# Flooring - wood vs. carpet



## shepherdlady (Mar 17, 2010)

We have 2 GSD's that live in the house. Our carpet is old and needs to be removed. I would love to have hard wood installed, but DH said "NO".
They dogs will have problems with sliding on the floor.

What are your experiences - preferences? Your opinions are very much appreciated.

Maggie


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## WesF (Apr 17, 2009)

We have had both. Our first month with Samson was with all carpet and then we moved to a house with NO carpet at all. He was being potty trained on both and needless to say hardwood flooring is much easier with cleaning accidents. Or if he had a case of bad diarrhea and couldn't make it out in time hardwoods much better. He has never had a problem sliding on the hardwoods unless we really clean them with a wood cleaner then they get a little slick. I even slipped down the steps once but after a day it isn't so slick. The only time I have seen him slide around was on laminate hardwood flooring but we don't have that and he is fine. He still runs around after the cat and plays little bit of fetch and doesn't slip. We absolutely love our hardwoods and believe cleaning is much easier. You will notice with hardwoods that hair will collect in little balls around the house. Just sweep it up and thats about all there is to it. Nothing really for the hair to get trapped in like carpet.


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## shepherdlady (Mar 17, 2010)

Thanks so much. Just what I wanted to hear.


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## JakodaCD OA (May 14, 2000)

I have wood, but also have alot of area rugs around. I've found when my dogs get older, they have a hard time with slipping on the wood/linoleum, so I buy inexpensive throw/area rugs ,,Luckily we have an outlet supplier that I just paid 225$ for two HUGE area rugs ,,both 9 x 12. if they last me a couple years, I'm happy)


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## JKlatsky (Apr 21, 2007)

Our dogs slide on the laminate when they run, not so much if they're just walking around. We also put a good number of rugs around, so we really don't have too many problems with it. 

Much easier to clean. Feels like the hair builds up faster because it doesn't stick to the carpet but creates tumbleweeds and migrates to corners and under tables, but all you do is sweep it up. Much easier to clean up accidents, dirty paws, general dog grossness. Also easier on my allergies.


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## LaRen616 (Mar 4, 2010)

Jklatsky said exactly what I would have said. Those tumbleweeds are very easy to clean up and IMO laminate is better looking than carpet and it'seasy to keep clean


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## Liesje (Mar 4, 2007)

If I was going to re-do the floor, I'd do hardwoods (or tile, I love that!) and get some nice area rugs. I do like carpet for the dogs so we can do training indoors and they can play without sliding and getting hurt, but if I was already spending money to do the project I'd do something nicer and use rugs in those areas. I keep a cheap rug under my crates, even on top of the carpet, so if there's ever a sick dog and it's really bad, I can just toss out the rug.

We have real hardwood upstairs and carpet down. I vacuum several times a week regardless so I don't notice much difference as far as cleanliness.


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## onyx'girl (May 18, 2007)

Agree with above! I have carpet and pergo, the pergo has stood up to the dogs nails, mud, hair and I hate that the carpet holds all the dirt, dust mites and is just sooo unhealthy-no matter how often I vacuum.
When we rip up the carpet in my bedroom and living room, we won't put carpeting back down...I'm thinking of going with a cork or bamboo floor, more sound absorbent and cushioned than the pergo.


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## shepherdlady (Mar 17, 2010)

Thanks to all for your feedback. This is a great place!!

I think I will be going for the wood floor with area rugs - DH just has to live with it


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## holland (Jan 11, 2009)

I have hard wood and carpet too...I probably eventually will replace the carpet but I like carpet in the bedrooms and think it gives the house a warmer feeling...but the hardwood is easy to keep clean


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## HeidiW (Apr 9, 2009)

I am for the hard wood too, or fake hard wood the kind that does not scratch, and area rugs, that is what we have too. My Bo slides more than Bella but he has huge feet pads so that maybe why. Much easier to clean!


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## Betty (Aug 11, 2002)

We have laminate (heavy duty commercial grade) and tile and I couldn't be happier. So far the laminate has held up to the dogs and *almost* to the husband!

After seeing how much dust, hair, ect collects on the laminate i don't think I will ever go back to carpeting. Even with my Dyson I was not getting that much up.


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## Samba (Apr 23, 2001)

I pulled all the carpet out. There was hardwood underneath. It wasn't in pristine shape but that was okay as a herd of dogs is running over it. You couldn't get me to put carpet in again!


