a new puppy, Dogs Trust recommends having it sleep in the same room as you at first, then moving its bed away gradually, and going back a step if it cries.
In a crate? Many puppies sleep in a crate for the first few months, and the British study confirms it: at four months, it was the most frequent night-time bed, before the dog bed at one year. The PDSA's rules: big enough to stand up, turn round and stretch out, soft bedding over the whole floor, a blanket over the top and sides, front open, in a quiet corner from which it can see the house, the door open at first, water, never as a punishment, and no more than three hours at a stretch.
In the car, the bed does not travel: the dog is tethered or in a crate, and what protects it is a seat or boot cover, as we explain in our article on dogs in the car.
It will not sleep in it, it sleeps on the floor, it guards it
It refuses its bed. That is not a whim, it is information: too small, too soft, too hot, badly placed. Try another shape, another bolster height, another spot; some dogs prefer a firm, flat, cool bed, notes Canine Arthritis Management. And let it sleep where it chooses in the meantime: Battersea and the Wood Green rescue centre remind us that a resting dog is left alone, whether it is in its bed, on the sofa or on the floor.
It sleeps on the tiles. It is hot: tiles stay cool, and it is through the belly and the pads that it lets heat out. That is normal in summer; if it is all year round and it is a large dog, watch its elbows, because hard floors encourage hygroma, and offer it a thin, cool mattress rather than a donut.
It scratches and circles before lying down. Normal behaviour, probably inherited from flattening a nest: in an informal observation of 62 dogs, more than half turned in circles before lying down on an uneven surface, against one in five on a smooth surface. A bed whose filling shifts a little will please it; the only worry is a dog that circles for a long time without managing to settle, a possible sign of pain.
It growls when someone approaches its bed. That is resource guarding, a natural behaviour that can apply to a place, writes Battersea. You do not punish, that makes it worse; you do not approach and you do not interrupt; you call it out of the bed for a treat placed at a distance, and you teach children that the bed is a no-go zone. If it bites, a behaviourist, through your vet.
When to replace the bed
There is no rule on frequency; the Scottish code simply says "regularly cleaned and replaced when necessary". The need shows: sagging foam through which the floor can be felt, a torn cover from which the dog pulls out the filling, a smell that survives washing, a dog that overflows the bed or that, as it ages, can no longer get over the bolster. An old dog often changes bed one last time, for a firm, low mattress, and it is the best purchase of its old age.
Dog beds and bedding: our selection
One bed for each way of sleeping, from the donut to the large-dog mattress, and something to protect it in winter and in the rain. The whole dog beds and bedding collection.
Faux-fur donut bed, S to XLView product
Oval bolster bed, S to XXLView product
Sofa bed with bolsters, M to XLView product
Foam mattress with removable cover, M to 2XLView product
Plush mattress 120 × 60 cmView product
Self-heating mat, no electricityView product
Fleece blankets, set of 3View product
Waterproof sofa blanketView product
Folding crate 92 cm, 2 doorsView product
Frequently asked questions about dog beds
What is the best bed for a dog?
The one that matches the way it sleeps: a bolster bed or a donut if it sleeps curled up, a flat mattress or a sofa bed if it stretches out, a firm, low mattress if it is old or arthritic. With a removable, washable cover in every case.
Does a dog need a bed?
Yes: it sleeps or rests for half the day, in short cycles, and it needs a place of its own where nobody disturbs it. The Scottish code of practice calls for one bed per dog, in a quiet, dry, draught-free place.
What size bed should I choose for my dog?
Measure it lying down and stretched out, from the nose to the base of the tail, and add 15 to 20 cm for a mattress; curled up, its length plus 10 to 15 cm for a round bed. It must be able to lie in all its positions. When in doubt, go bigger.
How do I measure my dog for a bed?
Wait until it is asleep on its side, measure from the tip of the nose to the base of the tail, then add the margin. Weight is not enough: a 30 kg greyhound and a 30 kg bulldog are not the same length.
Donut bed or mattress: which should I choose?
The donut for the dog that sleeps curled up and wedges its back against a bolster; the mattress for the one that stretches out on its side or its back, and for large dogs. Many dogs like to have both, depending on the season.
