Dogs shed heat mainly by panting, and panting works less and less well as the air gets hotter and stickier. What helps is a surface that pulls heat away from the belly and the thinly furred underside, which is exactly where a raised, breathable bed does more than a thick cushion sitting on a warm floor. Air moving underneath is half the point of the design.

The top is an ice-silk weave, the smooth cool-to-touch fabric that feels cold on first contact and keeps feeling cool because it is flat and dense enough to conduct heat away instead of trapping it. A bolstered edge gives a head rest without closing the surface in. Four sizes are listed, from 61 x 48cm up to 104 x 73cm, and the weight climbs with them, from around 350g to around 1.2kg.

• Ice-silk top surface, cool to the touch
• Raised frame with a bolstered edge for head support
• Four sizes: 61 x 48cm, 70 x 47cm, 92 x 61cm and 104 x 73cm
• Khaki, light grey or dark grey
• 350g to 1.2kg depending on size
• Ships in a 35 x 30 x 5cm package

One correction worth making. Some listings for this style describe a pressure-activated cooling gel. What we have is an ice-silk fabric bed, and the two are not the same thing: fabric works by conducting and venting heat, it does not go cold on its own, and it will not feel cold in a hot, still room. If the gel version is what you want, this is not it.

What the options mean. Sold in sizes from 61X48CM to 104X73CM — £11.99 to £18.99.

Who it's for: Dogs who sprawl and pant through British summers, especially flat-faced and heavy-coated breeds who need a cooler surface than a padded bed can offer.