# Wood flooring and Standard poodles - damage?



## ChantersMom (Aug 20, 2012)

We have no carpeting and only hardwood flooring in our house and I have not noticed any damage as a result of Chanter's toenails and we've had him for over 2 years. I do keep an eye on his nails and if I hear click click, I go look and give them a trim.


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## CharismaticMillie (Jun 16, 2010)

I prefer hardwood with dogs. Its much easier to keep clean than carpet. Keeping the floors clean is more important to me than whether or not hardwood is scratched. We moved into our house a year ago and it is full of new carpet. I'm just waiting until I can justify tearing it up and putting in hardwood.


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## Petitpie'sDH (Mar 22, 2013)

I have hardwood flooring throughout most of my house, and think it is the best choice. Yes, there is some sliding when they run, but I don't see any damage going on. I do try to keep their nails dremelled fairly short, but don't know if that makes much difference. I don't know about laminate, but I am considering it for my kitchen which currently has an old vinyl floor that needs replacing. Did you notice any durability/damage problems with your laminate floor?


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## Marcie (Aug 2, 2011)

I don't worry about our wood floors, they can always be refinished.


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## spindledreams (Aug 7, 2012)

Laminate is not a good choice in areas that may have a lot of moist spills. You need to make sure every single joint is sealed or the moisture can get in to the laminate base and damage it. Sigh we have been looking at flooring to replace the vinyl-asbestos tiles in our kitchen...


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## CT Girl (Nov 17, 2010)

My house has all wood floors. Very easy to clean but my floors have tons of scratches from my 63 pound Aussie. His nails were always kept short. Swizzle at 7 pounds has not scratched the floor once. I think it depends on how heavy your dogs are.


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## Lily's-Mom (May 31, 2012)

After having carpet in our entire house for 25 yrs, we recently refinished the wood floors in the living and dining rooms. Lily does slip on it when she really runs but I haven't seen any damage to the floors yet. BUT we also recarpeted the family room and since Lily seems more comfortable running and playing on the carpet, we hardly ever sit in the living room anymore. 
Her nails do click on the flooring and I am trying to get them to a shorter length so they don't do that. Depending on how rough your dogs play and their weight and what kind of wood the floors are and what kind of finish is on it all have a part in how the floors will hold up. We have pine flooring (it's a very old house) and that is a soft wood so it does tend to show marks from high heels, furniture, etc. so when we refinished we went with an upgraded topcoat.


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## NYNIC715 (Oct 15, 2012)

I have a friend who imports Brazilian Cherry hardwood flooring... When I purchased my beach house - I wanted to put hardwood floors in it. I asked him about the nails scratching... According to him - the floors would be fine - as long as you keep their nails clipped regularly. It's when the dogs nails are long that they scratch & cat claws are a definite to scratch the floor as their nails are thin are super sharp.

Polo still slides all over the place on them... We have area rugs and if he is romping around they serve as his landing spot. Amazing how quickly they get used to realizing "YIKES THIS IS SLIPPERY!" then it's "OH YEA THERE IS SOMETHING I CAN GRIP ONTO WOOF!!!"


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## Indiana (Sep 11, 2011)

I have laminate in the new house that I just bought but I'm putting in hardwood this winter. Apparently (according to my family who installs hardwood) you should go for a more rustic choice (also called pub style) of hardwood finish if you have dogs...the opposite end of the spectrum which is like a mirror high gloss finish does show every nick and skid mark. And my dogs are like the cartoon Wylie Coyote when they get running


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## Ciscley (Jul 16, 2013)

We have hardwood throughout the house except in the bathrooms and upstairs bedrooms. I see no wear from the dog's feet, but except for Danno we keep the nails very short (SD trainees). It's much more scratched by previous owner's children and my husband sliding chairs around (we keep protectors on the feet but I swear they still scratch to some degree.)

Personally I'm much less paranoid about wood than carpet. Same reason I have only leather or slip covered furniture. Gotta be prepared for that one time the dog gets super sick and it's all over the place. Danno had colitis one day while we were out at dinner and I was sooo grateful I could disassemble the sofa and throw all the covers (especially the arm rest) into the washing machine after a hose down. 

And if it hadn't cleaned off, happy to know I could easily replace the cover. 

I feel the same way about the flooring. Vacuuming is good and all, and carpet cleaners help, but never as clean as a regularly moped solid surface like wood or tile. And in 10 years you can just refinish the wood floor versus replacing the carpet.


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## Tiny Poodles (Jun 20, 2013)

We use flor carpet tiles on the wood floors to make runners along the path that the girls usually take - I was worried that they would not hold together well for zoomies but they are great - the never budge ( though when we had regular runners, they were always kicking them up)
Also, I think that you said that you are military- meaning that you might move often? Well another great thing about them is that you can lift them up, pack them in a box and take them with you - no worries about if the rug will fit in a a new place( you just have to spend a few bucks for more of the sticky dots to put them together again)! I also like that they are very flat, so that any crumbs that the girls drop are easily seen and sucked up with a hand vac - when I had thicker runners, I had to vacuum 3 times a week, and they were still full of crumbs - with the flor tiles I can get away with lugging out the big vacuum only every couple of weeks and the floors are cleaner!


