Answers to some of the most commonly asked questions about Charley Chau, our collection of unique luxury dog beds and dog blankets, dog bedding dilemmas in general, and shopping with us from the UK and overeas. Please feel to contact us at any time if you need more info or have any other questions: hello@charleychau.com or +44 (0)161 848 8702.
About Charley Chau
Charley Chau is a small British business owned and run by two sisters, Christine and Jenny Chau, and assisted by our gang of Italian Greyhounds. We founded Charley Chau in 2010 and we are specialists in designing and making dog beds that deliver sublime comfort, gorgeous styling and unrivalled performance over time. Find out more in our Intro to Charley Chau.
In short - quality - through comfort, style and performance.
First and foremost supreme comfort – we design our beds to be as comfortable as caninely possible. Dogs spend a lot of time in bed and it’s critical to their physical and emotional well being that they can rest well. Investing in a Charley Chau dog bed is a simple choice to keep your dog in the comfort they deserve.
Secondly, we are style obsessed which is why we use such beautiful upholstery quality fabrics across our collection, and our design ethic is elevate the ordinary. We don’t do fussy, we don’t do flashy – just beautiful, simple styling where the product speaks for itself. And our eye for beautiful styling is why we’ve been featured on the Vogue Blog, Elle Deco, FT How To Spend It, Country Life, The Sunday Times, The Telegraphy, Stylist Magazine, BBC, Channel 4, and many, many more!
And thirdly, everything we make is designed and made to perform over time. Our beds are made to remain as comfortable as they were on day one many years down the road. Bed covers, blankets and mattress pads are designed to wash beautifully time after time. It’s all in the detail – for example our large size donut bed requires 45 metres of stitching to complete whilst regular donut beds of the same size made by other brands require just 3 metres of stitching. There’s a reason we bother with the extra 42 metres of stitching: delivering unrivalled quality and performance over time.
We are proud supporters of British manufacturing - all of our fabric/textile based luxe dog beds and blankets are made in England. We have one exception and that is on Rattan Baskets – Rattan is grown mainly in SE Asia and that is also where the expertise in working with Rattan sits so we have our Rattan Baskets woven in SE Asia by skilled craftspeople. Other than the Rattan Baskets, all Charley Chau Bed Covers, Mattresses and Blankets are made in England with love, and we are proudly accredited by Made in Britain.
Yes! Charley Chau beds are designed for all breeds and mixed breeds of dogs! Our website is full of mainly sighthuonds because It just happens that we tend to do a lot of our photography with our own dogs (little Italian Greyhounds) in relaxed and natural settings rather than bussing in lots of unknown dogs and screaming at them to look at the camera!
We do indeed travel all over the world with our dogs and we share news on our travels on Facebook and Instagram and on our Blog.
We have written extensive guides on travelling overseas dogs including:
If you are an Italian Greyhound lover as we are and are thinking of sharing your life with one of these fabrilous dogs, please contact the Italian Greyhund Club and also visit the Italian Greyhound Rescue Charity for comprehnsive inforamtion about the breed before going ahead as these little dogs don't suit all homes and environments.
Email: hello@charleychau.com
Phone: +44 (0)161 848 8702
Our normal office hours are Monday to Friday, 8am - 6pm.
Our studio and office is in Manchester in the NW of England.
We do not have a showroom at this time but customers are able to collect orders from our office by prior arrangement.
Dog Bedding Questions
Three key considerations are:
See our comprehensive guide on how to choose the perfect dog
bed.
We advise that you get your dog into a relaxed standing position and measure from the top of the skull to the floor for height, and from the tip of the nose to the base of the tail for length. Then we recommend that the bed you choose should be no smaller than the height and length of your dog, but ideally we advise to size up by 25% to allow your dog to stretch out fully as and when they want to. For Snuggle Beds and Burrow Bags always allow more space than you would for a bed that a dog simply lies on top of. See our guide to measuring for a dog bed.
