My 7.5 pound Chihuahua mix adores this bed. Settled right in and is cuddling away. Was shipped just fine for me, and I haven't washed it yet so I'm not sure about the shedding problem, but so far so good! If it washes up well, I'll be ordering another for the car.One thing to note - 18" is the outside diameter. Inside diameter is closer to 15". Most beds give an inside and outside measurement to consider, since this one only gave one measurement I just assumed it was outside diameter so I wasn't upset or disappointed by the size in the lease.