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## patk (Jun 13, 2013)

i personally prefer laminate with a dog in the house, but i think the only thing you have to worry about with wood flooring is if your dog pees in the house. could stain the wood. not sure refinishing would be sufficient in that case. otherwise, wood is okay as long as you keep nails short. and i agree that it is easier to keep clean than carpet.


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## Lou (Sep 22, 2012)

Thank u all so much for your responses!! 

We use a heavy duty carpet cleaning machine and have it professionslly cleaned every 4-6 months (I HATE dirty carpet) and we keep the carpets very clean since both dogs are very well potty trained. If one vomits out of the blue or something we clean it REALLY well immediately 

I'm glad to read all the info here, thanks again!!

But yes, some houses have both carpet and wood flooring, and as long as we have a large carpeted living room from them to play in when its raining, I guess it will be ok if the rest of the house is wood 
Ps. I like too keep their nails dremelled/rounded too


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## Poodlemama99 (Feb 12, 2010)

Wood floors are best with pets. I also keep an ear out for the nails clicking and keep them trimmed which cuts down on scratching. I also prefer leather over cloth furniture too. I have never had anyone injured on the wood floors. 


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## Poodlemama99 (Feb 12, 2010)

Pee does not hurt the wood floors if they are sealed properly. ?


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## Lou (Sep 22, 2012)

Poodlemama99 said:


> Wood floors are best with pets. I also keep an ear out for the nails clicking and keep them trimmed which cuts down on scratching. I also prefer leather over cloth furniture too. I have never had anyone injured on the wood floors.
> 
> 
> Sent from Petguide.com Free App


Cool!
My leather couch is in perfect shape too!! Easy to clean and really comfy! 


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## Lou (Sep 22, 2012)

Tiny Poodles said:


> We use flor carpet tiles on the wood floors to make runners along the path that the girls usually take - I was worried that they would not hold together well for zoomies but they are great - the never budge ( though when we had regular runners, they were always kicking them up)
> Also, I think that you said that you are military- meaning that you might move often? Well another great thing about them is that you can lift them up, pack them in a box and take them with you - no worries about if the rug will fit in a a new place( you just have to spend a few bucks for more of the sticky dots to put them together again)! I also like that they are very flat, so that any crumbs that the girls drop are easily seen and sucked up with a hand vac - when I had thicker runners, I had to vacuum 3 times a week, and they were still full of crumbs - with the flor tiles I can get away with lugging out the big vacuum only every couple of weeks and the floors are cleaner!
> 
> 
> Sent from Petguide.com Free App


We are not military but we do move/travel a lot!!
I like that carpet tile idea, thanks a lot!!!!!!!! 

I worry about my babies hips on wood floors, Lou has a lot of energy sometimes and wants to play keep away running from Apollo!


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## Carley's Mom (Oct 30, 2011)

I have only wood and slate floors. I do get scratches , but I don't really mind too much. I think it just adds a bit of charter. If you get to pick your floors or if you re-do them, go for less shine, a matte will always show less wear and tear. My floors are wide plank and made to look old, so that does help . Congrats on the move!


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## Lou (Sep 22, 2012)

Indiana said:


> I have laminate in the new house that I just bought but I'm putting in hardwood this winter. Apparently (according to my family who installs hardwood) you should go for a more rustic choice (also called pub style) of hardwood finish if you have dogs...the opposite end of the spectrum which is like a mirror high gloss finish does show every nick and skid mark. And my dogs are like the cartoon Wylie Coyote when they get running


Yeah, come to think of it, a friend of mine has gorgeous shinny like mirror/glass style wood floors and they are badly scratched because of their chow/lab mix, his nails are sooooooo long. I had forgotten about that.

Ps. "(...) Wylie Coyote when they get running(...)". HILARIOUS!!!! :-D

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## CharismaticMillie (Jun 16, 2010)

Asthma and allergies are big in my family, which is why I don't like carpet regardless of how often it might get "cleaned". On a daily basis, carpet hides more dirt, dander, and dust mites than wood floors.


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## Lou (Sep 22, 2012)

Petitpie'sDH said:


> I have hardwood flooring throughout most of my house, and think it is the best choice. Yes, there is some sliding when they run, but I don't see any damage going on. I do try to keep their nails dremelled fairly short, but don't know if that makes much difference. I don't know about laminate, but I am considering it for my kitchen which currently has an old vinyl floor that needs replacing. Did you notice any durability/damage problems with your laminate floor?


The laminate floor on the house we are in now has not gotten damaged by my 60lb poodles. It seem fine, even though they slide around quite a bit in the kitchen (it connects to the backyard/ high poodle traffic area)but it did sustain damage from the dishwasher leaking. but we have only been here since March. 

