It seems to me there are a couple of issues here. I don't think a shelter wants just any JoeBloe walking in one day to say "hey I'd like to help by walking your dogs". The shelter needs to know something about its volunteers though a criminal check might be a bit much. If someone has been volunteering at a shelter for some time so the staff knows them and now new policies are being put into effect, then the shelter should have some sort of informational meeting/handout for all its volunteers so they know what and why. And even when volunteers have been accepted, some mini-training should be included for handling dogs. Many shelter dogs have been abused so I wouldn't want a volunteer who grew up under the "old" system of training with spanking and collar yerking now handling a special needs dog. Actual certification for dog walkers - no - the government intrudes enough.
Dog Friendly Floors
-
I would prefer Tile I think, however, don't think it is as slippery.. at least I have not seen that in our hallway. What I have heard about tile is that you need to be sure to keep the grout sealed as urine will seep into it…
My B's still get a good slide going in the kitchen, LOL, but you're right in that it's not as good a slide as on the hardwood. Of course, the floor space is less there so that may make the difference.
Grout. Oh how I HATE grout.
We have sealed, cleaned, resealed, cleaned, cleaned, cleaned…..I have purchased more frickin' grout cleaners and STILL the grout looks dirty to me all the time. I don't recommend light colored tile/grout for floors, but that may just be my bad experience.
-
I have hardwood floors in my living room and hallway, tile in the bathrooms. I have berber in my den/kitchen great room. I hate the berber b/c Sahara has chewed it at the door that we keep shut when we leave her. We are thinking about getting tile this spring to replace the carpet and carry it all the way to the kitchen. One thing I have noticed is the tile makes the rooms cooler in the winter so I will use scatter rugs with slip-proof mats. We just remodeled our bathrooms and put tile on the floors and I think it is easier to clean. Hardwood floors this day and time is very expensive, my house was built in the 50's and everyone used hardwood then. All my rooms have hardwood except the den/kitchen, bathrooms. We have carpet in the bedrooms but we will in the future remove the carpets and refinish the hardwood. When done right hardwood is beautiful and holds up good as long as you don't chase your Basenji. haha!!!!! I can't tell you how many times my Sahara has slid in the walls or furniture, she loves to be chased and we laugh and laugh.
-
I think that the color of stain on the hardwood makes a difference. Our hardwood is a light color and I rarely notice scratches. Most of the scratches I notice have been put there by us moving furniture around. My parents hardwood is a real dark color and it shows all sorts of scratches…most of them from the dogs. I think that the color you choose will make a difference on how noticeable scratches on the floor are. All in all I say hardwood is the best...easy clean up for all sorts of accidents.
-
I think that the color of stain on the hardwood makes a difference. Our hardwood is a light color and I rarely notice scratches.
We have light oak hardwood floors in the living room, dining room, and hallway. There are lots of fine scratches but they aren't noticable unless you really look and most were put there by our last dog, a big Lab. We have no area rugs because it is easier for me to keep the bare floor clean when I have our grandsons here. (Also, cold floors aren't really an issue here.) I will say that when Cory really gets into her "Basenji 500" mode, she has slid into a wall or two….but not fast enough to injure herself. (They don't seem to run quite as fast on wood; it's a little harder to really get that traction going. Or maybe she has just learned to moderate her speed.
) So...I don't mind dogs on my hardwood floor. (I do, however, prohibit high heels! They can do a number on a wood floor.)Pat
-
If you want the look of hardwood, but don't want to risk scratching, try laminate. Thats what we did when we redid our floor last summer. I love it, I am not a big fan of real hardwood, plus it was MUCH cheaper. Also, you can go with a wood or tile look, without the grout, which is nice. I really like it, its easy to clean, and hard to damage. The only thing is its slippery for the dogs, Its hilarious to watch Tosca go sliding! so I would recommend carpet (or laminate with area rugs) for main living room areas, but laminate is great for kitchen, dining room, etc. You should check it out, there are a lot of great styles available! Good luck
-
DH is looking at tile which I think is going to be too cold.
Not if you put in radiant floor heat :rolleyes:
I wish I had that!
Seriously, we have cherry floors that were redone ~8 years ago and there are scratches, but it is still in pretty good shape considering… -
Okay, now DH who hated laminate now wants to look at Quickstep or Bruce Laminate.
We went to Lowe's, Home Depot and another store tonight. The salesman at the last store really pushed the laminate with dogs.
DH is now in agreement with tile in the kitchen and foyer only. I think that may be affordable with the heaters under that small of a space. We are against carpet in the living room because there is so much heavy traffic through there, there is a back door in the living room too that gets a lot of foot traffic out to the grill.
So, the hunt continues until our tax return comes back then some final decisions will have to be made.
-
If you do go back to hardwood. I would recommend staying with Oak. We had oak floors in our last house and have Hickory now and the Oak was much better at resisting denting. You can see a few places after 18 months where the claw marks made a dent in the surface. I never saw that in 5 years of Oak.
-
We have wood flooring and Laminate. The Laminate is very slippery for the B's, but is almost indestructable.
-
If you do go back to hardwood. I would recommend staying with Oak. We had oak floors in our last house and have Hickory now and the Oak was much better at resisting denting. You can see a few places after 18 months where the claw marks made a dent in the surface. I never saw that in 5 years of Oak.
We have oak and it is standing up beautifully with three dogs {and Gypsy is fairly heavy} and all the kids {who are forever dragging their dining chairs across the floor despite dh's constant harping to 'lift, lift, lift" }
The only dent is from where dh dropped the stereo when he was putting the room back together immediately after installing the floor
I love it. It's tougher than we were told it would be and so easy to clean.
