Oak: We have had several houses with oak and two dogs have happily ran about on it and it stood up very well. Don't get walnut - too soft.

I have a Golden Doodle with long nails. I have Brazilian Cherry and notice no scratches from the dog. I have had the floors for about 7 years and still love them!

The best wood to use for high traffic areas is a hard wood with lots of grain. A high sheen finish reveals scratches that a low sheen would not show. Hand scraped can also hide imperfections.

Try googling the "Janko hardness scale". It rates most types of hardwood, both domestic and exotic, for flooring. You can then cross reference the type of flooring with the hardness to achieve the style you prefer with the maximum hardness for the dog.

There's a great thread all about this very topic here on houzz. Lots of comments and suggestions. Here's the link to it: https://www.houzz.com/discussions/hardwood-floors-a-dog-dsvw-vd~406556

The Janka scale is also something I would second considering: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Janka_hardness_test

Super, thank you all so much! You all rock. Extremely helpful. thank you!

Agree with all above. Definitely the hand scraped with a mat finish. There are some beautiful ones out there. Check out Kentwood if you are looking for a contemporary look.

I "borrowed" this from one of my other posts...
Carolyn is right... we too, have options that lean more "contemporary"

We've been working with hand-scraped finishes for over 35 years, and have learned that by considering the overall "look" desired for the interior, we can adjust the level or style of distressing to accommodate anything from a contemporary decor to "cabin rustic".
Some species lend themselves to more traditional interiors and others to more formal or even contemporary looks.
Another consideration is in the "cut" of the lumber... rift & quarter sawn oak, for example, has a completely different appearance than plain sawn (standard) cut oak... giving it a more "controlled" or linear grain pattern.

Then there's the "color" factor... which can have enormous effect on the overall look.
I guess what I'm trying to say is that we have yet to be confronted with a scenario where we just couldn't make a hand-scraped floor look like it was made for the setting. But, of course, we offer "options" that aren't always made available by others.

Our platform is that distressed or hand-scraped flooring doesn't necessarily have to appear as though it was pulled out of a barn, a concept that apparently escapes many of the other "experts" in the hardwood flooring biz.
We offer many levels & styles ranging from very subtle (almost smooth, but not quite), to surfaces on which only bean-bag seating will work.

For those trying to avoid going hand-scraped, we also recommend using a more "grained" specie such as white oak or hickory for example... and applying a wire-brush process, which removes most of the softer SURFACE grain and giving the flooring a flat surface while having enough "texture" to hide scratches, indentations, etc. more readily.

Select Hardwood Floor Co., thanks so much for all of this info. I, too, am faced with making decisions about hardwood flooring and just didn't know what alot of the terms indicated. Again, thanks!

Greywolves, hopefully I didn't "overdo" it in the info dept.
Feel free to call or email me if you have any questions...
I'll try to avoid being long-winded. lol

email: david@selecthardwoodfloor.com
Good Luck.

White Oak with a satin finish and light stain will be very forgiving and also hide scrapes. You will also not have any issues when it comes time to refinish the floor do to the hand scraped finish. Here are some quarter sawn white oak floors we made for a couple of our clients.

Prefinished "hardwood" floor's perform best with pets. If you prefer to sand and finish, moisture cure is the absolute best finish to use with pets. You will have to vacate the house and ventilate for at least 3-5 days after application. This finish is very toxic to breathe.
Waterborne finishes are horrible with large dogs and claws.

Ah yes... I (vaguely) remember the old days of the mind frying finishes.
Many a brain cell (as well as buildings) have been burnt up when they were used extensively.
Granted, the old moisture cured polyurethane was as close to "bullet proof" as you could get, however it was very tedious to apply as well as dangerous.
Not many of "us" mastered the application process.
The fact that a distressed, antiqued, or hand-scraped finish is so easy to live with, is what finally put hardwood flooring back on the map after a long period of semi-retirement.
Once again... the specie, style, AND finish system are what will make for a happy ending... especially where the canines are involved.
Another "issue" unmentioned was, chemical resistance... you know... pee.
It troubles me to remember how many people have come to us indicating that their pets like to urinate in the house... therefore they need something that will stand up.
I usually recommend sealed concrete & sawdust.

These are all factors for consideration when the final decisions are being made.

re: waterborne finishes... agreed, some are DEFINITELY better than others!
As I mentioned previously, high price doesn't guarantee high QUALITY.
One needs to bear in mind that the finish manufacturers (bless their hearts) are in business to sell more finish.

That's where the burden of performance falls to people like us (flooring manufacturers), to make sure the final product is up to snuff!
There's nothing worse than having a Client call back complaining about durability after the fact. We offer an infra-red cured WATERBORNE poly that's proven to be extremely durable and abrasion resistant.
But whether we sell a floor finished in our poly OR oil/wax, the ultimate responsibility rests with the end user to care for & maintain their investment properly.
We here, are painstaking in our efforts to make sure the Customer is aware of the performance characteristics of ANY prefinished product we sell.
That's the benefit of working on a CUSTOM level and offering a multitude of options in finishes... the product can be "tailor made" to fit the needs of the client.

We can't always be the cheapest option, but we strive to be the best.
WOW... does that sound like a "pitch" or what...?

Please look at Bona Traffic Satin as a possible solution to your finish question for a site finished floor. Beyond that a prefinished floor with Aluminum Oxide would be even sturdier, however there are some health questions with a product like that.

Eutree Wide PLank Flooring, what are some of the health questions associated with Aluminum Oxide finish? When our grandkids come to visit I'd like to know we aren't making them sick. But I also live with 2 Grt. Pyrs.

Hello again greywolves...
I'd be willing to venture a guess that the folks at Eutree may be suggesting Aluminum Oxide finishes are less than healthy in their "sanded state" (dust) while being refinished. But for that matter, simple sawdust has been deemed unhealthy to breathe, even without any form of finish...

Another issue has been the fact that mass production Ultra Violet cured aluminum oxide finishes are dangerous (financially) to get involved with, if you're a floor refinisher... the U.V. curing process makes them difficult and costly to refinish with predictable & satisfactory results.

That's the main reason we "retired" our U.V. finishing system YEARS ago. Only beneficial for high production speedy finishing (which is not our format). The system we use (for all of our finishes) is infrared or heat dried... a slower but much more user friendly approach while manufacturing, as well as after installation.

However, I'm always willing to consider any new information available, after all... I'm new at this and always willing to learn.

But I think your grandkids will be safe unless they're silly enough to get into the hardwood floor refinish biz when they get older.
As mentioned before, however... that's why we offer ALL options... it's the customer's call!

Your grandchildren will be safe to play on the flooring. The health concerns are tied to refinishing. We have provided several recent floors for clients that were refinished and their main concern was to make sure the floor did not contain AO.,