# Large dogs + hardwood floors = ?



## twilitewulf (Jun 4, 2009)

My BF and I are in the process of buying a house, and we're thinking of putting hardwood floors in the downstairs. Can large dogs coexist peacefully with hardwood, or is the hardwood doomed? We are planning to dremel the dogs' nails so they will be kept short and smooth, but I'm not sure if that would be enough to keep the floors protected.

Any thoughts?


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## Mandalay (Apr 21, 2008)

We had hardwood in the house we just moved from. Part of our problem in finding a home when we were looking was that everyone has hardwood nowadays and we did not want it anymore.

Mandalay did fine on it as long as her paws were not wet from the rain, the snow or the water she drooled all over the floor. She never scratched it - that was not the problem. The problem was the hair. It was everywhere. It looked like little tumbleweeds blowing around constantly. We swept and/or vacuumed AT LEAST once a day...usually 2 or 3 times. That was my main reason in not wanting hardwood floors again...I cant stand the tumbleweeds of dog hair.

If you can sweep that often or if you dont mind the hair following you around as you walk down the hall then they are fine. I am sure there are large dog owners that get along fine with them.


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## Jason L (Mar 20, 2009)

My boy is 70 lbs and 1 yr old and so far no damage or scratch on the hardwood floor. It really depends on how your dogs react to the surface. Obie is not the most agile dog in the world and hates any "slippery" surface so he does not really like to run inside the house. 

By the way, pups coming? How many pups are you getting?


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## darga19 (Mar 4, 2009)

Hardwood floors are durable and will hold up fine. We have them throughout my house.

The hair does collect like tumbleweeds under furniture and near heating vents...but it is easy to clean up quickly.

The good thing is, rainy/wet/mud/etc is much easier to clean on floor than carpet.


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## CampPappy (Sep 10, 2007)

I am in the process of pulling up all the carpet in my house due to the doggy smell that seems to stay in it.
We put hardwood in the master bedroom and I'm happy with it for the most part. We put in Bellawood (Teak..solid color throughout...hard finish) I vacuum every two days due to the hair and I have a foster that somehow can dribble water from one end of the house to the other. So....yes...hair and water marks are a problem. I have a very large washable area rug at the bottom of the bed and that helps..plus it's an area the dogs like that's not slippery.
We have ceramic tile in the mudroom, kitchen and hallway that is a medium dark terracotta color. It's WONDERFUL! We are now entending that into the Living Room/Dining Room area. It doesn't show the dirt, water marks or hair....easy to vacuum and mop. It's a stock color from Home Depot and we love it!


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## Woodreb (Oct 27, 2008)

We have hardwoods in our bedroom and carpet in the rest of the house. I found that with my older dog, Rica, that she had a much easier time on the carpet than on the hardwood or tile floors. She had severe HD and as it became more difficult for her to walk, it got harder for her to have stability on the slippery surfaces. As her condition worsened, it became impossible for her to even stand up on the wood floors, but the carpet gave her enough traction that she could push herself up.


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## AllisonS (Oct 16, 2007)

My neighbors have hardwood and Greta ran in their back door & put a small scratch in it. She was in there for maybe 5 seconds.


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## ozzymama (Jan 17, 2005)

We have hardwood, our home was built in the early 70s and the flooring is original. Sure ya get surface scratches, but nothing major. The thing with hardwood is you get what you pay for and you do have to pay for some upkeep.


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## aubie (Dec 22, 2008)

When we redo the house (if you've seen pics with our carpet, the teal monster, you'd understand) we're going to keep carpet where carpet is now, but I think in the kitchen we're going to put laminate wood flooring. 

Of course, this will probably be in like two years. Sigh.


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## angelaw (Dec 14, 2001)

I had 1/2 tile 1/2 carpet, 3 yrs ago ripped out carpet and put in laminate. No problems so far, no damage from the dogs. tumbleweeds are easier to get than the hair that gets embedded into carpet. I will never have carpet again.


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## sgtmom52 (Aug 30, 2008)

I'm glad to see this question come up as DH and I have been discussing this recently. We live in the woods with lots of mud, leaves, etc. Although we wipe feet when they come in if it is wet or muddy out ~ we still get a lot of dirt tracked in. Also with 2 black dogs our beige carpet looks terrible the day after I vacuum (which is almost daily)! 

We are seriously considering hardwood over carpet. I am not a big fan of the laminate and we will probably go for good hardwood. Any suggestions of what types hold up best?
Pictures would be great!


