Can I have carpet with dogs?

[Giantdog]

and it not be disgusting?

My living room is constantly cold and my children (toddlers) don’t tend to play on the floor much, presumably because it’s uncomfortable. I need new flooring anyway because we are removing a fireplace that needs replacing which in turn will leave a gap.

DH would love a big thick carpet. I think he’s imagining it to be nicer than it actually will be. I have a giant breed hairy dog that sheds all year round and a cat, plus the children. Can the two ever mix? Will my carpet forever stink? Shall I stick with laminate?

It does depend on the dog I guess. We didn't have any real issues with our shorthaired standard dachshund except we needed to change the bag and filters on the vacuum cleaner more often. He wasn't a smelly dog and didn't shed much.

We had carpet in the living room until last year and even though the style of it hid a multitude of sins (as well as a lot of the fur) it was never really clean. I would keep the laminate personally and get a rug instead.

Nope.
Get a rug if you must. At least that can be washed without it becoming a major furniture moving task.

We've got carpet and we have a dog and three cats. Never had any problems you just have to keep on top of vacuuming. We also shampoo it a couple of times a year.

Thanks for confirming my thoughts!

My dog does stink at times if im
homest. Hes very big and forever in mud. In fairness he doesn’t tend to be in the living room much but the hair tends to transfer from us to the rooms he doesn’t even go in. Doesn’t seem worth it though!

Out of curiosity what kind of dog do you have ? I can hoover and 20 minutes later it looks like the rooms not been hoovered in a fortnight. The joys of having a big black dog. 😅

Four very hairy cats here. Bedrooms carpeted, no problems. Just get a good vacuum.

We have a Newfoundland and carpet. As long as we stay on top of the vacuuming it's fine. (We have a Shark upright and a Miele ... whatever not-uprights are called). Our house doesn't smell of dog (as attested by visitors) but GrouchyDog is a pretty clean dog and doesn't bring in a lot of mud so she's easier than most despite the vast abundance of fluffy hair. We have fleece blankets for her to lie on, which she does sometimes...

@Doppelgangers he's a beagle and doesn't really shed much - it's the large fluffy cat that's the problem in that department 😂

Go for vinyl not as noisy as laminate and warmer
your existing laminate will make a great sub floor for it

I'd stick with limiate- more hygienic all round! Especially as yur DC are still little and will spend a lot of time on the floor.

We used to have rug / playmat with rodas and a landscape for their toy cars to play on.

Well for dogs slippy floors are really bad for them as it's like going round in socks/tights especially if have hairy paws, even if don't fall over to injure selves it's constant micro slips straining their muscles, ligaments and joints even worse when get arthritis. Some hard flooring has more grippy surface texture than others so more case of selecting with dog in mind if replacing or making use of rugs if stuck with a smoother one.

Personally I'd go for a big rug as it's cheaper and easier to replace than full floor. There's washable ones now, Dunelm sells some or a carpet washer to spot clean a normal rug. Though you could also combine with carpet. dogs will naturally choose the nice soft spot to reduce splashback 😂

If go full carpet pick your colour to help disguise shed hairs or will drive yourself nuts like seeing black on cream. Invest in a decent carpet washer to deal with any mud or accidents as even house trained dogs get ill vomiting/ diarrhea/UTI or like us all with age comes weakness.
I'm sure some make vacuuming easier if hair stays on top rather than able go deeper into pile. Though I had a short hair dog whose hair could imbed itself into most fabrics and impossible to remove thankfully other dogs short hair was silky and stay on top and was glad didn't have carpet then. Looped carpets can get pulled by dog nails.

We having 2 living rooms. One is carpeted and one is wood. I don't let my dog in the carpeted one if she is damp or if it's been raining outside, in case my kids don't wipe her paws properly.
It gets hoovered twice a week and she has her own bed in there, where she tends to lie the most, though she does also lie on the carpet sometimes. It doesn't smell and it's not that grubby. Carpet gets shampooed about every 2 years. Once every couple of months we put that shakey carpet stuff on that you leave on then hoover up.

We had to move in with a house with carpet a few years ago and I have two big dogs, I was really surprised at how clean we actually managed to keep it. We had to move again a year or two later and it’s harder to keep the wooden floors looking clean. Like pp said a good hoover every day and a shampoo once or twice a year keeps carpet ok. I had to buy an eufy which I have to run downstairs twice a day to pick up the hairs off the laminate or it looks gross

We have two mucky dogs and carpet. The shark vacuum works hard. The vax carpet cleaner used twice a year in December and June. We did pay a lot for the carpet 80% wool. So it's very hard wearing.

We have carpet & four dogs. We also have a Vax Platinum Shampooer which is brilliant !

Bear your dog’s old age in mind. I had a thick rug in the (stone floored) living room, but I’ve had to get rid of it: combination of old dog becoming doubly incontinent and new dog sniffing and thinking “ah yes! This is where we do our business” made it untenable. I won’t be replacing it any time soon as old dog is completely unreliable and new dog, though fortunately housetrained now, is an olympic shedder.

I would get a rug instead.

We have large rooms and got them made to measure. They were not cheap.
Basically we got them for DDog as he has arthritis.
I wash them weekly and vacuum once, sometimes twice a day. I also wash ddogs feet when he goes outside and we don’t wear shoes in the house.
I love 1001 carpet cleaner and Zoflora.

We have some room deodorisers around the house and scented candles. It’s hard work to keep them clean and fresh and I do it every day no matter what.
My rugs are the same colour as DDog.

I wouldn’t get a shaggy rug if your dog moults. We used to have one and we had to take it outside every day and shake it- nightmare. It was almost the end of my marriage lol.
Ddog threw up on the rug one day and that was the end of that.