OT: Hardwoods and Dogs...

[Cyrk]

Question I am having second thoughts about installing Hardwoods in my house because of my 3 huge dogs... I am worried about them falling and ruining the woods etc... also The oldest one has trouble getting up and the hardwoods might be to slippery for him now to get up?

Anyone have hardwoods and can comment... I think (hope) that I am just being paranoid.

-Dave

[Anita]

Old arthritic doggies do have trouble getting to their feet on hardwood floors, but that is where area rugs come in).

[Dallas4u]

Anita speaks the truth (as usual). We have hardwoods on both floors of our house, although the kitchen has some old crappy vinyl on it right now. We are going to take that off and have the entire first floor redone. We also have two dogs, one is 8 yrs and one is 7. We have a large rug in the living room and one in the dining room, and both rooms are connected. This gives the girls... ahem, dogs areas to lay, sleep, keep warn, plus makes it easier for them to get up and down. One likes an old sheet as a bed, while the other uses a dog bed most of the time.

I think area rugs would help out a lot for older dogs... much of our floors are and will be covered by them after they are re-done.

[UtahVXer]

We had our hardwood floors refinished this year. We also have a large breed indoor dog. It is very important to keep their nails trimmed short to prevent scratching up the surface. Never use wax. Several coats of polyurethane is harder, protects better, and is easier to clean. Good luck.

[Heraclid]

We have an old dog with bad hips and she has lots or trouble getting up some times (regardless of the surface) and always has to be lifted into a vehicle. Our experience has been that she likes to lay on cooler surfaces and will lay around on linoleum and tile despite the problem it presents when she wants to get up. I don't like it for the two young dogs either because they can hurt themselves in the kitchen if they try to run on it. Fortunately they seem to make an effort to be pretty careful on it. I love it at the vet's office though because my two more hyper dogs pretty much just run in place in there and it makes them much easier to handle in that situation. LOL!

[UNEVEN THOUGHTS]

There is a coating that can be applied to your dogs nails to keep them from wrecking your floors. It's kinda like a wax or soft rubber. It'll also give your little friend some much needed traction. I used it on my Lab everytime his nails were cut and as I recall, comes in several colors including clear. The name of the stuff escapes me at the moment but you should check w/ your local "Pet Super Store", I'm sure they'll know.

[lttlbddy]

Old arthritic doggies do have trouble getting to their feet on hardwood floors

Don't talk about me that waY, I'm standing right here!

Steve G

[MrCrowley]

If someone can afford hardwoods or tile, they should get them. I have a cat that has severe mobility issues in his rear hip area- he loves our tile & wood house as his nickname is "scooter"! I cant think of any cons, but here are some pros.

1. they last forever
2. they can be refinished continuously (hardwoods)
3. dust, allergens
4. use of area rugs allows removal and cleaning vs. carpet
5. beauty
6. raises property value
7. i ran out- you get the idea!

[mrtew]

I've never had wood floors but my old dogsitter had them and my dogs totally ruined his floors chasing his dog around all day. Every last inch was scratched all to heck after a year or so. Unreal. I'm sure with enough refinishing it could be OK again but geez I'd never get wood floors with dogs after seeing that!

[TKEPY237]

I hate my tile and hardwoods.

They are a pain in the *** to keep clean. Dust bunnys everywhere, we sweep and mop twice a week. The nice thing about carpet is that it kind of holds the dust and pet hair from clumping up in the corners and such. We do not have any carpet in our house, its either tile or hardwoods, the house is 104 years old, all original. If you are worried about scratches, just don't go the cheap route. Get the "real" stuff, not this crap thats like an 1/8" thick, half wood half recycled material. Make sure that if needed you could sand it down and refinish it. As far as traction for the dogs, unless you put down area rugs or runners, there is none. After a while though, the dogs will get used to it and be a little more careful. Anyways, just my thoughts.