Snuggle Beds and Burrow Bags are designed specifically for dogs that love to sleep under blankets. If you notice that your dog tries to get under blankets themselves, or sneaks under your duvet, or tries to bury themselves under scatter cushions on your sofa, the likelihood is that your dog is a burrower and would love a Snuggle Bed or Burrow Bag. Dogs that love to burrow include many short-coated breeds that feel the cold such as Sighthounds, and many dog breeds that were bred to go to ground e.g. Terrier breeds and Dachshunds. Our Snuggle Bed customers include all kinds of dogs including Boston Terriers, Dachshunds, French Bulldogs, Hungarian Vizslas, Italian Greyhounds, Jack Russell Terriers, Pugs, Short-haired Pointers, Staffordshire Bull Terriers, Whippets, Working Cocker Spaniels, and many more!
Anti-Microbial Waterproof Bed Liners are optional on all Charley Chau dog beds (except for memory foam mattress that are supplied with a liner as standard) and help to keep a dog bed hygienically clean for longer. They protect the internal mattress and pads from moisture and accidents, and the anti-microbial coating discourages bacteria, mould mildew and other nasties from the bed. In addition, the Anti-Microbial Waterproof Liner acts as a physical barrier to keep animal dander, dirt and dust out of the mattress which means there’s less food for bacteria and dust mites to feed on. The addition of an Anti-Microbial Waterproof Liner to a dog bed mattress reduces the need to wash the internal mattress and can help prolong the life of a dog bed. We particularly recommend them for large size beds as large size mattresses do not fit in regular domestic washing machines for washing, usually having to be washed in large capacity machines at a launderette. See our collection of Anti-Microbial Waterproof Bed Liners.
All Charley Chau dog blankets and dog bed covers, deep-filled mattresses and travel pads are machine washable. Care labels are stitched into every item with detailed instructions for that specific item. The only exception is memory foam – memory foam mattresses are not washable, but every Charley Chau memory foam mattress is supplied with a clinical grade anti-microbial waterproof mattress protector as standard to keep that foam mattress hygienically clean for a dog’s lifetime. Read our top tips on washing a dog bed.
Yes, spare covers are available for all Charley Chau dog beds so that you can have a spare on hand on wash day and there’s no need to rush a wash through. Spare covers are also brilliant for re-styling your dog’s bed without needing to buy a completely new bed. See our collection of Spare Dog Bed Covers.
Yes, replacement mattresses and internal pads are available for all Charley Chau dog beds so that if an unforeseen disaster strikes you never have to replace the whole bed. See our Replacement Mattresses & Pads.
Our deep-filled luxury mattress is filled with insulating hollow-fibre and designed to deliver sublime comfort and support in any situation e.g. placed on a hard, cold floor or on a raised bed platform and perfect for daily and overnight use in the long term. You will find our deep-filled mattress as standard in Snuggle Beds, Deeply Dishy Beds, Ducky Donut Beds, Bliss Bolster Beds and Day Bed Mattresses.
Our Travel Pad Inserts are slimline, made with an upholstery quality wadding, designed to be easily transportable and provide excellent levels of comfort and support for occasional use, or extended use when placed on an existing soft surface e.g. on a sofa or in an existing dog bed. You will find these in our Travel Pads and Burrow Bags.
If you order one style of mattress/pad and wish to order a different pad to go inside the cover you can do so at any time giving you versatility in how your Charley Chau dog bed can be used.
The answer to this question depends on the current dog bedding set up. Key to think about is temperature, but also how to manage extra moisture and condensation in the bed itself, draughts, and increased dust mite activity. We advise that winter dog beds should be made from moisture-wicking and fast-drying fabrics, layering blankets in dog beds for warmth, placing dog beds in draught-free spots in the home, raising beds off the floor where there is a condensation risk, and adding waterproof liners to provide barrier protection and keep a dog bed hygienically clean. All of these things can help to keep your dog super-cosy and comfortable through cold, wet weather. Read our top tips on the best winter dog beds & dog blankets.
