# The solution to sliding on floors



## GSDGunner (Feb 22, 2011)

Last fall Gunner went barreling around a corner accompanying me to the bathroom (because let's face it, there is evil awaiting me in the bathroom ), his leg slid outward and he hurt his back leg, bad! Took months of rest, medications and rehab, something I don't want to ever go through again.

After the injury I went out and bought small throw rugs to help him have more traction on the floor. We have crappy laminate wood flooring and it's slippery.
I HATED the rugs all over and we tried to think of a solution that wouldn't mean breaking the bank. We didn't want to rip up the flooring and put down wall to wall carpet. 
After going through different ideas, we came up with this one.
We went to Home Depot, picked out some inexpensive carpet and had it cut to room size and the edges bound. 
We did three rooms: living room, dining room and family room. It cost us just under $600 to do it. They are nearly wall to wall. 
No more cumbersome throw rugs which were a nightmare to vacuum. It took me forever it seemed since the minute the dyson would hit them, they'd bunch up.
I'm going to get a 5x7 rug for the kitchen next. I felt this was an easy solution. Gunner's happy. He can now sit in front of me for a scratch without his front legs sliding. 

We haven't put the carpet down in the dining room yet, which is to the right. We'll do that one later today.
Here's just the living room:
Before:









After:

















Nikki likes it too!


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## kbella999 (Jan 6, 2012)

That is a good idea. I have the laminated wood flooring in my living room and the dogs are always sliding on it. I'll have to check out the cheap carpet and see how much it would cost just to do my living room.



GSDGunner said:


> Last fall Gunner went barreling around a corner accompanying me to the bathroom (because let's face it, there is evil awaiting me in the bathroom ), his leg slid outward and he hurt his back leg, bad! Took months of rest, medications and rehab, something I don't want to ever go through again.
> 
> After the injury I went out and bought small throw rugs to help him have more traction on the floor. We have crappy laminate wood flooring and it's slippery.
> I HATED the rugs all over and we tried to think of a solution that wouldn't mean breaking the bank. We didn't want to rip up the flooring and put down wall to wall carpet.
> ...


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## GSDGunner (Feb 22, 2011)

The carpet was about .80 a square foot. It was a cheap carpet, not something I would have bought if doing wall to wall. But it's good enough to do the job.


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## Bear L (Feb 9, 2012)

That's funny. I'm having my carpet pulled out and replaced with laminate so I can keep the house clean more easily.


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## GSDGunner (Feb 22, 2011)

Bear L said:


> That's funny. I'm having my carpet pulled out and replaced with laminate so I can keep the house clean more easily.


I had the laminate before we got Gunner. My one cat at the time had tummy issues and destroyed my carpet from her vomiting. 
Just be careful. There isn't a place in the house that Gunner hasn't slid. And he won't go in the dining room because there's no rugs in there. He will walk in a foot or two, then back out.  Once the carpet gets put in there, he'll be good to go.


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## msvette2u (Mar 20, 2006)

Bear L said:


> That's funny. I'm having my carpet pulled out and replaced with laminate so I can keep the house clean more easily.


Yeah we ripped out all our carpet and put the wood flooring to make it easier to clean due to our allergies and pup accidents (fosters aren't always housebroken!)
My Tristan hurt his back when we first put this in - he's learned to slow down, apparently, plus it's not as slippery as laminate I don't think?


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## Courtney (Feb 12, 2010)

It does look nice and obviously Gunner is a happy camper

Here I am ripping out carpets for hardwoods and your installing carpet! lol


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## PupperLove (Apr 10, 2010)

Nice! That's a great idea and it looks good too. We got laminate in our kitchen 2 years ago. I liked it at first, then I realized that Jackson just doesn't 'get' the fact he needs to slow down inside. He's basically a bull in a china shop in the kitchen, he slides all over, runs in place, and slides into us and the kids, it's a nightmare at times! I was thinking about getting a large throw rug for the area surrounding our table, maybe I'll try this instead.


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## msvette2u (Mar 20, 2006)

It does look very nice  
I like the color!


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## Cheerful1 (Sep 27, 2011)

Our family room is wall-to-wall carpet. We hang out mostly in there.

We have brand new wood flooring in the living room. We put down old runners where Joey runs, using non-skid backing. Keeps the sliding at a minimum.

We were fortunate enough to get floors pre-polyurethaned with 9 coats. Keeps the scratches to a minumum as well.


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## GSDGunner (Feb 22, 2011)

msvette2u said:


> Yeah we ripped out all our carpet and put the wood flooring to make it easier to clean due to our allergies and pup accidents (fosters aren't always housebroken!)
> My Tristan hurt his back when we first put this in - he's learned to slow down, apparently, plus it's not as slippery as laminate I don't think?