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## BowWowMeow (May 7, 2007)

I have had only hardwood floors with 1 to 3 dogs for the past 15 years. In the last two houses I have had the floors refinished with non-toxic finish. There are a few scratches on the floors from racing around but overall they have held up really well. 

They are easy to clean. I just use a broom and one of those swiffer things with a little white vinegar and water and a few drops of tea tree oil.


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## FredD (Jul 5, 2009)

I, also have hardwood floors and some carpet in the living room. Hardwood floors slow Mikko down, carpet don't! I prefer hardwood over carpet, it save's vacuum cleaners... Hair, hair, everywhere, but it's easier to clean off hardwood.


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## lauramichelle (Mar 11, 2009)

I've got all hardwood floors. However, we are the 3rd owner of the house and our floors had a lot of scratches when we moved in.....not deep....just top layer scratches that if we want to we can buff out later. They had little kids and a little dog....you can see swirly scratches in the kitchen where the dog would turn circles for food!

I havent noticed Ranger putting any scratches on the floor....kids and hotwheel cars do though!

But we dont allow him to run in the house. Our only problem is that Ranger is a longcoat and has furry feet. Sometimes he slips and slides a little. Every once and a while he gets positioned wrong and cant get a grip and I have to help him up because his feet slide out from under him. Only other problem is when I"m training! If I have him sit and and stay....his butt tends to slide out from under him until he's laying down.

I do worry that as he ages hardwood might be hard on his joints. But we arent planning to stay in this house long term, and want carpet in our next home.


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## SpeedBump (Dec 29, 2008)

I put cherry floors in my last house every corner was pretty scratched up but that just adds character.







I did use a satin finish which helps hide the scratches. Current house has oak with a little bit of walnut also with a satin finish and the oak holds up well being a fairly hard wood. Some scratches once again but does not faze us.

Wet paws or if you have a dog that has difficulty getting up can be an issue with them. Current dog constantly has the floors wet from coming in from the pool so we have to watch where we walk. Last pup had 12 blown discs and we put little rubber pads on the soles of his feet to aid him getting traction, that made life a lot easier for him and us for the last couple of years.


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## Mary Jane (Mar 3, 2006)

Our house is 90 years old and we have the original hardwood floors in most places. A previous owner put carpeting in the master bedroom which is being removed next week, I really don't like carpeting. Wolf has no problem on the wood floors and runs everywhere. He did have trouble running on the stairs, so we put a runner down-actually the carpet squares from Flor. There's not nearly as much hair as I feared, but I also brush him almost every night.


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## ozzymama (Jan 17, 2005)

The only suggestion to anyone buying is really research your floors. Personally I'm lovin' the looks of bamboo flooring! It's supposed to last AND is renewable at a faster rate than other woods.
When we tried to find pieces for our parquette nothing produced now is as thick as what we have in the house, we had a few damaged pieces, missing pieces at the sides, we had to "make" our own pieces.


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## littledmc17 (Apr 9, 2008)

I can't wait to have all hard wood in my house 
No running 
We just had them done in our Breezeway and the dogs walk not run
I have carpet in Living room and front room its ok but hard to keep clean


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## HeidiW (Apr 9, 2009)

Does anyone have the Fake stuff, you know the hard wood flooring that is not hardwood but manmade but looks hardwood. I have seen it and you can't tell the difference. It is supposed to be scratch resistant. If I were starting new floors I would go with that.

I have red aok hard wood floors and they do scratch them when the run around and rough house. Nothing horrible but small scratches.


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## angelaw (Dec 14, 2001)

Isn't that laminate??

No scratches on mine.


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## JenniferH (Oct 9, 2007)

I think we have the fake/laminate stuff. 

The bird makes a bigger mess of the floor than the dogs. Dried grapes and stuff like that and I have to take a finger nail and scrape it all off! I actually dont mind having a few scratches. I think its gives the floors some character. 

My only issue with my floors is that they can be too slippery. Bella will run from the kitchen to the front door if someone approaches and whip around the corner and her legs go right out from under her. I really worry that she'll hurt herself.


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## Minnieski (Jan 27, 2009)

I heard that laminate doesn't scratch as easily as hardwood, so if we get a chance to redo our house it will be with that. Right now it's about 1/2 tile, 1/2 carpet, and the tile is so much easier to clean. My mom has hardwood floors in her house, and won't even let people walk on them with high heals because she's afraid they'll scratch it. Personally, little scratches don't bother me, it is a floor, after all.


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## sleachy (Aug 10, 2001)

I have lived in several houses with hardwood floors and never had a problem. I keep the dog's nails short with a dremel. I think I have more trouble with the cats peeling out and digging in around corners during their high speed laps!