The thing is (someone mentioned on this thread) laminate gets messed up if it gets wet a lot and not properly sealed. It can curl up like cardboard after long exposure to water. My mother replaced her cabinets in her kitchen and threw away the laminate cabinets because of this.

Husband told me just now, he does see some scratches on the laminate floor here from the poodles ! Trained eye I guess, I dont see it LOL (will look again when i get home)
He also said: tile is way better, can be cheaper and lasts longer!!  but if you want laminate, if you buy extra material to repair it you should be fine. Buy all laminate at once so it comes from the same production run so it matches. (We are in construction) 




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## Lou (Sep 22, 2012)

CharismaticMillie said:


> Asthma and allergies are big in my family, which is why I don't like carpet regardless of how often it might get "cleaned". On a daily basis, carpet hides more dirt, dander, and dust mites than wood floors.


True.. Hehehe but I also like the softness under my bare feet, instead of the cold. also no allergies here.
But I may have to go with a house with some wood floors if I cant find anything else. Its hard to find everything u want on your must-have's list. 
A huge fenced yard + safe neighborhood + away from highway/rail road tracks are my first requirements. I check the crime listings and satellite pictures to see the streets and size of backyard  
so after reading here that so many people have hardwood floors and heavy poodles, i may go with it... 


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## TrueColors (Nov 18, 2012)

We got hardwood floors in our bedrooms and hallway about a month ago and so far not one scratch but i think it's more about the type of floor the house has. I was told that usually light colors and dark colors show more scratches. We also have laminate floors in our kitchen and dining room but carpet in our living room. Surprisingly Jenna rarely slips on the floors. She must of realized that she needs to slow down once she's off the carpet.


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## Locket (Jun 21, 2009)

One of my fosters that was 60+ lbs scratched the heck out of our hardwood floors when he would get scared or overly excited. His nails weren't super short, but they weren't long either.
It's only noticeable if you're looking for it, but it's still really sucks.


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## SAS (Jun 16, 2013)

We have hard wood. I dont know if there are scratches or not because we have a clear unstained finish. Scratches dont show. When our spoo got very old, she had trouble walking on the hard wood because it was slick compared to carpet. For that few months, we had throw rugs everywhere for her. But all in all i love the wood and would not change it.


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## Lou (Sep 22, 2012)

I'd like to thank everyone again for the responses! I love a busy thread!!!!! haha


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## Ciscley (Jul 16, 2013)

*Have your cake & a SPoo too: Hardwood + Custom rug*



Tiny Poodles said:


> We use flor carpet tiles.


 I keep meaning to try these but haven't. They actually make them in Louisville so it's a great local business, glad to hear how well the product holds up.



Lou said:


> True.. Hehehe but I also like the softness under my bare feet, instead of the cold.


IMO, Hardwood actually stays relatively warm, especially in the temp range you've mentioned keeping your house (we let ours get much colder in the winter - think 50s.) Laminate feels MUCH colder to me than hardwood. And of course tile is a million times colder, which is why it's so fabulous in extremely warm climates. 

Some of the nice things about rugs vs. carpet are:

Rugs can be thoroughly cleaned - meaning lifted and the underside cleaned if needed - and can be aired out
You can usually afford a much nicer quality rug than wall to wall carpet - we have a really nice 100% wool rug in the pet free area that we adore.
They make really nice indoor/outdoor rugs now, which are great with pets. Take them outside and hose them off on the driveway and yet they still feel soft underfoot. We use two inexpensive 6 x 8 ones in our entry way (one outside the door and one inside) in place of welcome mats (Home Depot for the rugs, IKEA for the indoor rug mat). We also use a larger one (Ballard Designs has fabulous colors) in our basement where our cat spends most of her time. Cat vomit is a serious pain with carpet.
You can also have a custom rug made for a space out of carpet if you want. We got a remnant cut to fit the living room in our old house (12 x 18) and had the edges bound and used a similarly custom cut carpet pad (just like they lay under the actual carpet). It absolutely felt like having a carpeted living room only exactly where we wanted it and none of the awful permanence of tack strips, etc.


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## Tiny Poodles (Jun 20, 2013)

Ciscley said:


> I keep meaning to try these but haven't. They actually make them in Louisville so it's a great local business, glad to hear how well the product holds up.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


We originally got them because we have a sofa on castors because it is in front of a closet, but the wheels kept getting caught on the area rug - the flor tiles are much flatter and really grip the floor so the wheels glide right over them! They are really great for dogs - Teaka barffed that yellow dog barf on them several times last week - on a light color and they cleaned right up with natures miracle! Plus, if worse comes to worse, you could always pick up just one tile and replace it. And for the runner, it looks much nicer to have one continuos runner then the two 12 foot and one 8 foot ones that we used to have lined up! Only had them for a few months, but I think that they will be very durable!


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## Tiny Poodles (Jun 20, 2013)

And no carpet pads needed with the flor tiles!


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