I think real hard wood isn't as slippery, but I've never had real wood floors, so I don't know for sure.
I have cheap crappy laminate too. When we ripped up the carpet due to my kitty's issues, we didn't have the $ to do the entire house with real wood. So cheap laminate was the only option at that point. 

As many times as Gunner has slid, he hasn't learned. 
He has learned not to go in the dining room because he knows there's no traction. So he did learn something. 
But he'll run in the house and slide around a corner where there's no rugs. I cringe every time.
I don't want a repeat leg injury. That was awful and not something I want to see again. He's finally losing the weight he gained from being inactive for so long and I want to keep that going.


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## GSDGunner (Feb 22, 2011)

PupperLove said:


> I was thinking about getting a large throw rug for the area surrounding our table, maybe I'll try this instead.


It's really a cost efficient solution. You can buy the carpet and have it bound by a local company which is likely cheaper. I priced the binding and a local guy charged $1 a linear foot. Home Depot it was $2. 
But that meant picking up the carpet and driving to the guy who does it. Drop it off and pick up another day. I just wanted to get the carpet, have it all done and put it down. So I paid the extra.
It came out to be about $200 per room since they were close to the same size. 
I paid that for one area rug that is much smaller.
This rug was just about that much:









And it's only a 5x8.




msvette2u said:


> It does look very nice
> I like the color!


I bet you can guess why I picked this color. 
Better to hide the Gunner fur.


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## Zeeva (Aug 10, 2010)

i don't like carpet but good for you! my dogs slip and slide around our wood floors too. i never thought of them getting hurt by it  and i agree throw rugs are a bummer too...

your cat is HUGE! looks so huggable! Glad Gunner Nikki are enjoying the carpet  hope you enjoy it too!


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## bocron (Mar 15, 2009)

Yeah, I hate that laminate stuff. When we built our house the builder tried to talk us into it in part of the house. I just hate the sound of it and I don't care what anyone says, it looks like formica on the floor. I ended up putting hardwood on the first floor except the mud room which is brick flooring (the best!). In the basement we did a cork floating floor in one side and the other side is rubber snap in tiles(where the dogs come in and out). The only place I did wall to wall is on the 3rd floor which is where the kids bedrooms are and the bonus play room. In the area where the hardwood is, I did kind of like the OP except I did seagrass bound rugs. They are very sturdy and clean up really easily. Seagrass is very inexpensive plus it's flat so you can put another patterned rug on top for color. You can see in the pic the small area between the family room and dining room that the wood is still visible.








The house is 16 years old now and all of the flooring still looks good. I'll probably have to replace the carpeting upstairs in another year or so, but so far so good.


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## GSDGunner (Feb 22, 2011)

Zeeva said:


> i don't like carpet but good for you! my dogs slip and slide around our wood floors too. i never thought of them getting hurt by it  and i agree throw rugs are a bummer too...
> 
> your cat is HUGE! looks so huggable! Glad Gunner Nikki are enjoying the carpet  hope you enjoy it too!


I'm not a fan of carpet either. But trust me, the leg injury was horrific. It took months to heal. And every time I thought he was good to go, he'd re-injure it. It took all winter before I was confident enough to resume exercise. So the carpet is piece of mind in a way. That's not to say he can't/won't hurt himself again, but at least I've made it harder.
And of course, this way is not permanent. I can roll it up anytime I want. 

And yes, Nikki is huge. And it's through no fault of my own. If you saw how little she ate, you'd be amazed that she's that size.
She was 7 months old when I found her in a shelter and the minute I saw her I asked the staff if she was pregnant. She wasn't thankfully. But she just came that way.


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## Zeeva (Aug 10, 2010)

GSDGunner said:


> And yes, Nikki is huge. And it's through no fault of my own. If you saw how little she ate, you'd be amazed that she's that size.


aw bless you. i have 6 kitties that eat like piggies and are thin as pins...


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## GSDGunner (Feb 22, 2011)

bocron said:


>


Wow, I love your room! The colors are awesome! 

After we bought this house we removed some of the carpet that went from the front door leading into the kitchen and family room. We installed tile. So the only rooms that still had carpet were the living and dining room.
After a few years the tile grout started to crack and looked awful. The carpet in the other rooms needed to be replaced thanks to Kitty. So at that point we opted to rip it all out and install the laminate.
My kitty with the tile flooring and the living room carpet:









Family room. You can see the grout cracking just to the left of her head:


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## Bear L (Feb 9, 2012)

bocron said:


> Yeah, I hate that laminate stuff. When we built our house the builder tried to talk us into it in part of the house. I just hate the sound of it and I don't care what anyone says, it looks like formica on the floor. I ended up putting hardwood on the first floor except the mud room which is brick flooring (the best!). In the basement we did a cork floating floor in one side and the other side is rubber snap in tiles(where the dogs come in and out). The only place I did wall to wall is on the 3rd floor which is where the kids bedrooms are and the bonus play room. In the area where the hardwood is, I did kind of like the OP except I did seagrass bound rugs. They are very sturdy and clean up really easily. Seagrass is very inexpensive plus it's flat so you can put another patterned rug on top for color. You can see in the pic the small area between the family room and dining room that the wood is still visible.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


How is the floating cork working out with the dogs? I've been going back and forth between laminate and cork. Love cork but just a bit unsure of the price premium. I could message you separately as well if I'm getting off topic. Trying to figure out what's the best floor for dogs, aside from carpet.


