Laying any sort of floor is hard work. Hubby and I put down wooden floors that come in squares. It was serious back breaking and knee damaging work. You definitely can learn and if you dont' have the tools to cut you can rent them for fairly cheap. The biggest thing you have to make sure is that the floor is level or it will mess up any work that you put down. My dad just put in ceramic tiles in his small kitchen. He did a great job and it's not that hard. Just like others have said you need patience and maybe someone to show you the initial steps. My husband is not handy and we did the job. I am the handy person in our house
This is a good site to look up any home repairs:
http://doityourself.com/
If you have lots of dogs then I would go for ceramic if they are not house broken. Lots of factors to weigh in. It's really hard when you own a house and want nice things...some of these contractors really want to rip a hole in your pocket.
Good luck.