Love your dogs, but love your floors too? ReadyMade offers tips on how to prevent scratching on newly refinished hardwood floors and what to look for in general in appropriate flooring for your pup.

How can you salvage your wood floors, badly scratched by your beloved companions?

  • Schedule Regular Paw-dicures

Long nails make it harder for your dogs to walk and for their pads to make contact, so they have to dig in to get a grip. If you hear clicking when they walk, it’s time to trim those claws.

  • Consider an Oil Change

An oil finish like WOCA oils is just as durable as polyurethane, but less slick, guaranteeing more sure-footed dog action. A few coats of wax can help too.

  • Strategize Area Rugs

If there are spots on your floor that get the most wear and tear, consider putting down area rugs to help absorb some of the impact.

What are good flooring options for a puppy-loving house?

  • Utility Room

Forbo Marmoleum linoleum tiles are a good choice if you’re mainly after utility. They’re low-maintenance, water-resistant and more disgust-repellent than carpet. Plus, if you install them well, you can put almost any other flooring over them (if you want a change in a few years).

  • Fuzzy Underfoot

FLOR carpet tiles have the qualities of wall-to-wall carpet (warm, fuzzy, graphic) with the added benefit of being easily removable for cleaning or replacing. They’re durable—so they won’t get torn to shreds by your little up—but they’ll still be soft underfoot and underpaw. The kink is that they won’t work well on your stairs, so they’re just for your landing.

For more from ReadyMade, visit www.ReadyMade.com.