Tapis de Sommeil en Velours Côtelé Furry

Measure the dog lying stretched out on its side, nose to the base of the tail, and buy the mat that is longer than that with room to shift: under about 65 cm the Small, under 80 cm the Medium, under 95 cm the Large, under 110 cm the Extra large. As a guide that is cats and dogs to about 8 kg, 8 to 15, 15 to 25, and 25 to 40 kg or two small dogs. Between sizes, go up. A dog that curls fits anything, but a curler is usually happier in the Furry Corduroy Round Bed, which is this skin and base as a donut.

Measure the inside of the crate floor first; a foam mat needs its full footprint and does not fold. As a rough match, the Large (104 x 68 cm) fits a 42 inch crate and the Extra large (118 x 72) a 48 inch; the Medium (90 x 59) is a close fit in a 36 inch and a centimetre or two wide for some trays. Crate floors vary between makers and a mat that is a centimetre too long curls up the side, so the tape measure beats the label, and if it is close, buy the mat that fits the crate rather than the dog. The rubber-dot base is what keeps it flat on a crate tray.

It has 8 cm of support foam, which makes it a mattress rather than a pad: enough to lift a healthy dog of any size off a hard floor and keep its shape. It is not memory foam, and we keep the word orthopedic for the beds that have it. A dog past ten with stiff hips, a dog recovering from surgery or a dog that gets up slowly belongs on the SNÜZ Vet Orthopedic Bed (2 cm of memory foam over 5 cm of support foam, with bolsters) or the SNÖR Vet Orthopedic Bed (the low one), which are made for a sore joint.

No: the base is a rubber-dot fabric, the grip on the back of a good bath mat, and the mat stays where you put it on tile, timber, laminate and a crate tray while the dog circles, digs and drops. That also means an old dog stepping onto it is stepping onto something that does not shoot out from under them. On a rug the dots have nothing to grip and the mat will still shift a little. A customer put it in one line: it is non-slip on the bottom.

In one specific way: a familiar mat that smells of home makes a crate, a car or a holiday rental less strange, and the base means it is the same mat in the same place every time, which is what a nervous dog wants. It is not a treatment. A dog that panics in the crate or the car, panting, drooling, pacing, scratching to get out, has a fear that needs training, sometimes medication, and a vet; a thicker mat will not fix it, and the listing should not have said it would.

The cover zips off and goes in the machine cold on a gentle cycle, no softener; air dry out of the sun and brush the rib back up. No tumble dryer and no iron. The foam stays out of the machine: air it, and if an accident has reached it, air it fully before the cover goes back on. The rib holds less hair than a long pile and brushes clean with a hand or a rubber glove between washes; Grey and the tan hide it best, White shows it first.

They are the same four sizes and the same 8 cm of foam. This one has a wide-rib plush top and the rubber-dot base; the Furry Curves Sleeping Mat is a plain fur top with curved quilting and no non-slip base listed, in Cream or White. Hard floors, crates, cars or a dog that digs: this one. A carpeted room and a fur-lover: the Curves. Colours here: Pale pink is a pale blush close to cream, White is white, Grey is a light grey and Brown is a light tan rather than a chocolate; for a crate or a car boot, buy the Grey or the tan.

Damaged on arrival or faulty: email hello@woopf.com with a photo and your order number as soon as you notice, and it is covered. Wrong size and it is unused in its packaging: email within 14 days and we will look at a swap. A mat a dog has slept on cannot come back for hygiene reasons, so measure the crate floor and the dog before you order rather than after. A customer also uses it on the couch to protect the furniture, so a mat that turns out too big for the crate has a second job.