For anxious pooches seeking solace, tracking down one of the best calming dog beds to give them comfort may help them cope with stressful situations, such as separation anxiety, the arrival of visitors or thunderstorms. The best donut dog beds also offer a nest-like hole that helps your dog feel safe. Our own beds are a refuge, somewhere to rest, relax and feel safe. Without getting too anthropomorphic, a dog’s basket is also his haven.
Even the best calming dog beds may not “fix” your dog’s anxiety issues, so it’s worth considering the best calming supplements for dogs, other calming products for dogs and seeking professional help if your pooch is showing signs of stress, such as panting, whining, hiding or appetite loss. But they may well provide a bit of relief and a refuge – and even for the most well-adjusted dog, they’re extremely comfortable for a good night’s sleep.
Best calming dog beds
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Silentnight Calming Dog Bed
Sizes: S/M or M/L
Colour: Grey
RRP: From £35
This calming doughnut shape appeals to your dog’s natural nesting instinct and helps create a calming environment, reducing anxiety.
The premium materials are specifically designed to give your dog the same level of comfort as Silentnight’s top-quality beds and pillows, made for humans. It is filled with responsive fibres that support your pet while he snoozes.
It is machine-washable and finished with a non-slip base and covered in a super-soft plus fabric to provide the ultimate comfort.
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Ethical Pets Cuddle Cave Bed
Sizes: Small
Colours: Brown, sage or tan
RRP: From £31.99
This attractive, plush and cosy cavy bed offers a feeling of comfort and security. It’s made to last and designed to prevent any clumping or shifting of the filling, to ensure your dog is super-comfy.
The exterior is made of faux suede and the whole bed is machine washable. It’s small, so only really suitable for toy dogs and small breeds.
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Dream Paws Anxiety Reducing Plush Dog Bed
Sizes: Small or medium
Colours: Brown or pink
RRP: £25
This plush dog bed has been designed to help calm your pet – and even comes with a bonus teddy bear as a companion. Featuring high sides for security, this bed is super soft and comfortable, making a safe and cosy space for your furry friend. The long fur is designed to mimic the pup’s mother or litter mates, and can help to reduce stress and calm dogs with separation anxiety.
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Y’all Calming Dog Bed
Sizes: S–L
Colour: Blue/grey/white
RRP: From £29.99
The Y’all raised dog bed offers both comfort and cosiness. The moon-shaped cushion has an exterior surface made from 100% linen, with an interior fake fur fabric and a cotton filling to ensure great fluffiness and comfort.
The shape is designed to “wrap your furry pet in a warm embrace that can help calm and relieve anguish and stress”. The manufacturer claims it also has an orthopaedic relief effect to alleviate muscle and joint pain.
It has an anti-slip base and removable cover, which can be machine-washed.
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The Dog’s Bed Sound Sleep Donut
Sizes: XS–XXL
Colours: Brown, beige, white, silver, grey or pink
RRP: From £31.99
Designed by global experts in sleep solutions for dogs, this plush round bed with 4cm vegan fur contours makes for deep and luxurious sleep. The fur is designed to replicated the warmth of the mother’s fur and being in a puppy pile, so this is especially suitable for puppies settling into their new home.
The manufacturer highlights the bed’s “unsurpassed comfort due to the unique dual-layer base mattress cushion design”. The top layer forms around the dog’s body, while the solid base pad supports the dog’s weight. The generously filled bolsters surround the dog to make them feel secure while providing a comfortable head rest.
This bed satisfies the nesting instinct of dogs who like to curl up while they sleep, with the high sides and fur “hugging” the dog’s body. This can help reduce feelings of vulnerability and anxiety by inducing a sense of security.
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Rucomfy Burrower Dog Bed
Sizes: M or L
Colours: Mustard, slate grey, platinum grey or teal
RRP: From £59.99
This bed is ideal for breeds that are known to burrow, anxious dogs, or just any dogs that love to snuggle under a duvet and hide in a cosy place. Made of cosy jumbo cord for a stylish and comfy look.
The underside of the bed is made of a water-resistant fabric so you can flip the bed over when the dog comes home wet from a walk and then back to the cosy side up when he’s dried off. Machine-washable cover.
