Anyone replaced carpeting with hardwood because of dogs?

[cinnamonmon]

Next time I will do things differently, but none of my 3 dogs are very well potty trained. We take them out every 2 hours (none are puppies) but they still have accidents. They have ruined my carpet and I need to replace it. I like the warmth of carpet but with 3 dogs it is unsanitary and I am spending a fortune on carpet cleaning, so am thinking of getting either hardwood or laminate. I pulled up the carpet in my bedroom a year ago and they have only had one accident in there since then, so Im hoping with the carpet gone they will stop. So for anyone that has done this, did it help...did they stop, or would I be wasting my money ? Thanks for the help.
Laura

[koolbreeze]

if i wasn;t renting it would be gone in a heart beat!!! when i get a house it won't have a whole lot of carpet.

[janh7]

We had the very same problem. Final decision was to get new carpet and "fence" off the carpeted area (living room and dining room). We are only letting them in the closed off areas when we are with them and can watch their every move. We have 3 dogs and 2 cats in the house. We got the new carpet two months ago and this is working out great.

[RowdysMom]

We replaced our carpets with hardwood floors and when we built on 3 extra rooms, we left the floor concrete and we stained it. This was all before we got Rexy and Rowdy. BUT my mom (who lives with me) has carpet in her two rooms and I had a devil of a time with Rexy when he was potty training. He NEVER went on the wood or concrete but he would make a bee line for her rooms and potty there on the carpet. I finally had to put down a very hard bamboo type rug cover in the hall with carpet, and had her keep her doors to her rooms shut until he got out of the habit and now he never goes in the house anywhere.

Rowdy on the other hand marks but it is just a sprinkle here and there, on the rug, concrete, or wood, makes no difference to him.

You will find a couple of threads on this subject if you do a search. I would NEVER have anything but wood or concrete (or tile - there's a good discussion of the virtues of tile too), EVER AGAIN. We put down the wood floors ourselves a few years ago and thus, we pulled up the carpet ourselves. OMG!!! It was just totally gross, disgusting, and horrible to see all the stuff in and under the carpet. I almost died and vowed never ever again to have carpet in my house. I heard someone compare carpet to wearing a sweater for 10 years without taking it off and then just washing off the outside of it while wearing it - because shampooing the carpet is only getting the dirt off on the surface. Anyway, pulling up our carpet made a believer out of me!

I think it was txshopper who posted some great pictures of her concrete floors after they took up the carpets and stained the concrete. They were beautiful. We love ours too.

If I remember correctly on the threads about hardwood vs laminate was that you have to be pretty careful with laminate as it will warp or peel - if it gets wet. Of course, that could be the quality of the laminate and I am sure there are some good ones. We have an occasional spill or throwup on the wood, that I don't find till they are dried sometimes, and we have had no stains or warps or any problems at all.

Good luck with your decision!

[azkaty]

We like tile as its more durable than wood, does not get damaged, and cleans easily..

[Sugar's Mom]

I had a thread on here in march last year and got so many negative replies about the ceramic tile, hardwood and laminate wood, that when I pulled my carpet up, I replaced it with a high grade vinyl that is similar to the old style congoleum. Most people that are in my living room where the dogs are think it is hardwood until I tell them. But no, it didn't help much. they still have accidnets. Only thing, I mop a lot now.

[PeanutnTobysmom]

My dogs never have acidents on my linolium, but given unsupervised free run of the house Peanut will just potty everywhere. Before I moved into my house I was renting a duplex and both Toby and Peanut always had access to the carpeted area. Needless to say my carpet was like one gigantic pee pad!! I had to pay $900 out of my deposit when I moved to replace the carpet. I don't know why they have no desire to go on the linoleum, but if they ever do have an accident at least it is much easier to clean up. I say go for it!!

[bornnygurl]

Originally Posted by Sugar's Mom

I had a thread on here in march last year and got so many negative replies about the ceramic tile, hardwood and laminate wood, that when I pulled my carpet up, I replaced it with a high grade vinyl that is similar to the old style congoleum. Most people that are in my living room where the dogs are think it is hardwood until I tell them. But no, it didn't help much. they still have accidnets. Only thing, I mop a lot now.

