When considering the best hardwood floors for dogs, your best bet is to speak to the professionals themselves. You can tell them what kind of dog you have, small, big, rambunctious and so on. The floor experts are experienced and can let you know about the best hardwood floors.

Indeed, there are quite a few options. It comes down to your budget and the kind of dog you have. The hardness of the hardwood floors uses something called the Janka Hardness Scale. One particular hardwood floor costs premium prices, but many other choices are affordable for the average homeowner.

This list contains the seven best hardwood floors for dogs:

1. Engineered Hardwood Floors

Engineered hardwood is one of the best hardwood floors for dogs. However, this is an ongoing debate that solid wood has a slight advantage compared to engineered wood. A solid wood floor means it is one type of wood used all over your home. Engineered wood is a layer of hardwood bonded with plywood or fiberboard.

If you have a young dog that hopefully lives a long and active life, then solid wood can be refinished many, many times. On the other hand, Engineered wood can only take a certain amount of sanding and refinishing. It might be better to choose solid wood flooring Toronto rather than engineered wood.

2. Brazilian Walnut Hardwood Floors

This is a hard and dense wood, sometimes referred to as ‘ipe’. This used to be very expensive in the past, but luckily for you, the prices have now come down. This is a great choice of wood for your home if you have a dog that likes to zoom all over the place. Brazilian Walnut is hard enough to even use it for their outdoor decks. That’s saying something, isn’t it? This is one to consider, so speak to a pro about this hardwood.

3. Hard Maple Hardwood Floors

Hard maple is also considered one of the better choices for people who own dogs. This wood can take quite a beating from your dog. This kind of hardwood is even used in basketball courts. Think about this fact for a second. If you get a bunch of athletes stomping all over this hardwood, then surely it is strong enough to handle your dog.

Any reading on the Janka Scale of more than 1,000 is considered a very good flooring option. Hard maple fits this category. Hard maple is sometimes referred to as sugar maple or rock maple. It has to be a specific type of maple, but the professionals will know which to recommend, so don’t worry.

4. Oak Hardwood Floors

Oak is another hardwood floor with a Janka rating of over 1,000. This is also considered one of the best hardwood floors for dogs. Its hardness is not only impressive, but it is easily available. Many people choose oak as wood flooring if they have dogs. There are two kinds; white oak and red oak. The choice is up to you.

5. Bamboo Hardwood Floors

Now here is a funny choice, but a very good one. Bamboo isn’t considered wood. Instead, it is considered grass! However, the important thing here is that bamboo has a Janka rating. The great thing about bamboo is that it is naturally very strong, but sometimes, the manufacturing process can make it stronger and more durable.

It is classified as a hardwood floor since it is impregnated with tough resins. Its Janka rating can be high, compared to some of the others mentioned above. Some can be 3 or 4 times higher on the Janka Scale, making it a really good option for dog owners. This stuff is really impressive!

6. Cork Hardwood Floors

Many people may not even consider cork as an option. However, cork can be rather dog-friendly in many ways. It is not slippery, which means your dog does not have to dig in with its claws to get about the home. Slippery floors cause your dog to use their claws to dig in and help them move about. It can also take hard impacts.

Cork can have a nice finish and can easily be repaired if required. Cork may not be considered wood, but it is a wood by-product, so we have added it to this list of dog-friendly flooring.

7. Hickory Hardwood Floors

Hickory has an impressive Janka rating of 1,820. That is even higher than oak. Hickory has character and a beautiful colour and would make great flooring for your home, whether you have a dog or not.

There are others as well, such as Santos Mahogany. Exotic wood makes good wood flooring if you have a dog. As you can see, we have somewhat ‘cheated’ a little bit regarding the best hardwood floors for dogs by adding some that are not real wood. However, they also happen to be great options if you have dogs.