Self-heating is a phrase worth unpicking before you buy anything sold under it. There is no element and no power: the layer under the fleece reflects the dog's own body heat back up instead of letting it drain away into a tiled floor or a cold crate tray. That works genuinely well for a dog who settles and stays put, and it does absolutely nothing to warm a cold room or a dog who is not lying on it.

The top surface is cotton fleece, soft enough that dogs will actually choose it, and the underside grips rather than slides, which is the difference between a mat that stays under a whippet who turns three times before settling and one that ends up rucked against the wall. Because there is no cable, it can go in a crate, the car or a caravan without you thinking about the nearest socket or whether the dog chews wires.

• Cotton fleece top surface
• Non-slip backing
• Grey or brown
• Sizes S, M and L, plus a 70 x 115cm option
• No power, no cable, no batteries
• Supplied as one pad, listed by the manufacturer for dogs

Check the measurement first. Two honest points: this is comfort, not medical warmth, so a genuinely ill or hypothermic animal needs a vet and a proper heat source; and it warms from the dog, so it feels cold to your hand.

Who it's for: older dogs with stiff joints on hard floors, thin-coated breeds like whippets, greyhounds and Italian greyhounds, crate liners, and anyone who does not want a heated pad plugged in unattended.