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## GSDGunner (Feb 22, 2011)

Zeeva said:


> aw bless you. i have 6 kitties that eat like piggies and are thin as pins...


I have two cats, Buddy & Nikki. They are 2 months apart in age. Buddy is a healthy weight. Nikki is...well...just a freak of nature. 
Nikki is a Polydactyl. 
I recently put them on weight control kibble (Evo) and they split one 3oz can of Fancy Feast per day. I alternate the FF with Evo canned food.
How she is this big and Buddy isn't is the burning question. And Buddy is a kibble eater. I see him eating way more times then I see Nikki eating.


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## GSDGunner (Feb 22, 2011)

Bear L said:


> How is the floating cork working out with the dogs? I've been going back and forth between laminate and cork. Love cork but just a bit unsure of the price premium. I could message you separately as well if I'm getting off topic. Trying to figure out what's the best floor for dogs, aside from carpet.


No worries of going off topic. I'd like to hear the answer to that as I'm sure others would.


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## msvette2u (Mar 20, 2006)

GSDGunner said:


> I bet you can guess why I picked this color.
> Better to hide the Gunner fur.


I :wub: people who decorate for their dogs  LOL

On another note - our walls have been white since we moved in 4yrs. ago. 
I don't like to paint. And my mom and I were talking while painting the kennel building. I told her I don't like to paint, and that's why my walls were still white after 4yrs. of living here!
So I got to thinking and decided to do it and now we have pretty walls. I'll try to post a before and after pic soon, since you don't mind your thread being hijacked


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## bocron (Mar 15, 2009)

GSDGunner said:


> Wow, I love your room! The colors are awesome!


Thanks, I really like color in the house, DH not so much so this was a compromise. I got sneaky and painted the ceiling chocolate brown which he freaked about and then when it was done acted like it was his idea .










I have since replaced the 2 green chairs with 2 leather recliners. I hate recliners but since this became the TV room we needed comfy chairs that also swivel so I found these. 

We also mounted the TV over the fireplace. It's pretty funny when we're watching a movie, there are about 5-6 dogs and a couple of cats all sprawled around with us.


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## bocron (Mar 15, 2009)

Bear L said:


> How is the floating cork working out with the dogs? I've been going back and forth between laminate and cork. Love cork but just a bit unsure of the price premium. I could message you separately as well if I'm getting off topic. Trying to figure out what's the best floor for dogs, aside from carpet.


The cork in the basement is in the exercise room and part of a hallway. The dogs do come in there and hang out when someone is working out, and we occasionally put a female in heat in her crate in this room. I did the floating cork floor since it is the basement. The floating panels have a finish kind of on the top so I think that makes it pretty sturdy. So far it's been fine. It's way more water resistant than I thought it would be.The other half of the basement where the rubber floor is gets way more dog traffic and has held up very well.


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## msvette2u (Mar 20, 2006)

> I got sneaky and painted the ceiling chocolate brown which he freaked about and then when it was done acted like it was his idea


Yeah I got online and picked out colors using a paint-your-room website. I found some I liked, we ended up going a bit lighter which the sales gal suggested and I'm happy with it. But hubby was not, and by AM, he was all like, "hey this color looks nice in the daylight, I like it!". Now it's actually "his" project and I had little to do with it! LOL


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## GSDGunner (Feb 22, 2011)

msvette2u said:


> I :wub: people who decorate for their dogs  LOL


Well, to be honest, I didn't really decorate FOR him, more like BECAUSE of him.
The brown carpet will camouflage the fur. 

And Annette, your house is gorgeous! :wub:
I grew up in a white house, never any color on the walls. So when we bought our first house, the walls stayed white and I decorated the house with color.
When we bought this one, the walls were white and my husband actually was able to convince me to put color on the walls. He suggested a red wall  in the family room. Just one wall (which turned into 2 walls). I was scared, you know what, about it, but I ended up loving it. The rest of the walls and kitchen were painted a beige to balance it out. 

It's since been painted a chocolate brown.


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## GSDGunner (Feb 22, 2011)

The only pic I can find with the red wall.









The red didn't hold up well. It lasted a few years, but it really started to look crappy so when it was time, we decided to change it to brown.


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