Most people buy a dog bed by looking at the dog and guessing. It works about half the time. The other half, the bed goes back — or worse, it stays, and the dog sleeps on the floor beside it.
Measuring takes two minutes and a tape. Here is how we do it.
Measure them stretched out
Wait until your dog is lying on their side with their legs extended — the way they sleep when they are properly relaxed. Run the tape from the tip of the nose to the base of the tail, where the tail meets the body, not the tip. That is the length that matters.
Then add 15 to 20 cm. That is the room a dog needs to turn, settle, and shift position through the night without a paw hanging off the edge.
Watch how they actually sleep
Some dogs curl. Some sprawl. The same dog may do both depending on the weather. A curled sleeper takes up far less room than the stretched measurement suggests, which is why a Corgi can look lost in a bed that a Beagle of the same weight fills completely.
If your dog mostly curls, the stretched measurement is a generous upper bound. If they sprawl, treat it as the minimum.
Between two sizes, size up
A bed that is slightly too big still feels enclosed — the bolsters do that work. A bed that is slightly too small never does. When the measurement lands between two sizes, take the larger one.
What the number means on our pages
Every size on this site is the outer measurement of the bed. Where a bed has a raised edge, we say so, because the space inside is smaller than the outside. The size guide lists every product's dimensions in one place, alongside the dogs each one suits.
Still unsure? Email us your dog's weight and breed and we will tell you honestly what fits.