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## Fee (Jul 4, 2004)

We have replaced our wood floor with laminate flooring downstairs. Unfortunately the laminate is far more slippery than the wood floor for the dogs. We have some washable area rugs. If I could do it all over again (and have the money) I would choose a bamboo floor and an area with a high quality vinyl. 
One of our dogs is partly incontinent now and the laminate doesn't take the accidents as well. The wood floor was much better with that and vinyl would be best.
In the kitchen we had a cheaper laminate and living room expensive laminate. The kitchen laminate has a dent in it already (after 1 1/2 year) from a thrown over chair (dogs) and one of the joints is broken a bit (where the front loading washing machine bounces up and down a bit).
The more expensive laminate in the dining room (light colour) has some spots of the dog's drool stained into it if you look very, very closely. Dogs are raw fed and healthy so this was very weird. this is probably more than you wanted to know 
Good luck!


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## onyx'girl (May 18, 2007)

Bamboo is renewable, and the cost wouldn't be much higher than a good quality laminate. Just don't go with cherry, that shows everything!


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## RunShepherdRun (Oct 5, 2009)

In my experience, wood floors differ in how slippery they are. We have factory finished wood floors and they are too way slippery for a senior dog to walk on and for the young one to play fetch. Friends have wood floors that were treated with water based finishes and keep the slightly grained wood surface, giving more traction.
I find finishes important not only when it comes to traction, but also whether they evaporate any toxic substances. The dogs noses are much closer to the floor than ours. So I would prefer the water based finishes on those grounds, too.
I love the tile in our kitchen but find it cold in the cold New England winters to stand on. Need to wear warm slippers on tile, then it's ok.

Hope you'll find a solution that works for all members of the family/pack.

Sarah


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## TxRider (Apr 15, 2009)

shepherdlady said:


> We have 2 GSD's that live in the house. Our carpet is old and needs to be removed. I would love to have hard wood installed, but DH said "NO".
> They dogs will have problems with sliding on the floor.
> 
> What are your experiences - preferences? Your opinions are very much appreciated.
> ...


My entire house is ceramic tile floors.

I have area rugs where i need them.

Yes the dogs slide around if they run or get rambunctious around the house, or if I play fetch with the tennis ball inside, but they don't seem to care in the slightest. 

It does tend to slow them down as they have learned exactly how fast they can move around without sliding into a wall.

They like laying on the cool tile to cool off as well.

The tile makes cleanup after an accident a breeze and even makes shedding easy to clean up, especially with leather furniture as well.

Some dogs are very uncomfortable on wood or tile floors though, you'd probably want to check them out on some wood or tile first.

Maybe Cork flooring would be good, less slick, and it's quite a green choice as it is so renewable from what I understand

You would be hard pressed to pay me enough money to have these two girls and carpet in my house.


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## LDB158 (Jan 25, 2010)

I love my hardwood floors! I've had friends who have had dogs live inside and their houses stink. It may just because they don't clean the carpet like they should, but I haven't had any problems with "house stinch" with my hardwood floors.


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## LDB158 (Jan 25, 2010)

And both of my dogs do great walking on the flooring except when Speedy starts getting rambunctious (Sp?) and starts sliding everywhere when he plays with his toys. He doesn't seem to mind though. I have multiple dog beds in my house for them to lay on, but they both seem to prefer laying on the hardwood floors to sleep.


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## Lilie (Feb 3, 2010)

I have carpet through out the house - but my living room is 1/2 carpet & 1/2 concrete. We are still rebuilding from Hurricane Ike. My dogs are MESSY drinkers. I keep their water dishes on the concrete.


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## janisinsc (Aug 26, 2009)

I will never have carpet again in my house. I have hardwood in the majority and pergo in our sun room/dog room. My allergies are 100% better now than when we had carpet. And I remember pulling up carpet prior to having hardwood and will never forget all the dust and dirt trapped under the carpet. We had a greyhound that had a little trouble with the hardwood when he got older but solved the problem with rugs. The pergo is great in the dog room. This is a room at the back of our house that the dogs stay in when we are not home. (couch has a cover, small tile table...virtually dog proof plus lots of windows) I love love LOVE the pergo, and although we have not had to do it, if you get the fitted kind, you can just replace a board if needed.