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Tofern Cave Bed
Size: Small
Colours: Blue dots, grey dots or pink dots
RRP: £29.99
Designed for small dogs under 5kg, this bed is made from quality microfibre fabric, fleece and high-density foam cotton padding. It is soft, warm, comfortable with a thick velvet cushion and igloo shape to give your pooch a sense of security. Cute dotty print to accessorise with your toy dog or puppy!
It is also suitable for other small pets, such as cats, rabbits, ferrets and hamsters.
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Trixie Noah Dog Bed
Size: 50cm, 60cm, 70cm
Colours: Grey
RRP: £49.99
An orthopaedic dog bed with a memory-effect foam filling to give maximum comfort, while the raised sides provide a sense of security. It has a soft, quilted polyester cover, which is removable for washing, and a firmly attached cushion. Plus non-slip bottom to prevent alarming slides across the kitchen floor.
How we chose the best calming dog beds
Dogs become anxious or agitated for different reasons and find different sources of comfort. Without a doubt, sleep is nature’s way of allowing dogs to rest and switch off, so a dog bed that provides a refuge where they can relax and feel safe is essential. But one size doesn’t fit all – not only in physical size, but in shape and type. So we’ve selected a range of calming options, from donuts, to caves to burrowing beds.
As a general rule, calming beds are made with a soft, plush fabric which mimics the feel of littermates, but we’ve also included one with a reverse waterproof side for when a wet dog just needs a place to lie down.
What is a calming dog bed?
Calming dog beds tend to be soft with a plush filling, and typically designed in a circular doughnut shape with raised sides, or with an integral cover. While we cannot be sure that dogs, like humans, find comfort in soft, warm cosy surroundings, this does mimic what they would have experienced in their litter, cuddled up next to their mother and other pups. The concept of the round shape with bolstered sides is to give them a sense of protection. Make sure you position the bed in a peaceful warm place in the home, giving him his own den, as calm and privacy will help reduce your dog’s anxiety.
An added benefit of a soft, calming dog bed is that it can give relief from joint pain if you don’t already have the benefit of one of the best orthopaedic dog beds.
What are the best beds for dogs with anxiety?
An appropriate bed can do wonders to help soothe and comfort an anxious dog. But it depends on what your dog needs and what triggers his anxiety. Different styles of beds offer different benefits. Some have orthopaedic foam to give your dog physical comfort, especially those with aching joints. They will also have raised sides, to provide a soft ledge for dogs to rest their head on. This enables them to rest their spine and necks, and can help the brachycephalic breeds to breathe more easily.
Some calming beds will be in a cave shape to give your dog a sense of being in his own den. Others will be donuts, a nest-like shape to mimic the sensation of being in a litter. Most will have soft, plush covers for comfort, warmth and cosiness.
As a guide…
large dogs will suit a bed with bolstered edges to give rest to their heavier joints
small dogs will enjoy a cosy donut bed to curl up into
older dogs should benefit from an orthopaedic bed for joint and muscle support
dogs that like to dig or hide will enjoy cave or burrowing style beds
Are calming dog beds worth it?
A calming dog bed cannot fix your dog’s anxiety. There are many reasons why a dog may be feeling anxious, whether these be genetic, learned behaviour or from a traumatic incident. There are ways to help an anxious dog, however, and calming dog beds can play a part in this. Sweet slumber is certainly an essential factor in overall health and wellbeing.
Dogs need a safe and comfortable place to lie, so if you have an anxious dog, it’s certainly worth trying a calming dog bed, which is designed to provide a safe, soothing haven place to rest. They are not typically more expensive than any other type of dog bed, and may provide that calming environment your dog needs to sleep, rest and recuperate.
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Martha is an experienced journalist who is mad-keen on horses and dogs. Her reporting CV includes the Paris Olympics, European championships, Aachen World Equestrian Festival and World Cup finals. After growing up with assorted liver and white springer spaniels, she enjoyed 14 years with two rescue dogs. Now, her constant companion is Fidget, an extremely energetic and habitually muddy black and white springer. Martha has written on topics as diverse as a top horse’s clone to the best GPS trackers for dogs, as well as equestrian and rural matters for Country Life, The Field, The Times, The Spectator and The Telegraph alongside Horse & Hound.
