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Comment by Chloe's parent Liz on November 29, 2009 at 10:06pm

Today we went to the store to purchase an area rug, Chloe likes this much better.

Comment by Beth on November 28, 2009 at 11:55am

We have hardwood throughout, except for kitchen/entry hall/ baths. We have room-sized area rugs in the living room and upstairs in our "office." The dogs love it as it's the best of both. The like the carpet for running/jumping/playing/ rolling, but on a hot day they like nothing better than sprawling on the hardwood.

I agree the hardwood is tough on them. You can help a bit by keeping the hair between their pads trimmed. Our dining room has no rugs, and even if the dogs are just sitting you can see that one front leg will sometimes keep sliding away. But for ease-of-cleaning and looks, I would not trade my hardwood for anything. You can get a really decent area rug at a big-box store for a couple hundred dollars, and in five years or so if your dogs have made a mess of it you can toss it and replace it; much easier than trying to keep wall-to-wall carpeting clean with pets, IMO.

Comment by Mickey on November 28, 2009 at 11:07am

I've been doing some housesitting recently in homes with laminate and ceramic tile. Of the two Sophie (and me for the reasons voiced by John Wolff (click click click gets old) prefers the tile. There is a different sound on the tile and some resistence vs. the slippery laminate. Lots of area rugs make the difference - Sophie LOVES to run up and down the hall and the rugs give her the turbo...on the laminate she just goes nowhere fast. And since she just had her knee repaired I worry about the slippery laminate.

Comment by Tauna and Kota on November 28, 2009 at 4:08am

I have read various places and heard from many people that smooth surfaces such as laminate and hardwood etc. are bad for dogs. They supposedly cause hip/back problems. Not only from jumping up and down from/onto those surfaces, but in general... walking running on such surfaces. It does not have the grip that natural surfaces have and therefore put more strain on your animal. I agree with those people. Just thought I would put my two cents in.

Comment by John Wolff on November 28, 2009 at 1:22am

lighthearted but sirius reply:

Ages ago, maybe 2000 B.C. (Before Corgi), I ripped out our old, dirty, musty-fusty, ugly wall-to-wall shag carpet and did a beautiful job installing oak hardwood flooring, D.I.Y. So proud. Then we got dogs. Gradually, more and more of my beautiful flooring has gotten covered with low-rent rubber-bottomed non-skid throw-rugs, butt-ugly but corgi-friendly. I have to shake out everyone of them every time I clean. They are strategically placed, esp. as springboardsfor jumping onto the bed, or landing-pads.
I want to go to the dump and find 1000 sq. ft. of low-pile industrial-grade wall-to-wall carpet condemned from some small-town Greyhound bus depot and use it to cover my lovely Grade 2 red oak flooring. The cigarette stains will camouflage the dog throwup. If I did that, the dogs would probably feed me. Or maybe I should paint my lovely floor with basement-grade floor paint mixed with nonskid sand.
And if you have corgis, hardwood flooring, and downstairs neighbors, you have to consider the possibility that someday they might hear that one tennis ball rattle that breaks the camel's brain, go postal, and start firing an AK-47 through the ceiling on full automatic.
I love my hardwood floor.
My dogs would prefer dirt, gravel, or some old carpet that has sat in somebody's garage for 15 years. Even astroturf.

If you want smooth flooring, keep at least half your house carpeted. I think the dogs will prefer it. But they might love the sport of accelerating over the carpet, chasing the tennis ball onto the smooth floor, then sliding and caroming about like hockey players.

I am serious. Gwynnie especially really hesitates to jump up off-of or on-to a smooth surface. I worry about her hips, back. She is much more confident with a rubber-bottomed throw-rug for a springboard.

think about it. Which do you prefer to walk on: icy sidewalk, or bare concrete? hard snow, or grass?

Comment by Cathi on November 28, 2009 at 1:20am

We learned with Bunny that they need something on the hardwood floor, especially if they jump onto and off from the couch or bed. Last year Bunny tore her ACL by jumping the 16" from the futon to the hardwood floor where there wasn't a rug. She slipped. Since then we've put in platforms, ramps, and some area rugs; we only let her jump from or to the rugs and only after she was healed from the slip and tear.

Maybe others haven't had the same experience with jumping and hardwood surfaces. Good luck!