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## Miikkas mom (Dec 21, 2009)

*I have wood floors and my vet told me it is the worst flooring to have for large breed dogs! I agree with your hubby because….*

*Our Bella, was born and raised in Minnesota. Our house in MN had wall to wall carpeting in every room, other than the kitchen. When Bella was about 9 yrs old we moved down to New Mexico. For the first year we lived here we rented until we found the “perfect” house. The rental also had wall to wall carpeting (other than the kitchen). Then we bought the house we currently live in. This house has wood floors in all of the main living areas (the bedrooms have carpet). Bella had problems with the floors from the get-go. She had lots of trouble get up because she would slip all over the place. She clearly was not use to this type of floor. I would say that within 6-months in the new house Bella’s hips deteriorated, very quickly. I am 100% positive a lot of her hip issues were because of the floors. *

*When Bella was no longer able to get into the car we found a vet that made house calls. One of the very first things he said was that our floors were the worst possible thing for her. We have area rugs everywhere but of course she wanted to lie on the spots where there were no rugs (probably because it was a little cooler). Bella has since passed away. But for Miikka’s sake, if I could, I would install wall to wall carpeting throughout my house. The only positive is that Miikka started out with the wood flooring and does not really know any thing else (other than the carpet in the bedroom) so she didn’t have to adjust to the floors, as she’s grown up with them. Maybe that will make a difference, in the long run.* 

*One other little thing about wood floors; If you decide on wood, you'll want to make sure your dogs nails are properly trimmed, all the time, as long nails could scratch the wood. If you go with Pergo or something like that, it would not be an issue. Having said that - I'd stick with the carpet. *


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## mjbgsd (Jun 29, 2004)

We have carpet and all I can say is, I HATE CARPET........ The hair like ingrains itself into the carpet and no matter how much vacuuming I do, it never dissapears, it's like the hair clings to the carpet. We also get tumbleweeds but they don't move anywhere, lol, just kind of collect in spots and is an eye sore because I'm too lazy to vacuum more then twice a week.... It also sucks when an accident happens, I have to carry in that big bulky cleaning thing. I also hate it when Akbar chews on bones, the juices get into the carpet, or when their muddy and track mud in the house. Yay I hate carpets...lol Their's only one reason we've kept it, it's safer to walk on especially in Cody's case as he has arhtritis. 
But if I were to live in a house with hardwood, I'd just put down rugs.


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## Rerun (Feb 27, 2006)

About 80% of our house is either pergo (laminate), linoleum (bathrooms, kitchen/dining room), or tiles (front entry way and laundry room) Our living room, hallway, and one bedroom are carpeted. We are pulling it up this spring and putting down laminate because I LOVE the laminate flooring. It is so easy to clean, and if a foster has an accident it is no big deal. I just sweep, wash the floors, and they are sparkling clean and smell good again.

Carpeting is never truely clean IMHO, no matter how well you clean it. I only have one (Audrey) that is a bit weird about the pergo. The linoleum she is ok with, the pergo she thinks she's going to slip, so sometimes she gets to scambling really fast trying to get off it, which of course makes it slip more. Now that she is slowing down and actually WALKING on it, she is ok.

The only thing I think we're really going to miss is cruddy day hall way fetch which we can do from our living room couch all the way through the living room through the entire hallway. I don't think even runners are going to stay put enough for me to not worry about them sliding too much.

I would do hardwood floors in a heartbeat throughout the entire house if we could afford it. I have never had hardwood, I heard it scratches more than the pergo, but we love our pergo floors.


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## heather122 (Nov 6, 2009)

For the puppy days, the linoleum was the easiest to clean. If urine is left on a hardwood floor too long, the floor will turn black. It is hard to see urine on my floor and I learned this the hard way. It is hard to get the smell and the urine out of the carpet unless you have a rug doctor... I think they all have their perks and down falls... unless my floors have tumble weed-furs, they typically look clean!


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## doggiedad (Dec 2, 2007)

have the new hardwood floors put in. get new rugs
or runners. i worry about dogs slipping on hardwood.


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## Caroline (Jan 29, 2009)

We just got new wood laminate throughout the house. Yes it is much more slipperier then carpet, but with a lot of area rugs, it's not a problem. It looks beautiful. The only thing that I wish I knew before I bought the new floors, was not to get the high gloss finish. Dark colors and high gloss finishes, shows EVERYTHING!


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## IllinoisNative (Feb 2, 2010)

Hardwood. Hardwood. Hardwood.