UK Customers
Yes, we offer free UK standard shipping on orders over £150. Read full details for our UK shipping services.
We aim to dispatch all UK orders placed by 1pm on the same working day. If the order is placed after 1pm we will still do our best to dispatch it on the same working day but our courier collects our parcels around 3pm so it is not always possible depending on the number of orders we are dealing with on the day. Orders placed over the weekend are dispatched on the next working day, usually Monday except when there is bank holiday in England.
Standard UK shipping services are usually delivered 2-3 days after dispatch either with Royal Mail or Parcelforce. Read full details for our UK shipping services.
Next day services are delivered in 1 working day from dispatch across the UK Mainland. We aim to dispatch all orders placed with us by 1pm on the same working day. For example, a bed dispatched on Monday will arrive on Tuesday and a bed dispatched on Friday will arrive on Monday. Remote areas such as the Highlands and Islands require 1 additional day. Read full details for our UK shipping services.
Yes, please email us on hello@charleychau.com within 14 days of receiving the item to let us know you wish to return the item. We will liaise with you on any exchange requested and arrange accordingly. Please make sure that the item is not used and is returned to us in a re-saleable condition. Read our full returns, exchanges and refunds policy.
Simply package the item securely for transit and send it back to us. We recommend you use a signed for or tracked service as we cannot be held responsible for any items that go missing in transit. As a small business, we are not able to offer a free returns service but if you are exchanging an item then we will ship the return item to you free of charge within the UK. Our returns address is: Charley Chau, Unit F The Courts, Kestrel Road, Manchester, M17 1SF. Read our full returns, exchanges and refunds policy.
If you receive an item that you believe to be faulty please email us on hello@charleychau.com or call us on 0161 848 8702 within 14 days of receipt of the item. We will of course replace any faulty item free of charge or issue a full refund as you prefer. We also ask that you return the faulty item to us and Charley Chau will cover the cost of the return of faulty goods. Read our full returns, exchanges and refunds policy.
We will refund the full shipping fee that you paid on the original order if you are returning all the items from the original order. This applies to UK orders only. If you are not returning all the items hipping in the original order then we would not refund your original shipping fee, just the money paid for the item(s) returned in full. Read our full returns, exchanges and refunds policy.
International Customers
Yes! Charley Chau removes UK VAT from the price of our products for orders that are being delivered outside the UK i.e. a bed that costs £120 for delivery in the UK will be charged at £100 for delivery outside the UK. Please bear in mind that when the parcel arrives in the destination country, the local authorities may levy local sales taxes, customs charges or tariffs that are out of our control. Find out more about our VAT free pricing.
This depends on the shipping service selected at check out. If a parcel is going with a local postal service, then it is usually 5-10 working days for delivery. If a courier service is selected it is usually 2-5 days depending on the destination country. Find out more about international shipping.
Charges applied to orders for delivery outside the UK by local customs vary from country to country. Some countries will charge VAT on arrival, an import fee (e.g. a tariff) and different countries have different thresholds before any charges are applied. These charges are out of our control. The receiving customer is deemed in law to be the importer of the goods included in the order and is therefore responsible for the payment of any charges applied. Find out more about international shipping.
If you live outside the UK and need to return an item, simply email us to let us know about the return and then package the goods up and send them back to us. The return postage is at your own cost so when ordering for overseas delivery, please do contact us before the order is shipped if you have any doubts about sizes, colours, suitability or any other queries to minimise the risk of receiving unsuitable goods. Find out more about international shipping.
If you receive an item that you believe to be faulty, please email us on hello@charleychau.com or call us on +44 161 848 8702 within 14 days of receipt of the item. Faulty items should be returned to us for inspection. We will of replace any faulty item free of charge or issue a full refund as you prefer. Charley Chau will cover the cost of the return of faulty goods. If an item is not faulty, and merely unsuitable, Charley Chau cannot cover the cost of the return. Read our full returns, exchanges and refunds policy. https://www.charleychau.com/pages/returns-exchanges
