Which Dog Bed? Match It to How They Sleep

The quickest way to work out what type of dog bed is best for your dog is to watch them fall asleep tonight. Not the first flop onto the rug, but where they end up an hour later, once they have stopped pretending to keep an eye on things. A tight curl with their nose under a back leg? Chin hooked over the sofa arm? Flat out on their side across the kitchen floor, paws twitching?

Most dogs settle the same way night after night, and that habit decides far more about the right bed than fabric, colour or price. When a bed fights the way a dog likes to lie, they rarely make a fuss. They just stop using it, and you find them on the floor beside it. So start with the shape, and choose everything else after.

What type of dog bed is best? Start with the three sleep styles

Nearly every dog falls into one of three camps, and each camp points to a shape.

• Curlers tuck into a ball and press their back against whatever is closest. They want walls: choose a nest or donut bed.
• Leaners rest a chin or a shoulder on something: the sofa arm, the bottom stair, your foot. They want an edge: choose a bolster bed, dog sofa or chaise.
• Sprawlers lie on their side at full stretch and change position through the night. They want open surface: choose a mattress, flat bed or raised bed.

Then there are the dogs who do two of these in one evening, and the watchers who will not settle unless they can see the door. There are shapes for them too.

Curlers: nest and donut beds

A curler is looking for something to push against. Without it, they wedge themselves into the corner of the sofa or behind your knees. A nest bed gives them walls on every side and a soft middle to sink into, so whichever way they turn there is an edge at their back.

Wall height is the main choice. Rydal has high cushioned walls in five sizes, and at £69 for the Small it is an inexpensive way to find out whether your dog is a walls dog. Thirlmere suits the curler who presses hard into the side: its felt walls hold their shape night after night instead of folding outwards. Blea Tarn and Harewood have a rim to lean into rather than high walls.

Most of our nests are built for softness rather than support. If your curler is older or stiffer, look for foam underneath: Skelwith wraps four walls and fleece round a base of memory foam and egg-crate, and Borrowdale puts a four-sided border around a memory foam base with a waterproof liner. Measure a curler curled up rather than stretched out, because the walls take a good share of the outside footprint. See all nest and donut dog beds.

Leaners: bolster beds, dog sofas and chaises

A leaner sleeps with their head up and their weight against something. Leaning is how a lot of dogs switch off, and a flat mat gives them nothing to do it with. Bolster beds put a raised, cushioned edge on one or more sides, and the number of sides is the real decision:

• One edge: Watendlath, a single pillow for the chin and three open sides, for a dog who props up first and stretches later.
• Two sides, chaise-style: Esthwaite and Bowfell, an L of bolster at the back and side, which suits the watcher who wants cover behind them and the room in view.
• Three sides and an open front: dog sofas such as Grasmere, Medium to XXL, and big beds like Staveley and Melbreak at 122 × 89cm.
• All four sides: Ullswater, fibre-filled with a non-slip base, in sizes up to 127 × 94cm.

If their chin is always on your sofa arm, a dog sofa is the closest copy of what they have already chosen. Browse bolster dog beds.

Sprawlers: mattresses, flat beds and raised beds

Put a sprawler on a walled bed and the walls eat the space they need. Back legs end up on the floor and the head lands on a bolster at an odd angle. A sprawler wants an open surface that is usable right to the edge and that they can step onto from any side.

For support, choose an open foam mattress. Buttermere is 110 × 85cm of memory foam with no walls, Ambleside runs foam to all four edges in sizes up to 140 × 100cm, and Wastwater adds a raised head built into the foam. For softness, the pillow mattresses: Seathwaite and Hawkshead are fibre-filled, with sherpa or faux fur where they lie. And for a dog who sleeps diagonally across a square of rug, Duddon is an 80 × 80cm square: fleece side up in winter, canvas side up in summer. See dog mattresses and flat beds.

The dog who does both

Plenty of dogs change style through the evening: curled tight with a chin on the edge early on, rolled out to full length once they are warm and sleepy. A fully walled bed suits the first and fights the second. Look for a bolster on some sides and open space on the others. Nocturne is built around exactly this: a bolster to prop a chin on, an open side to roll out of, and profiled egg-crate foam underneath. It comes in Large (91 × 69cm) and Extra Large (107 × 76cm).

Then think about heat, mess and space

Heat. Thick-coated dogs and hot sleepers often leave a soft bed for a hard floor to cool down. An elevated bed lifts them onto a taut mesh deck; air moves underneath, and their heat goes with it. Windermere, Brotherswater and Bassenthwaite work this way, and in winter the same deck keeps them off cold tiles with a blanket laid on top. At the other end of the scale, a dog who hunts out warm spots will appreciate sherpa, fleece or flannel to lie on.

Mess. If walks end in mud, decide where you want the waterproofing. A coated outer wipes clean in a minute: the Crummock Waterproof Nest for curlers, Wasdale for sprawlers. On our foam beds, where there is waterproofing it sits inside, as a liner over the core, so the foam stays dry while the cover goes in the wash.

Space. Measure the floor as well as the dog. A corner you are not using can take Helvellyn, a 97 × 97cm triangle that sits flush beside a sofa. A crate needs a bed measured to the inside of the crate base, such as the Glenridding quilted crate mattress. And if the bed will live in the sitting room, choose one you are happy to look at. A bed you like stays in the room where your dog wants to be.

Age. If they have begun pausing before they step in, the shape matters more than ever. Open fronts, lowered fronts and low profiles all keep an edge without the climb. Our guide to choosing an orthopaedic dog bed covers them in detail. If the stiffness is new or getting worse, talk to your vet too; a bed is for comfort, not treatment.

Which dog bed? Quick answers

Do dogs prefer beds with sides?

Some do and some do not, and you can usually tell from where they sleep now. A dog who picks the corner of the sofa or presses against your legs will probably like sides. A dog who stretches out in the middle of the floor will probably find them in the way.

Should a dog bed be soft or firm?

Soft is lovely to sink into, and fibre-filled nests are made for it. But soft filling moves away from the heaviest parts of the dog over time. For a large, heavy or older dog, foam that keeps its shape is the more reliable choice, with a soft fabric on top if they like the feel.

What type of dog bed is best for a puppy?

Something washable and easy to live with while they grow. No bed is chew-proof, so keep an eye on them early on. A waterproof layer makes the accidents of the first few months easier: Elterwater's crumb memory foam cushion lifts out and there is a waterproof layer beneath the cover, and the Crummock Waterproof Nest wipes clean.

Is a raised bed only for summer?

No. A raised mesh bed lifts a dog off whatever is underneath, which in summer means a warm floor and in winter means cold tiles. Lay a blanket on top for the colder months and take it off when the heat comes back.

If you guess wrong

You are not stuck with it. Most of our beds can be tried at home for 100 nights from delivery, and if it is not right, we arrange free UK mainland collection and a full refund. One trial per household; damage and other exclusions apply. Some products work differently. A personalised bed is made to order, so it is excluded from the trial. An outdoor dog house or day bed comes with a 30-day change-of-mind window, with return at your cost, rather than the 100 nights. For the Whinlatter car seat, check the returns terms before you order. Your statutory rights are unaffected either way.

Still torn between two shapes? Answer a few questions in the Bed Finder, sleeping position first, and it will point you to one.