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## Ilovealldogs (Nov 17, 2006)

You guys are lucky. I have carpeting in most of the rooms and hate it! The only time I like it is in the winter, but I wish I didn't have any carpet, just laminate and rugs. My dog doesn't have accidents but has had bouts of sickness and no matter what I've used or how hard I have scrubbed, you can still see the vomit stains. Yuck! My cats sometimes have hairballs and although it doesn't really stain, it is a pain to clean up. Also, the carpet is kind of matted and the cat hair is like permanently stuck in there- almost like weaved in! And I have a Dyson vacuum! If I had the money, I'd do laminate in a heartbeat.


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## littledmc17 (Apr 9, 2008)

Get a spot bot Jennifer I have one for the carpets works wonders


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## littledmc17 (Apr 9, 2008)

> Originally Posted By: Heidi WDoes anyone have the Fake stuff, you know the hard wood flooring that is not hardwood but manmade but looks hardwood. I have seen it and you can't tell the difference. It is supposed to be scratch resistant. If I were starting new floors I would go with that.
> 
> I have red aok hard wood floors and they do scratch them when the run around and rough house. Nothing horrible but small scratches.


Yes I have it in my Kitchen only scratches I have on it is where rubbish barrel is thanks to DH


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## cjauch (Jul 2, 2009)

We have oak floors thoughout the house and I think they hold up well with dogs. Our previous house had solid oak upstairs and engineered oak downstairs (the house was on a slab). I did notice that the solid held up better, but overall I prefer the ease of clean up of on wood floors than wall to wall...you may have tumbleweeds but at least you can see the tumbleweeds to address them.


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## george1990 (Nov 24, 2008)

We have laminate (see: fake) hardwood upstairs and my room. There hasn't been any trouble at all really. No scratches in my room (no room to run around really) but there's minimal scratches upstairs and once we clean it up with some lysol or orange-glo or something, you can barely tell.


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## Syaoransbear (Sep 25, 2008)

We have hardwood and sometimes I throw Chrono's Cuz down the hardwood room and he slips and slides everywhere. I always cringe when I hear his nails hitting the floor, but I can never find any scratch marks.


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## HeidiW (Apr 9, 2009)

My DD stained her bedroom carpet really bad, spilled her coffe and grape juice etc, and she is 21 yrs old just klutzy. Looks aweful, this fall when she goes back to college, I am replacing it, either hard wood oak or the fake stuff, can't decide yet. I have hard oak thru out down stairs and Bella and Bo chase each other and slip and slide. I am trying to stop them, but Bell teases him with the ball and he chases her she loves to be chased. Any way one of them a put a scratch on my beautuful red oak floor and pretty deep one.
If they just walk around and behave they would not scratch it, but I can't always stop them.


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## MaggieRoseLee (Aug 17, 2001)

Well I researched this for MONTHS and now have a product called Konecto on my floors that I love!!!! http://www.konectousa.com/ It floats over the base flooring, so no glues or grouting, the 'planks' come with adhesive along 2 edges.

It looks like wood but feels 'warmer' under foot and is water PROOF (not just resistant) and very tough and scratchproof. I LOVE IT. they also have it looking like stone and/or tile. 

I got the Konecto Country type in the ash, it was the lightest that looked good with my furniture.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ggCWpicQmM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=myc1_jxHTDE

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wnJA-1S5Sd8&feature=related

They even have a COMMERCIAL grade so you know it's tough.


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## Fafhrd (Dec 3, 2008)

Our oak floors have held up well to many years of Tuco and one year of Karloff, but when Tuco became crippled he had a hard time walking on smooth floors so we put throw rugs everywhere.


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## ddcha (Jul 2, 2008)

We have pine floors and after only 7 years and 3 dogs we now have distressed pine floors. I knew that the pine was a soft wood but I wanted it to match the walls (white pine log house). Since Baron, and Knesha before him, has gotten older, I have scatter rugs all the way thru the house so he can walk and not slip. After ripping up the carpet in our old house and seeing what was underneath I vowed to never have carpet again. It was gross!!


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## kelso (Jan 22, 2007)

> Originally Posted By: MaggieRoseLeeWell I researched this for MONTHS and now have a product called Konecto on my floors that I love!!!! http://www.konectousa.com/ It floats over the base flooring, so no glues or grouting, the 'planks' come with adhesive along 2 edges.
> 
> It looks like wood but feels 'warmer' under foot and is water PROOF (not just resistant) and very tough and scratchproof. I LOVE IT. they also have it looking like stone and/or tile.
> 
> ...


