Dog nails + wood floor

jmm05 · August 2013

Advice please!

We just moved into our new, beautiful, first home - and our dog is ruining our hard wood floors! We've tried the soft paws... which worked until my dog chewed them off (even with the bitter spray she chewed them off). Next we tried little booties... they just looked ridiculous and ended up falling off and were a huge hassle. Does anyone have any other suggestions? Maybe something we can do to the floor to prevent scratches? My husband keeps joking that he's going to get her declawed. (just joking, though!). I would hate to have to replace such beautiful floors, and we can only sand them down once or twice b/c they're the manufactured hard wood with only a thin layer of hard wood.

Thank you for the help!

Kaiterz · August 2013

Do you trim your dog's nails? Because you can trim them to the point that they won't hit the floor. It's a process and will take time to get them short enough and something you'll need to keep up on consistently. As you cut the nail the quick gradually decreases in length which would allow you to cut shorter and shorter.

jmm05 · August 2013

Thank you! We do trim her nails, but not that often. We will definitely give this a try!!!!

BBear13 · August 2013

We have a house that's 80% hardwood and tile, and we get our dog's nails trimmed every two weeks. It's better for the floors, but more importantly, is better for her. She feels more confident moving around with the short nails because long nails can cause awkward steps, but with short nails the pads of her feet touch the floor evenly.

moonprincessd · August 2013

Well it's already been said, but trim nails, that'll solve your problem. If you're too worried about it, you can take her to a groomer or vet, they will likely do it for you for a fee....

MrsH1027 · August 2013

I saw the title of this post and had to read because Soft Paws saved our floors! I tell everyone who asks about them because it's so much better when our lab "gives hugs" too! So sad to hear they didn't work for y'all. Our lab honestly doesn't even seem to notice them. We had a pug before, and keeping his nails trimmed seemed to do the trick. He was light enough that he didn't scratch the floor when his nails were trimmed, but our lab just seems to be heavy enough to scratch without the Soft Paws. Hope keeping them trimmed helps out!

brightchoice · September 2013

First of all this is not your dogs fault that you have hardwood floors. Your only option is to carpet your hardwood floors so you no longer hear the nails

lindsayandjamie · October 2013

@brightchoice that is clearly not the issue for the OP, it's the damage to the floors not the noise. I can relate after I installing hardwood in our home, our dogs nails have seriously damaged the dark wood - totally our fault for not trimming frequently enough. We are trying to shorten his quick gradually too. Good luck!

gator26 · October 2013

I agree with the nail trimming- if you do it regularly, this will be a non-issue. If you are uneasy about doing it, any grooming shop can do it quickly and cheaply. I used to try and do it myself because I thought it would be less stressful for the pups. But now I have a professional do it, and they are so quick and do a better job than I ever did! For a whopping $10.

No issues with our hardwoods, except right in front of the back door. They get too excited and scramble out, which leaves marks. We just put a doormat in that one spot to prevent scratches.

zurisiku · October 2013

I don't personally own a dog or have hardwood floors but I'm a dog groomer and have people come in frequently with the same problem. I definitely agree with everyone here who suggested trimming her nails. However I really recommend getting them ground down as well. Groomers do this by using a regular ol' dremel and it creates a nice smooth finish on the nail, versus a jagged sharp cut that trimming alone does. It also gets the nail down a little bit more shorter too. I suggest going to a professional for this though. If she's never had this done it can be a little nerve wracking because of the buzzing noise and vibration the dremel causes. Hope you figure something out!

vcabbyw · November 2013

Another vote for dremmeling nails, it allows the nails to be trimmed shorter then traditional clipping. I also put rugs down near the door where he tends to bolt out into the yard in the attempt to catch the elusive squirrel.

Dog nails + wood floor

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