I have a dog with dust mite allergies and you can't control it with carpeting. Hardwood is easier for cleaning, doesn't retain odor, and doesn't harbor all the bacteria. And, for allergies, NO CARPETING. 

Sigh. Allergies suck.


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## MaggieRoseLee (Aug 17, 2001)

I replaced my wall to wall with a vinyl flooring that is industrial grade, looks just like wood, is super easy to install, and WATERPROOF! I've had it for a year now and love love love it.

The brand I have is Konecto Welcome to Konecto. click that





 
It's floating system so goes right over existing vinyl flooring...If you click on these pictures they get bigger. First is installing over my old flooring in the kitchen, then when it's done.


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## TxRider (Apr 15, 2009)

I'll say one thing for ceramic tiles, it isn't all slippery, the dog gets some traction on the grout lines between the tiles when they slide. And you can get tiles with a variety of surface types from glass smooth to rough.


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## GSDElsa (Jul 22, 2009)

You already have your answer--but hardwoods. HANDS DOWN!!!! Or tile. Or lamanite. But NOT carpet!

OMG they are great for cleaning. Don't get an odor in them. You can actually pick up the tumbleweeds by hand if you don't have time to run a vacuum.

You probably wouldn't be able to do this, but my parents live in NM and have BRICK floors throughout their entire house, except the bedrooms. My mom needed something my grandmother could get over easily with her walker, but that was not slippery in the least. The brick has been perfect. Plus, it goes amazingly with the Northern NM arcitecture of the house.


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## GSDBESTK9 (Mar 26, 2002)

I hate carpet. I have Pergo floors through out my house and my dogs are all fine with it.


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## Melly (Mar 21, 2010)

JKlatsky said:


> Feels like the hair builds up faster because it doesn't stick to the carpet but creates tumbleweeds and migrates to corners and under tables, but all you do is sweep it up.



HA HA HA I know how that is I find these hair balls under the couch in corners and i think how the heck did this get here lol, but so easy to clean. My bigger boy slides when he runs BADLY lol, but he does seem to be getting better he was 6 mo when I got him and his 1st time living in the house so might just take getting use to. Younger 1 doesn't have as much of a problem.


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## holland (Jan 11, 2009)

I have always wanted bambbo and may put it in the family room...for people who have it do you like it


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## Jelpy (Nov 8, 2009)

I just got the concrete foundation stained and polished. If I want rugs I just pick up a cheapie at Walmarts or whatever that I won't feel too bad about if it gets ruined. Cleanup is a breeze, no worries about water damage etc. I love it. 

Jelpy


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## shepherdlady (Mar 17, 2010)

Thank you to ALL!

We actually purchased PERGO this weekend and going to install over the Easter Weekend. It is not as slippery as the hardwoods and we like it actually better than wood. I also like the Bamboo, but the wood it way to soft to stand up the the toenails of the dogs.
I have already picked out a nice rug and can't wait.
Now if it was only installed already 

Thanks again for all your valued contributions.

Maggie


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## MaggieRoseLee (Aug 17, 2001)

Glad to hear Pergo is now *waterproof *(I guess?). That was the reason I didn't go with that. Had the salesman give me the 'make sure you immediately wipe up any spills' chat and knew my water bowl dripping, puppy peeing, vomiting when sick dogs weren't going to be walking on Pergo in my house!


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## HarperGirl (Mar 15, 2010)

Oh, just have to share. We have 90% hardwood (laminate in the kitchen, carpet in the basement). Unlike a lot of dogs, Harper LOVES to slide on the hardwood. She figured out that when I wash the floors they get slippery, and she'll take a running start, slam on the brakes, and slide through the rooms. I just about DIED laughing the first time she did this!

However, my in-law's pom won't leave the rugs. Her loss.


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## rachelanne16 (Jul 29, 2010)

I have not yet experience that situation but I think it is better if you will replace your carpet with a new one. Or it is better if you go to the carpet cleaning services and tell to them about your concern. They know more about it.


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## MaggieRoseLee (Aug 17, 2001)

I replaced all my wall to wall with Konecto vinyl flooring. It really does look like wood but it's not, and it's WATERPROOF!

Can't tell you how amazing it was to housebreak my last puppy on it!

