Best dog and water resistant flooring?

"Shelly" wrote in message:

Do they bother her?

No. It's not one or two odd nails (although some are worse than others),
it's pretty much all the ones on her front feet, and a few on the back ones.

Harriet had a couple of problem nails that bothered
her. On one of her vet visits, I had them trimmed while she was under.

I've talked to the vet about what if anything we can do about it. She was
of the opinion that trimming them back to where they need to be (we're not
talking a few millimeters here) would require basically cutting way into the
quick. That sort of unnecessary pain and suffering, we could do without.

While we're on the subject. Someone who comes to the dog park left their
dog at the vet for his neuter. Picked him up later in the day, only to find
out that the vet has trimmed the nails WAAAAY back, to the point where the
dog was not willing to put his feet on the ground. This was without their
permission, and they had the audacity to charge them for it. Ever since
then he pitches a huge fit when his nails need to be trimmed. They can
manage because he's a Min Pin, but a tantrum throwing Dane, I can do
without.

From then on, I've shaved micro bits off with a trimmer, then used a
rough emery board to finish them off.

I wish it were that easy.

Suja

In misc.consumers.house Harry Muscle wrote:
I'm looking for opinions on what kind of floor to install in our new
place. We have a dog and a fish tank, so I'm looking for options that
would stand up to dog claws, possible dog mistakes, and minor
(sometimes major) spilling of water from the fish tank.

There is some bamboo flooring that is supposedly very tough.
It looks like, and installs like, regular wood flooring.

Bill Ranck
Blacksburg, Va.

In article , says...
In misc.consumers.house Harry Muscle wrote:
I'm looking for opinions on what kind of floor to install in our new
place. We have a dog and a fish tank, so I'm looking for options that
would stand up to dog claws, possible dog mistakes, and minor
(sometimes major) spilling of water from the fish tank.

There is some bamboo flooring that is supposedly very tough.
It looks like, and installs like, regular wood flooring.

Bamboo is cheaper and much easier to install than wood flooring. I
don't think I'd use it (or hardwood) in high traffic areas if I had
a large dog though. It will scratch, just like hardwood.

--
Keith

Even after my vet trims Molly nails they still click on the floor.
I have lament (sp?) flooring I love it. Nothing seems to hurt these
floors except excess water. I'm talking sitting water and a large
amount.

I have dropped can goods on it and nothing. No scratches from her nails
either.

FurPaw said in rec.pets.dogs.behavior:

That said, footing-wise for dogs and humans, carpeting is the
best choice. But it's not water-friendly.

Good ol' Murphy was diagnosed with osteosarcoma shortly after
I'd pulled up the carpets, not timely on my part.

Other than that, the playful bunches of dogs I get here deal
well with not-so-good footing - in fact, I'd consider that
they're careful while playing a boon.

--
--Matt. Rocky's a Dog.

Shelly wrote:
On 29 Aug 2006 10:31:52 -0700, "Harry Muscle"
wrote:

We've had real hardwood before (finished onsite), but the dog scratched
it up real good with his nails.

I think wood is about the best flooring surface for both humans and
dogs. I have not found it to be particularly scratch-prone. What
scratches *do* happen can be easily buffed out with a little
stain-varnish combo.

Unless your dog has things like spinal problems or hip dysplasia.
We had wood floors in a hall and one room in our old house, and
after Dylan's back and hips started giving her problems, it
became painful for her to walk on the floors because she'd slip
and slide easily. We ended up putting down runners for her comfort.

FurPaw

I think the best dog is probably a German Sheperd.


Glad I could help!


Dimitri

"Harry Muscle" wrote in
oups.com:

I'm looking for opinions on what kind of floor to install in our new
place. We have a dog and a fish tank, so I'm looking for options that
would stand up to dog claws, possible dog mistakes, and minor
(sometimes major) spilling of water from the fish tank.

