What size dog bed for a Great Dane?

Size 04 sora, 49 by 62 inches. There is no borderline with this breed: an adult Great Dane weighs 110 to 175 pounds, sora is made for dogs from 100 pounds up, and the next size down, 03 nori at 41 by 52 inches, runs out of length before a Dane does.

That is the whole answer. The rest is about what a bed that size means in a room, and why we would still not go smaller.

Lara, 165 pounds, on sora

Lara is the Great Dane in our photographs. She weighs 165 pounds and sleeps on a 04 sora, in oat and in flint. In most of the pictures she is lying the way Danes lie when they are awake and watching the room: chest down, front legs out, and even then her paws reach the edge of a bed that is more than five feet long. When she puts her head down she takes the whole length. A Dane on a bed one size smaller has to fold itself, and a dog that has to fold itself to fit a bed usually ends up on the floor next to it.

The length is the whole question

Weight puts every adult Dane in sora, but length is the better way to see why. Wait until the dog is stretched out asleep and measure from the nose to the base of the tail, then add about six inches. For a Great Dane that number lands past 50 inches more often than not. Nori is 52 inches long, so it works on paper and fails in the room, because a sleeping dog does not lie exactly along the long axis. Sora, at 62 inches, leaves the margin a dog this size needs.

Tape it out first

Sora is about four feet by five, closer to an ottoman than to a pet bed, and it is the size people most often ask us about. Before you order, mark 49 by 62 inches on the floor with masking tape in the spot where the bed will live and leave it for an afternoon. That tells you whether it clears the sofa and the door, and it tells you something else: a bed this size reads as a piece of furniture, which is why the fabric and the color matter more here than on any other size. The free samples are for exactly this.

Puppies

A Great Dane puppy passes 100 pounds before its first birthday. Buy sora and let the puppy look small on it for a few months; it is better than buying twice, and the shape has no raised sides, so a young dog steps on and off without climbing.

The bed itself

The stone nest is a four-inch core of high-resilience foam, cut from block foam, with a waterproof liner fitted like a sheet and a cover in a performance linen weave that zips off and washes. Under 165 pounds the foam compresses and springs back instead of sinking, which is what you want for a dog whose weight is carried on long legs: getting up takes less effort when the surface pushes back. It is low to the floor, with a soft rounded edge and no bolster to climb over. Six colors. Lara's are oat and flint.

• The stone nest in oat, size 04 sora.
• The stone nest in flint, size 04 sora.
• The size guide, with every dog we have photographed on the size made for its weight.
• Order free fabric samples.

Questions people ask

What size dog bed does a Great Dane need?
Size 04 sora, 49 by 62 inches, made for dogs from 100 pounds up. Every adult Great Dane is over that line.

Will a Great Dane fit a size 03 nori?
Not well. Nori is 52 inches long and most Danes measure past 50 inches nose to tail base with the margin added. Sora is the size.

How do I measure a Great Dane for a bed?
Measure nose to the base of the tail while the dog is lying stretched out and add about six inches. Then tape that footprint on the floor where the bed will go.

What size for a Great Dane puppy?
Sora. The puppy grows into it within the first year.