Do "calming" beds really calm a dog?
No published study has measured it. What is documented is that nervous dogs appreciate an enveloping bed, a closed den or a covered crate, front open, which cuts out noise and light.
Which bed for a puppy that chews everything?
A cheap blanket to be replaced, with no fraying wool, and chew toys next to it; the real bed at around six months. It chews because it is teething or bored: redirect it to a toy, do not scold it.
Which bed for an old or arthritic dog?
A firm mattress that does not sag, dense or memory foam, with low sides to get in without stepping over, a non-slip base, placed somewhere warm and on the ground floor. An arthritic dog that cannot settle is often expressing pain.
Where should the dog's bed go in the house?
In the living room but out of the way, away from draughts, the radiator and doors, and ideally a second bed in a quiet room. At least one bed per dog.
Can the dog sleep in the bedroom?
Yes: in 40 adults, sleeping with the dog in the bedroom left sleep good, a little less so when it was on the bed. In the bed, keep it wormed and treated against fleas, and avoid it with young children.
Why does my dog not sleep in its bed?
Because it is too small, too soft, too hot or badly placed. Change the shape, the bolster or the spot, offer it two different beds, and let it sleep where it chooses in the meantime.
Why does my dog sleep on the floor tiles?
It is hot: tiles stay cool and it lets heat out through its belly. Normal in summer. All year round in a large dog, watch its elbows and offer a thin mattress rather than a donut.
How do I wash a dog bed?
Cover in the machine, at the hottest temperature the label allows, and more often in case of fleas: the eggs fall into the bedding, and you have to wash and vacuum for six weeks to three months. Hence the value of a bed with a removable cover.
When should I replace my dog's bed?
When the foam has sagged, the cover is torn, the smell will not shift, or when the dog overflows it or can no longer get over the bolster. There is no set frequency: you replace it when necessary.
Why does my dog scratch its bed before lying down?
It is normal behaviour, probably inherited from flattening a nest: dogs circle and scratch mostly on an uneven surface. The only worry is a dog that circles for a long time without managing to settle.
Sources
- RSPCA, "Choosing the right bed for your dog": shapes according to the way it sleeps, two beds, one per dog, the older dog
- PDSA, "Dogs and sleep", October 2024: hours of sleep, do not disturb, several resting spots
- Kinsman et al., "Sleep Duration and Behaviours: A Descriptive Analysis of a Cohort of Dogs up to 12 Months of Age", Animals, 2020: 2,332 puppies, sleep duration, sleeping place
- Adams and Johnson, "Sleep-wake cycles and other night-time behaviours of the domestic dog", Applied Animal Behaviour Science, 1993: 23 cycles a night
- American Kennel Club, "Why Does My Dog Sleep on His Back?", updated 4 August 2026: what sleeping positions tell us
- Scottish Government, "Welfare of dogs: code of practice", 2010: one bed per dog, quiet, dry, draught-free
- Canine Arthritis Management, "Home environment adaptations": the arthritic dog's bed
- VCA, "Hygroma in Dogs", updated 17 April 2025: hard floors and thick bedding
- MSD Veterinary Manual, "Fleas of Dogs", updated September 2024: eggs in the bedding, length of treatment
- PDSA, "Crate training" and "How to train my dog not to chew things": the crate, the chewing puppy
- PDSA, "How to keep your dog cool in summer", 2021, PDSA, winter advice, December 2022 and Dogs Trust, "Caring for your dog during hot weather"
- Dogs Trust, "How to help your puppy get settled into your home" and "Ten tips to make your home dog-friendly": the puppy at night, away from heat sources
- Battersea, "Keeping children and dogs safe together", updated 3 July 2026 and "Resource guarding": letting a dog sleep, the dog that guards its bed
- Patel et al., "The Effect of Dogs on Human Sleep in the Home Sleep Environment", Mayo Clinic Proceedings, 2017 and Chomel and Sun, "Zoonoses in the Bedroom", Emerging Infectious Diseases, 2011: the dog in the bedroom
Article updated 2 November 2026. The photos in this article were generated by AI. See also: arthritis in dogs, the dog coat and dogs in the car.
