If you have dogs, you know the joy that they can bring to your life. They are warm bundles of energy that simply want your attention and love and are willing to give all of their love to you in return. However, your dogs are not going to bring joy to your hardwood floors. Your dogs' nails can result in deep scratches on the hardwood floor which can be difficult to resolve and expensive to replace. Here are some tips for making sure that you are able to protect your hardwood floors from your dogs.

1. Have Long Mats In Front of Any Door That Leads Outside

In front of every door in your home that leads outside, place long mats. When dogs are about to go outside or come inside, they are often excited and will tear in or out of the door. This can result in scratching your hardwood floor. These mats can help prevent this because they will protect the hardwood floor where dogs are most likely to dash on top of. The mats will also help get rid of any dirt that your dogs might inadvertently track in the house. This is helpful because dirt grinds into the hardwood floor, damaging it. Keeping the amount of dirt being tracked in to a minimum will help you keep your hardwood floors unharmed.

If your long mats have a rough underside, make sure that you put a pad between the mat and the floor in order to avoid accidentally scratching the floor with the very item that was designed to protect it.

2. Trim Your Dogs' Nails

Research the types of dogs that you have and see how quickly their nails grow. Commit to having your dogs' nails trimmed before they have time to grow long enough to damage your hardwood floor, keeping them on a schedule that matches how fast their nails grow on average. This will help you protect your floors.

3. Use Nail Caps

If you don't like the idea of clipping your dogs' nails, then consider purchasing gel nail caps for your dogs. This will allow you to cover your dogs' nails and keep them from scratching the floor without actually removing the nails. Simply make sure that you constantly check your dogs' nails to make sure that they haven't accidentally rubbed the caps off.

For more information, talk to a company that specializes in hardwood flooring, or an interior design firm such as Towne Interiors.