Dog Question

We have a new dog and his nails are scratching our hardwood floors even though we keep his nails trimmed. Does anyone have any (humane) ideas about what to try? Getting rid of the dog or hardwood floors are not options.

 

I have seen toenail covers for sale at Petsmart !! They are rubber sleeves that slip over the nail. They supposedly give the dog more traction too !!

 

Um... toenail clippers? You can get them at PetSmart, or get the dog groomed there.

 

Thanks Neil for the info. Rob, If you re-read my post, you will see that I already stated that we keep his nails trimmed. Thanks for the post anyway.

 

Hmmm- we have hardwood floors as well and a dog, but have not noticed any scratches that he's made on our floors. That shouldn't happen....if the nails are kept trimmed. Don't know what to suggest...sorry.

 

Would floor runners or area rugs help? Another idea you might try: I know of someone who uses a nail file, one of those big flexible ones they use at salons, on her dogs' nails. If your dog would put up with that, it might take the sharp edges off and reduce the scratching.

 

We have a hardwood floor and a big dog. The floor looks like an ice skating rink after a hockey game but before the zamboni cleans it up.

Covering up the nails might be a little cruel because it couldn't scratch itself very well. Not sure.

You could attempt the indoor containment solutions to keep the dog off the hardwood floors. Some people think these are inhumane but they really aren't. It's like an indoor version of invisible fence. If the dog enters the 'forbidden zone' it receives a mild correction which feels like static shock. It learns more from being startled than from any kind of pain.

Before I used one in the past, I tested it on my arm on the highest level to make sure it wouldn't hurt my dog.

Good luck with your new dog!

 

"mild correction"....hummm, will it work with kids?

 

Sorry - but why have a dog if you're going to limit where it goes in the house? I think either filing the dog's nails or making sure they're cut on a regular basis would help. As I said earlier - I don't have any scratches from the dog on our floors...dents, yes, from people dropping things...but no scratches.

 

Kids usually figure out how to take the collar off, unfortunately.

Why limit where a dog can go in your house? Let me count the ways.

1. Our dog likes to pee on our beds. Hence, bedrooms off limits.

2. We have nice furniture in our living room. Hence, no dog on living room furniture.

3. We have chemicals under the kitchen sink. Hence, no dog under sink.

Limiting a pet's access to parts of your house is done for a variety of reasons. Do you limit where your toddler can go while you are not looking? I certainly hope so. Do you let your teens rifle through your bedroom drawers?

There is nothing wrong with limiting access to parts of your house. Your implication that you shouldn't have a pet if you can't give if free reign is a little PETA-like in nature.

Love your pet. Don't LOVE your pet.

 

I can tell you we have DARK CHERRY floors and it does look like a ice skating rink, never had an issue with OAK floors in our old house maybe because it's lighter in color. Regardless we would not be able to confine him (I think it is a great idea) b/c the floors are in the main level of the house.

We have two dogs...it's the little one (who's a boy and still a puppy) who is causing most of the damage to the hardwood. Our vet suggested attaching semi-perm caps on his toe nails at a cost of $450 (general anethes and an over night stay). We are not worried about the cost, but it seemes a bit cruel, so my hubby posted the question. Keep in mind Chewy is less than 14lbs, but lots of energy (somewhat like a 4 year old boy)and clumpsy...which is why we love him.

 

lol we have dark cherry hard wood as well. We have 1 dog and 1 cat. The cat has the front claws declawed. The 15 pound cat still causes more damage than the 50 pound dog does to our hard wood. Boy does it hurt every time I see that new scratch lol. There are some good polishes out there that can hide it if it's not to the natural wood color yet.

 

Our current dog is 60 lbs, the previous dog was 90 lbs. I guess what I'm saying is normal walking by the dogs on hardwood shouldn't scratch your floors. We have Bruce Hardwood floors....I just cleaned our floors yesterday and again - no scratches, just some dents from being family members being careless in dropping heavy objects. NOW - if your dog is running races on the hardwood floors, then I think you'll get scratches....if not - normal walking shouldn't scratch.

 

That's right - Our dog doesn't run in the house....do yours? She gets plenty of exercise outside on many walks during the day and playing with other dogs as well, so I guess she doesn't feel the need to run in the house. I don't understand why you think that's weird.

 

As my wife stated (thepea2001, check her picture/icon for what our dogs look like), Chewy is 14 lbs and full of energy, our floors are dark cherry and yes it does look like an ice skating rink.

Tyger31 - do you have some trick for your dog...every dog we have ever had has run in the house, especially when they hear one of us coming home. We walk them 5-6 times a day and pay for a dog walker during the day as well. He is just a very happy, clumsy and playful dog.

We went to PetSmart over the weekend and could not seem to locate the "nail covers", would Petco carry them?

 

Is just not allowing the dog in the house not an option?

 

I had to learn to just flat out accept the scratches - We only have the Bruce hardwoods in the downstairs foyer/hallway to the kitchen - and yes, the dog does run at full speed in that area, usually to get from the upstairs bedroom where he sleeps to greet us at the garage door entrance when we come home.

We put rugs down along that whole pathway, and it has made me feel a little more sane - at least I know I've done what I can to prevent the scratches - but much damage was done before that time. I figure it won't cost too much to refinish in the future if we need to.

 

Well we have dark hardwood floors and stairs throughout the house and the dog scratches are very noticeable and it does look like an ice rink mainly in the kitchen. We have 3 dogs and it is a major bone of contention in my house as well. We have purchased individual stair tread braided rugs, rugs for the landings, runners and we have area rugs. I keep the dogs nails trimmed and my hubby was pretty happy with the rug situation. However, our dogs are a little smarter than we gave them credit for because they go down the stairs on the little bit of the wood that the rugs do not cover (so much for that idea). Plus it never fails they run and at some point will go across a portion of the floor with no rug. I am hoping we can just have the area they have affected the worst refinished. I would like to find out if anyone has tried the invisible fence inside the house??? If I could keep two of the dogs on the main level I think the damage would be somewhat contained. Does anyone have any information on a product they have tried?