I wonder: Does the vinyl become worn like hardwood requiring a lot of preventative methods (treating the floor). My husband and I were talking about getting hardwood in our future home, because of the accidents from our other dogs and allergy problems but now I'm thinking vinyl would be better. I would love to see the thread you are speaking about......*going to search*

[bdbmamaw]

I replaced all my carpet with Armstrong (high quality) laminate. I put a piece of it in a glass of water for 9 hours and then let it dry. No warping. I then put it in a glass of Clorox for 24 hrs. No fading. I do make sure I clean up any accidents right away, but I know if they have an accident when I am not home, it will not harm the floor. I love it!

[Bizzymammabee]

Carpeting seems to call to the best of potty trained dogs. Our new Pup lulu is not allowed upstairs at all..it's fully carpeted. The minute she steps on carpeting she goes potty. Drives me batty. When she is downstairs (parquet floors and linoleum) she does have some accidents but will also go on the pee pad. When she gets into the livingroom it's open season on the area rug. It's drives me batty. The minute she can escape to the carpeted areas she starts in to handle her business.

I totally agree that it's like a sweater that is worn for 10 years. No matter how much you clean you can't get it all out. Most houses have carpeting with sponge under it for extra cushioning. Things get down on that as well. A steam cleaner can only go but so far down. So I am sure that no matter how well we clean the mess there is some residual smell that they can smell and that is why they will find their way right back to the dang rug to piddle/poo.

With children, hubby and two dogs and a cat I would vote for the hardwood. Plus overall it's money well spent. Laminate does run into issues of warping and all that good stuff. Plus the finish doesn't last as long. With hardwood you can down the road refinish and not have to replace like you wood with laminate. My dad put laminate in his livingroom and his older dog zeus peed on it and god did it get messed up. We are going to have to remove that part. The cost of hardwood is not that much more than laminate.

[lizziepooh_1]

When we were renovating our house before we moved into it...I made SURE we had a budget to have hardwood and ceramic throughout. I knew we would get a dog soon, and I know kids can be messy (even by accident), and I know that when I get nauseous (happens frequently) I don't always make it to the bathroom on time. An easy to clean surface was a must! Some people think that dirt shows more easily...especially on dark hardwood. I agree, AND I think it's a good thing....it encourages me to make sure my home is clean! If I couldn't see the dirt, I'm not sure how often I would tackle the task!

[teffiemoore]

Yup...we replaced carpet with hardwood just 3 months ago and you know what...they go on their potty pads now!!!!! That carpet was just too irresistable!!!! $$$ well spent. They ruined our carpet...Moral to the story, carpet and Yorkies=a HUGE potty pad.

[Pipersmommy]

Originally Posted by azkaty

We like tile as its more durable than wood, does not get damaged, and cleans easily..

I totally agree.

[jmetts]

I don't have any carpet in my house & I love it. It was a little to get used too..especially in the bedrooms & all our feet were sore at first from walking on hard surfaces. But.... I mop my floors once each week & twice a week in the kitchen & I am amazed at how dirty the mop water gets.....makes me think of how dirty my carpet must have been.

I got Snickers 3 weeks before we moved, so I'm sure he doesn't even remember what carpet feels like & he does pee on my hard floors (just marking, but he was neutered yesterday so hopefully it will help) BUT, it's an easy clean up. One bit of advice though.....its hard to see dried pee on hardwood, so if you have your little one loose while you're not home, you should go around & check for what I call shine variance on your floors when you get home

[TatumsMom]

When we built our new house, we put Armstrong laminate wood flooring in every room except tile in the bathrooms. There were a few non-believers that insisted we would regret not having carpet in the bedrooms but living out in the country, we really thought it was best decision. I've not regretted it yet. The wood floors get filthy.... you can see every grain of dirt and dust (of course it's worse when it's rainy or wet outside and mud gets tracked in) but I use my Shark (cordless vac) all the time and love it! I think of all the dirt I see on the wood floors and know that if we had carpet, it would be all down in the fibers.

But to answer your question about the potty training..... while we were building, we lived with my MIL. We got Tatum at that time and you know, the only place she ever had accidents was in my MIL's bedroom - the only room with carpet! I know we made the best decision to go with wood and tile!! And yes, once you pull up carpet and see the nasty stuff under it, you'll be convinced forever!