Dog Sofa Beds

A dog sofa bed suits a dog that rests its chin on an edge or presses its back into a corner, because there is a back and two arms to lean into. The rim does take up room, so the flat part your dog lies on is smaller than the outside measurement on the listing.

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Watch where your dog puts its head when it is properly asleep, then pick the row that matches.

Rests its chin on the edge The Waterproof Corduroy Sofa Dog Bed: walls at the back and sides, one front corner dropped for stepping inWaterproof Corduroy Sofa Dog Bed Presses its back into a corner The Shaggy Plush Square Dog Bed: four walls of even height, six sizes up to 43 × 35 inShaggy Plush Square Dog Bed Curls up loosely The Oval Plush Dog Bed: a thick plush rim all the way roundOval Plush Dog Bed Already sleeps on your sofa The Plush Sofa Dog Bed: a faux-fur topper with a rolled bolster along the backPlush Sofa Dog Bed Sleeps flat out on its side A flat bed from the dog beds page: a wall here is floor your dog cannot use

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The rim is the whole argument, and the whole cost

Which dogs get something back from a wall

The ones that sleep with their head propped up, and the ones that press their spine against something before they settle. A sofa shape gives them both at once, and you can usually tell within a night whether your dog is one of them.

A dog that sleeps flat out on their side uses none of the rim and loses room to it. For that dog a flat mat of the same footprint is simply a bigger bed.

One bed with three dogs on it: one resting a chin on the rim, one pressed spine first against it, one lying flat and not touching it.

The inside measurement is the real one

On the deeper designs here the wall takes several inches off each side, so the usable panel sits well under the box dimensions. The listings on this page give outer dimensions, which is the industry habit and not a helpful one. Subtract the wall before you compare a bed to your dog, not after it arrives.

A listing card showing only the outer size, and beneath it the same bed with the wall band measured on every side and the inner panel measured separately.

Listed height runs from 5 in to just under 10 in (12 to 25 cm) here

Listed height is the whole bed, rim included, so it tells you the most your dog has to step over, not the exact entry. Near the bottom of that range a mid-size dog lying flat still shows above the rim and can drape a leg over it. Near the top the rim is a real enclosure, which suits a dog that likes to be held in and is a step to climb for an older one. The sizes on this page run from 16 × 12 in (40 × 30 cm) to 43 × 35 in (110 × 90 cm).

The same dog in the same bed twice, once with a five-inch wall it drapes a leg over and once with an eight-inch wall that encloses it.

Round, oval and square are not the same bed with a different outline

A round basket bed asks the dog to curl, and the sleeping circle is smaller than the diameter on the label. An oval with a rim all the way round suits a dog that curls loosely. A square bed with walls on all four sides encloses completely; a dog that likes an exit route does better with a dropped front corner, like the one on the Waterproof Corduroy Sofa Dog Bed.

A round bed with the ring shaded and the sleeping circle measured inside it, an oval with a rim all round, and a three-walled bed with an arrow leaving through the open side.

For an older dog, look at the entry before the padding

A tall side is a step to climb before they can lie down, and a dog with stiff hips will avoid a bed rather than climb it twice a night. The Waterproof Corduroy Sofa Dog Bed has one front corner dropped, which solves that without giving up the back and side walls.

The same bed twice with the same dog: pausing with a paw raised at a tall front wall, and walking straight in where the front corner is dropped.

How much floor a wall costs you

Take a bed listed at 32 by 24 in (80 by 60 cm) with walls 5 in (12 cm) thick. The wall runs round all four sides, so it takes 5 in (12 cm) from each edge: the sleeping panel is 22 by 14 in (56 by 36 cm). That is not a small correction. The panel is about 40 per cent of the listed area, and it is the difference between a bed that fits a spaniel and one that does not.

The correction is arithmetic, not judgement: subtract twice the wall thickness from each dimension. Do it before you compare a bed to your dog, because the listing will not do it for you.

Most of the listed area is wall. Drawn as an area rather than described, the loss is impossible to misread.

A rim only works if the dog uses it

Watch where your dog puts its head when it is properly asleep, not when it is settling. A dog that ends the night with its chin on something is telling you a bolster will get used. A dog that ends flat on its side, head on the floor, is telling you the opposite.

This is the cheapest test available and almost nobody runs it. A week of watching costs nothing and removes the most expensive mistake in the category.

The same bolster is a headrest for one dog and lost floor for the other. Only the dog changes between the two drawings.

Four walls, three walls, or one

A four-sided bed encloses completely, which suits a dog that likes to be held in and makes it harder for an older dog to get out. A three-walled bed leaves one open side, which is what a dog that wants an exit route will choose every time. A single bolster along one edge gives a headrest and costs almost no floor.

On the beds here the listed height runs from 5 in to just under 10 in (12 to 25 cm), and the Waterproof Corduroy Sofa Dog Bed has one front corner dropped for stepping in. That dropped corner is worth more than an extra half inch of padding for most older dogs.

The same footprint gives three different amounts of usable floor depending only on how much of the perimeter is walled.

Questions people ask about dog sofa beds

What is the best dog sofa bed?

The one whose inside panel fits your dog stretched out, with a wall where your dog actually puts its head. Measure the dog nose to the base of the tail, add 6 to 8 in (15 to 20 cm), and compare that with the inside of the bed, not the outside. After fit, the choice is about entry height: an older dog does better with a dropped front corner than with an extra inch of padding.

Are bolster beds good for dogs?

For some dogs, clearly. A bolster gives a raised edge to rest a chin on and something to press a spine against, and dogs that want either will use it every night. For a dog that sleeps flat on their side it is floor area they cannot lie on. Watch how yours sleeps for a week; that tells you more than any product description.

What is the difference between a bolster bed and a sofa bed?

Mostly how much of the perimeter is walled. A bolster usually runs along one or two edges and leaves the rest open. A sofa or three-wall bed encloses three or four sides. The more wall, the more enclosure and the less usable flat area for the same outside footprint.

Is it okay for dogs to sleep on the sofa?

That is a house rule only you can set. What we can tell you is why dogs pick the sofa: it has a back and arms and it is raised off a cold floor. A walled bed reproduces two of those three, which is why dogs that have claimed the sofa often accept one. If the sofa stays theirs, a quilted topper with a bolster along the back keeps the cushions clean.

How do I size a bed that has walls?

Measure your dog stretched out, nose to the base of the tail, add 6 to 8 in (15 to 20 cm), and hold that number against the inner panel rather than the outer box. The listings here give outer dimensions, so take the wall's thickness off every walled side before you compare.

What is an anxiety dog bed?

It is a marketing name for a walled or donut bed, usually one with a deep rim. The idea behind it is real enough, since enclosure is calming for some dogs, but nothing about the bed treats anxiety, and we will not describe one as if it does. If a dog is distressed when alone, the bed is not the intervention.

Are these washable?

Check the care label on the listing before you plan on it. On a walled bed the wall is usually part of the structure, so a cover that comes off is less common than on a flat mat. If washing comes first, compare beds on the washable dog bed page, where each care label is the thing to check.