We've had real hardwood before (finished onsite), but the dog scratched
it up real good with his nails. We've had laminate before also,
however, any water left standing for any significant amount of time
caused the seams to swell. Now I know in a perfect world I shouldn't
have to worry about standing water, however, I don't wanna have to deal
with replacing parts of the floor in case one of these days there is a
puddle of water that sits there for a day or two.

I'm currently looking at vinyl plank flooring. It's like vinyl tiles,
however, it's made to look like wood. One company that makes it is
www.karndean.com . Anyone have any experience with this kind of
flooring? I'm guessing it totally water proof, how about scratches
though?

Any other suggestions I should look at?

Thanks,
Harry


I used to have several aquariums including a 55 gal and several 20
gals. Before I set them up, on the carpet, I took those inexpensive vinyl
runners and placed them under the stands and made sure they extended out
from the bottom of the stand a good 6-8 inches all around. The edges of the
vinyl runners stuck up a little bit but it was nothing a few well placed
staples didn't fix.
In effect I had a waterproof surface 6-8 inches around the aquarium
which was easily cleaned. I had quite large fish in the 55 gal and they
occasionally splashed so hard that they'd knock the lid up a little bit and
some water would run down the outside of the tank. Add to that my
occassional overslop while cleaning and/or filling the tank. I have had
water leak down the back of the tank in the past, down the stand into the
carpet and underneath the stand without leaving a visable puddle so I've
learned this little trick from experience. The runners also helped with
this because the water never had a chance to soak into the carpet. With the
runners underneath and around the stand, the carpet was well protected and
my dog could enjoy watching the fish from the comfort of a carpeted floor.
Even with wood, tile, or vinyl flooring, the runners can help protect the
surface.
If you go with carpet, all you have to worry about is the dog soiling
it once in a while which if you have him/her housetrained well shouldn't be
much of an issue.
If you go with hardwood, tile, or vinyl laminate you have to look at
upkeep, slipping and sliding around, and constant waxing and/or sealing but
it is much easier to clean little messes.
I have even seen new houses, while being built, the owners planned
where they wanted to put their aquariums, had tile laid there with a
generous border, and carpeted around the rest. Mind you, this is a spendy
way to do it and unless you plan on keeping the home for a long time, it
detracts from the resale value a little bit since prospective buyers might
not want areas of tile here and there mixed in with the carpeting.
Personally I prefer carpeting. It's easier to walk on, comfortatble
to sit or lay on while playing with the dog. and warmer in the winter.
But, it's your house so you get to decide your preferance. I just wanted
to add a couple of suggestions that I've used and seen used. Ultimately, I
suppose you will have to go with what you and your wife can live with
asthetically. Hope my suggestions help.

--
Les Hilliard & Nikki the Super Shih-Tzu

Shelly wrote in
:

On Wed, 30 Aug 2006 10:21:14 -0400, "Suja"
Do they bother her? Harriet had a couple of problem nails that
bothered her. On one of her vet visits, I had them trimmed while she
was under. From then on, I've shaved micro bits off with a trimmer,
then used a rough emery board to finish them off.


This is what I use to do Nikki's nails. I'm always afraid of cutting
too much and hurting her so I trim as much as I dare with the clipper and
use an emery board to file and smooth them down to where they should be.
Nikki likes this way better because I have accidently clipped a little too
far a couple of times and she much prefers that I file them down with the
emery board. I even think the filing might feel relaxing to her because
she lays on her back snorking her approval to me.


--
Les Hilliard & Nikki the Super Shih-Tzu

Thank you for all the responses, suggestions, etc. so far.

I know laminate stands up to dogs claws very well but generally not
water. However, I came across a really good article yesterday that
compares all the different brands of laminate flooring, including how
they stand up to water
(http://www.ifloor.com/articles/lam/lamwars2.html). So I'm leaning
towards getting laminate, one of the brands that scores a 4 out of 5 in
water resistance. It would be almost impossible for the dog to scratch
it, most water spills should be fine, and if I do get water damage it
would be possible to fix since the floors click together (ie: no glue).
Plus the one I'm eying seems to be cheaper than the vinyl stuff which
was my other possible choice.

Thanks,
Harry