Best flooring for living room when two dogs live here?

zaksmum

About to replace my living room carpet.

My old one was a nightmare to keep clean with my two dogs. I have a Vax carpet cleaner which I need to use once a month.

Anyway, I can't decide whether to go for wood flooring or a darker carpet - old one was beige.

I've heard the dogs' claws will mark wood floors and do prefer carpet, but I have to get real and accept maybe it's just not practical, especially as one of the dogs is black:)

Any advice from fellow dog mums?

codemonkey

We've got a dark grey carpet in the livingroom - which hides a lot of the dog hair. This is a good thing as we don't hoover every day. The only thing that shows up on it is random bits of bone as CD has decided that there's a spot in that room which is where he eats his bones and nowhere else will do.

The parents and in-laws have wooden floors and the dog slides all over the place. This is hysterically funny, but I do feel a bit sorry for him and worry that he's scratching it a bit.

olias

If you do have carpet, get one with a 'fleck' in it, it will hide all sorts of marks and bits of fluff/hair etc.
If you do go for wood or laminate, just get some rugs to keep it feeling and looking warm. They don't have to be expensive and some are even flexible enough to put in the washing machine. Even if they aren't they are still easier to clean than a fitted carpet.

Olias

catkins

I have had both over the years with numerous dogs and there are pros and cons to both.

My dog doesn't moult but being long haired he brings in leaves, twigs, bits of grass etc which end up all over the carpet. Also any chews he has tend to leave marks on the carpet. I hoover every single day (sometimes 2 or 3 times).

Laminate I think looks nice and is quick and easy to sweep but most dogs slip and slide on it and it can be dangerous if the dog runs on it, slips and hurts themselves.

A real wood floor is not usually so slippery but is pretty expensive.

When I live abroad I had a tiled floor which was very practical but is not really very common in this country.

As I say, I have carpet at present and if I were to change I would probably stick with carpet but go for a darker colour with a fleck in it. My parents have a black carpet with a white (or may be light grey) fleck and that doesn't seem to show every little thing

zaksmum

Thanks everyone. My black dog moults but the brown one doesn't. They do slip when we go to my son's as he has wood floors and the dogs hate it.

Much as I like the idea of a black carpet I wouldn't want it in the house. A fleck is a great idea though as won't show every mark. I did like the beige carpet but never again as it showed every single mark.

I can just imagine though what a mess claw marks will make of wood floors!

chris_n_tj

we have wood here. Dogs or no dogs I would never go back to carpets:). Not cold at all easy to clean (steamer) and looks nice even when covered in dog related debris. not to mention muddy paw prints and the odd bit of vomit:D

Dunroamin

Wood floor with a large rug in the middle, best of both worlds.

lostinrates

Slipping on laminate or engineered floor isn't THAT funny. It can cause injury and fear, so mats and rugs are a good way forward with that option.


My preference is real wood...planks. The kind that look better with a patina of wear and age rather than the shiny smooth sort, depending on the house, or stone, likewise.

I'd not have carpet by choice for cleanliness more than appearance.

chris_n_tj

So true lost, I use paw wax from Pets at Home, and we haven't ever had a slip up so to speak x

krlyr

Definately no carpet here, with heavy shedding breeds in contrasting colours, I'd be hoovering 3 times a day and still it'd be covered in visible hair!
Laminate flooring here with some big rugs (with a non-looped pile, so I can run a slicker brush over to de-hair!), mine don't slip on the laminate but they've been used to it most of their lives really. I don't encourage too much mad dashing in the house anyway as they're so big.

With smaller dogs that shed less and were of a similar colour (why, oh why, did I go for 1 black dog and 1 white dog?!), I'd be tempted to go for carpet. A friend recently went for a darker beige-y grey type carpet, and that seems to hold up well with her dog (despite him being a bit bigger and hairy than yours - an Akita cross!)

catkins

zaksmum wrote: »

Thanks everyone. My black dog moults but the brown one doesn't. They do slip when we go to my son's as he has wood floors and the dogs hate it.

Much as I like the idea of a black carpet I wouldn't want it in the house. A fleck is a great idea though as won't show every mark. I did like the beige carpet but never again as it showed every single mark.

I can just imagine though what a mess claw marks will make of wood floors!

I have black carpet in my bedroom but must admit I would never have thought of it for a living room but my parent's carpet looks really lovely. The fleck in it breaks the black up