Best flooring with dogs

We've soon going to embark on a massive redecorating overhaul of the house including replacing the floor covering. Our floorboards are terrible, so bare floorboards are not an option. We have carpets everywhere currently, which is a never ending vacuuming chore with old Hairy McClary here!

We have to keep carpets in the hallway and on the stairs as Cain run around so much that he'd slide through the glass front door or break a leg if we had a slippery floor. But I'd like an easier to clean floor in the living room, kitchen and bedrooms.

What's best? I know laminate is cheap but I'm starting to think it looks a little tacky plus it's got no grip at all. Lino in the kitchen looks cheap and nasty too I think, and tiles are too cold in winter. I'm considering real wood or bamboo floors but it's expensive and I'm worried the dog might ruin them. Thoughts....

I went for laminate as a cheap and cheerful option (better than the minging blue carpet the seller had - could see that looking gross after a few weeks of Casper living in the house ) but longterm I think we might try either engineered wood (mix between real wood and laminate, you can sand it down, usually up to 3x) or vinyl..there's some really thick, nice quality stuff available that's meant to be pretty dog-friendly.

Floorboards aren't too hard to restore. Time consuming but not hugely expensive/difficult.

I agree that lino looks cheap and nasty though our tiles have never been too cold, we spent a fortune putting underfloor heating in when we got our extension done, which we never use! Bamboo can come up quite dark, which looks silly unless your rooms are very very big. Solid wood flooring if you get it done properly lasts a lifetime, and is far better than the false economy of laminate/lino which can 'go' pretty quickly.

I had wooden floors throughout my house until Molly was diagnosed with HD. I ripped them all out, I now have carpet in the lounge, hall, stairs, landing and bedrooms. I went for non-slip cushion floor in the kitchen, everyone that sees it thinks it is slate tiles, it really is good stuff and completely non-slip.

For me, I couldn't risk Molly slipping about on wooden floors during her zoomies.

We have grey slate tiles in the kitchen. They look lovely and are low maintenance. Far better than lino or laminate which I agree looks cheap and ugly. I don't find them cold in winter at all but granted I always have socks/slippers/crocs/shoes on. Also, the tiles are perfect for keeping the dogs cool to lounge on in the summer.

The rest of the house bar the stairs and upstairs landing is real wood stripped floor boards. Not cheap arguably if you get someone in to do it for you but defiantly the most attractive flooring IMO. Dogs claws will definitely damage the floors over time but regular polishing and varnishing keeps it looking in good condition.

I had stone tiles in the kitchen , hated them, as you said very cold, and they can be very slippery. I've recently replaced them with laminate which has a slate effect and I'm really happy with it.
http://www.diy.com/nav/decor/floorin...oring-11348254
I have laminate throughout the house, it was here when we moved in. It's not the best quality and I think it looks tacky too. I can't afford to replace it but I would go for real wood flooring with rugs.
For comfort I'd have carpet but with 3 dogs it's not a sensible option, ........I've failed in training them to wipe their paws before they come in, in fact I've failed with the humans on that score too!

Thanks guys, keep 'em coming! I do like slate tiles and we are thinking of getting them in the bathroom (with underfloor heating cos I'm a wimp!). I think I might get them in the kitchen too, as they are rough so not slippery. Cain does his zoomies in the kitchen and hallway so hopefully he won't slip over with slate and carpet. I'm think learning towards real wood and rugs in bedrooms and living room.

We have a mix in our place of terracotta-type tiling in the conservatory, with slate in the sitting room, Amtico in the hall, stone tiles in the kitchen and top quality laminate in the bedrooms with tiles in the bathrooms. I think the slate is the best because it is rough-hewn and non-slip, however it does need to be waxed from time to time which is hard work. All said I done I don't think you can beat the waterproof top quality laminate which now looks exactly like wood as it is no longer a "photograph" of a plank of the type of wood that it is supposed to mimic, but individual planks as it were. We bought our's on line and from memory it is lime-washed ash or maple, I cannot remember which, but it looks really fantastic and is much much cheaper of course than stone, slate, Amtico or oak floorboards.

With our hooligans, we could never have wood, even oak, because their claws which just ruin it.

Got wood laminate in 2. Fitting around doors and skirting is a pain with metal door frames (expansion gaps etc) - and Mutley skids on them. Bare floorboards can be drafty = depends what's underneath. Ceramic tiles in the Kitchen - not slipperry, Stick on vinyl tiles in the bathroom. Hard surface flooring can make a room noisy - depending.

waffle waffle waffle.

Swings.
Roundabouts.

Shave the dog.

Sorted

I regularly threaten to shave mine but find I no longer need to since my grandma moved in. She hoovers thoroughly everyday! Having said that I'm moving out next week to a house with laminate flooring and I'm dreading the inevitable tumble weeds...