I just looked at the site real quick and did not see any pricing? How is it price -wise? Also, is this something you can get all over the country? Ordered over the net? Did you put it in yourself? We have the original hardwoods in our house but they need refinished and would rather put something like this in.....I like the idea


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## Lomax Anderson (Jul 17, 2009)

Hardwood vrs laminate
You really can not refinish the engeneered products.very little top layer of wood to sand before you get all the way through .
Hardwood will last 100+ years ...laminate products are temporary at best. I install Kitchens and have seen hardwoods that were 100 years old refinished that were amazing when redone...I have also seen laminate ruined before the house is complete...
My GSD's slow down for the tile and hardwoods but they still run about...carpet and hair don't mix well IMHO


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## JenM66 (Jul 28, 2005)

Do your dogs slip and slide? We have hardwood in our kitchen and Gracie slides like crazy (perhaps because she runs at Mach 10 all the time







) We're looking at a new house which has the "fake" laminate wood floors in the large living/dining area and we thought we'd need to put carpet down before moving in. I'd like to not cover it completely (perhaps just runners and/or area rugs) if possible. It's scratch resistant - the current owners have a dog and selected it for that reason. My worry is just the slipping and falling for Gracie.


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## CWhite (Dec 8, 2004)

She slips if her nails are a little long and when she is running and cutting corners. Della views our home as an agility course.


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## Lomax Anderson (Jul 17, 2009)

Slip and Slide ?? More like a bowling alley ...the zoomies are hard on the knick knacks...they do slide around on the tile and hardwood but we have put some rugs down...not a complete path but some "breaking" zones .I tend to try to keep them calm inside but the zoomies can have no notice so we do spend a little time picking up things .Mason has long hair on his paws that seems to hinder his tractiion inside .


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## twilitewulf (Jun 4, 2009)

Thanks for all the info guys! I feel pretty confident about getting the hardwood now, love the look but wanted to make sure it would last and be worth the money!


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## tintallie (Aug 6, 2008)

We have maple floors in our home and our first dog's nails were always on a bit of the longer side (he hated nail trims) which resulted in a TON of scratch marks by our foyer and staircase where there is heavy traffic.

Our GSD puppy's nails are short right now and I plan on keeping it that way and her nails don't even reach the floor.

I suspect that the reason our floors are so scratched is because they used maple on the floors.


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## angelaw (Dec 14, 2001)

my laminate actually has ridges to mimic wood grain, so it's not completely smooth. I got mine from builddirect.com (whole pallet) shipped to us.


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## middleofnowhere (Dec 20, 2000)

Worry less about the floor (it can be refinished) and more about dogs and traction. That's the one thing I don't like for older dogs is the lack of purchase on a hardwood floor. Scatter rugs are a must.


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## angelaw (Dec 14, 2001)

I agree with this. I took bath mats with the rubber backing in corner areas and standing still areas for vishnu. helps with duchess and oxana now.


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## Woodreb (Oct 27, 2008)

> Originally Posted By: middleofnowhereWorry less about the floor (it can be refinished) and more about dogs and traction. That's the one thing I don't like for older dogs is the lack of purchase on a hardwood floor. Scatter rugs are a must.


I totally agree with this. While I much prefer the hardwood look, when we had to replace our carpets, I opted for carpet again because I was afraid Rica would hurt herself on the hardwood and she just didn't have enough traction to be able to stand up.
If I were doing it now or a few years down the road I'd go with a hardwood and just use throw rugs.


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## meisha98 (Aug 27, 2008)

I have hardwood in the dining area and I put down a 3x5 area rug with pad and a couple of scatter rugs. It helps because as they race through they don't slide as they jump on each other etc. It also helps keep stray dribbled water or dropped food from the kitchen off the wood. I have carpet in the living room and vinyl flooring (textured) in the kitchen so the wood is the only possibly slippery area. Coming in there is a mudroom to get most of the junk off their feet so the rugs on the wood stay fairly clean.


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## tedbrian45 (Aug 12, 2021)

ozzymama said:


> The only suggestion to anyone buying is really research your floors. Personally I'm lovin' the looks of *bamboo rug* flooring! It's supposed to last AND is renewable at a faster rate than other woods.
> When we tried to find pieces for our *bamboo rug* nothing produced now is as thick as what we have in the house, we had a few damaged pieces, missing pieces at the _bamboo rug_ sides, we had to "make" our own pieces.


Thank you for this information...


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