Konecto Flooring | Konecto Tile Flooring Reviews, Problems, Costhttp://www.amazon.com/Konecto-Sierra-Quincy-Floating-Vinyl/dp/B002VGTKJI

















http://www.thefloorpro.com/community/vinyl-flooring-q-and-a/2169-konecto-installation.html


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## paulag1955 (Jun 29, 2010)

MaggieRoseLee said:


> I replaced all my wall to wall with Konecto vinyl flooring. It really does look like wood but it's not, and it's WATERPROOF!
> l


You have vinyl in your whole house?


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## MaggieRoseLee (Aug 17, 2001)

paulag1955 said:


> You have vinyl in your whole house?


All the wall to wall I replaced is this Konecto (the carpeting in my bedrooms was ok so I'll replace it later).

This Konecto really does look like wood. Was easy to install, and is waterproof. Softer and warmer to walk on in the winter than wood. I have laminate in one of my guestrooms and I love it BUT it is definitely NOT waterproof or scratchproof and my dogs aren't allowed in that room at all. 

I've had the Konecto for a few years now and still love it! Even had a contractor over to replace my front door a few months ago and he commented on how nice my 'wood' floors looked!

Here's larger pictures of the install, first one shows how it went on right over my old vinyl in the kitchen:










Here's the kitchen completed!


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## paulag1955 (Jun 29, 2010)

MaggieRoseLee said:


> All the wall to wall I replaced is this Konecto (the carpeting in my bedrooms was ok so I'll replace it later).
> 
> This Konecto really does look like wood. Was easy to install, and is waterproof. Softer and warmer to walk on in the winter than wood. I have laminate in one of my guestrooms and I love it BUT it is definitely NOT waterproof or scratchproof and my dogs aren't allowed in that room at all.
> 
> I've had the Konecto for a few years now and still love it! Even had a contractor over to replace my front door a few months ago and he commented on how nice my 'wood' floors looked!


It looks great in your kitchen! Were you able to see it in person before you bought it? My husband has decided he wants to replace our carpet (no rush, though) and we're weighing the pros and cons of laminate and hardwood. I'll keep the tile in my kitchen, though.


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## MaggieRoseLee (Aug 17, 2001)

paulag1955 said:


> It looks great in your kitchen! Were you able to see it in person before you bought it? My husband has decided he wants to replace our carpet (no rush, though) and we're weighing the pros and cons of laminate and hardwood. I'll keep the tile in my kitchen, though.


The flooring store I went to had a bunch of samples, I even was able to take a couple home to put on the floor to see how they would look at my house, different woods have such different colors.


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## paulag1955 (Jun 29, 2010)

Thanks for the info; I've never heard of this stuff before. I'm going to forward the link to my husband. The "warmer in winter" is appealing; our basement is already freezing almost all year and I'm hesitant to make it more so by tearing out the carpet.


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## ThorDog (Feb 12, 2010)

Have you thoguht of cork flooring? We have it, it is quiet and warm and soft - perfect for my son when he falls down all the time (toddler).


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## kiya (May 3, 2010)

We put Pergo down about 10 years ago, I put area rugs down were needed. Yes they can slip but overall they know thier limits. As far as cleaning you can't beat it. We still have carpet in the bedroom but that will be replaced with pergo some day too. As much as I used to try to keep the house clean I was shocked when we pulled up the carpets. I much prefer area rugs, pick them up to clean and throw them away when thier done.


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## Shadow's mum (Mar 13, 2010)

My whole house apart from the bedrooms is cork!! It's fantastic.


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## ThorDog (Feb 12, 2010)

Shadow's mum said:


> My whole house apart from the bedrooms is cork!! It's fantastic.


How long have you had the cork? Mine is starting to have some little cracks and the edges are coming up slightly - any issues with yours?


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## spiritsmom (Mar 1, 2003)

We have laminate downstairs and carpet upstairs. I just prefer carpet in the bedrooms. I do want to change the laminate to hardwood floors though instead. We had a mini flood from the washer and it caused the laminate to start separating. Plus the area where we used to pen Ursa at when she was having her pee accidents that area has started to come up as well. So it will have to be replaced at some point. My mom has all ceramic tile and it's really easy to clean but very cold feeling - I don't like that.


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## paulag1955 (Jun 29, 2010)

spiritsmom said:


> My mom has all ceramic tile and it's really easy to clean but very cold feeling - I don't like that.


I have ceramic tile in my kitchen and I love the look of it and wouldn't replace it but...it's freezing to stand on in the winter. (Great in the summer, though.)


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## Syaoransbear (Sep 25, 2008)

All the ceramic tile in my house is heated .


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