[zag300zx]

Hi Everyone. I am looking for some input from basset owners. I am going to buy a house and am considering having hardwood floors installed instead of carpet in the living/dining/kitchen areas.

Now my main concern is the amount of noise that is generated by basset nails on any hard surface. My parents have that Pergo laminated flooring and when Libby is over there she sounds like a freight train dragging chains when she walks. Her nails always hit the ground, I can never seem to get them short enough not to, but I believe this is normal for bassets?

So in short my question is how loud are basset nails on real hardwood floor, and is it bearable/recommended? Thanks!

And this is Libby, the 2.5 year old!

 

[Tuesday]

I have real hardwood and there isn't a problem with noise at all. I try to keep Gwen's nails as short as I can. She is still young so I am not sure if that has anything to do with it. Hardwood isn't as noisy as the laminate flooring (which I used to have).

 

[hig4s]

We have tile in some places in our house, and carpet in others and I find this question funny, as my dogs sound like a heard of buffalo even when they are on the carpet.

 

[FloppyToby]

my parents have wood floor. the good thing about it is i can always hear exactly where toby is. and if i dont hear him then most likely he's getting into trouble!

 

[Mom2Flash]

Nice pics, Libby is absolutely adorable!

 

[Basset Mamma x's 4]

We rented a cabin by the river one time and were able to bring two of the bassets with us. The cabin was very old, and had honest to goodness real hardwood floors. Bo and Molly were totally excited, and kept shuffling around sniffing everything - ALL NIGHT LONG! It sounded like a Broadway tap-dance routine gone horribly wrong.

 

[Lightning&Stomps]

In my last house I had real hardwood floors, and I don't recall the sound of the dogs' nails being a problem at all. In my current home, I have engineered wood floors (nailed down), and again, sound is not bad, although most of the flooring is covered by area rugs. I would think that dogs' nails on laminate, and especially "floating" floors, would be louder. I like wood floors because, like FloppyToby said, you can always tell where your dog is. And Libby is a beautiful girl.

 

[FloppyToby]

i love running basset pictures. their faces are so funny.

 

[zag300zx]

Thanks everybody! That makes me feel better hearing the noise isn't that big of an issue. The laminate flooring is definately crazy loud, the herd of buffalo is a good example. It amazes me how heavy these dogs sound when they run.

Now hopefully her nails won't make gouges or scratches in the wood!

 

[Mikey T]

hopefully her nails won't make gouges or scratches in the wood

depends etirely on the hardness of the wood. You don't want anything softer than oak, but harder is better, but more difficult to install The one thing not mentioned is hard surfaces reflect bass more. So basset barks are loader in rooms without soft surfaces to absorb the sound.

any finish on the floor can be scratch but are easy fixed provided it is only the finish and not the wood itself.


nka Hardness Scale for Wood Flooring Species

This scale is good for solid wood floors, for engineer floors it works well for scratch resistance of the wood but because engineered floors are made up of layers like plywood often the lower layers are made up of much softer wood making them more prone to denting.

 

[tygrrrl]

As long as you're not overly sensitive to sound, it is easy to get used to, much like the jingle of tags on collars, or the flap of ears with a head shake. If you can't stand to hear someone in the room breathing, it will annoy the heck out of you.

Our house has no carpet, only hardwood and tile, and it doesn't bother us. As others have said, kinda makes for an in-home Basset Lo-Jack system!

 

[BigBloo]

I have hardwood floors but, until someone asks about noise, I don't notice it.

 

[SophieB]

If your Basset's nails maike a lot of noise, I would say they are far too long (like many on YouTube are) and maybe you should get them trimmed a bit or do some road/pavement walking to keep them shorter. Those rechargeable Dremel tools are also good at filing/sanding them down a bit.

If you look at the B&W picture above, enlarged, you'll see these nails are far too long and need taking back, avoiding the 'quick'!

http://i53.photobucket.com/albums/g63/zag300zx/2009_12_24_Christmas_126.jpg

 

[peterluquer]

We have wood floors and Lollypop makes quite a clicking sound as she walks around. I like the sound. I don't think her nails are too long though.

 

[zag300zx]

If your Basset's nails maike a lot of noise, I would say they are far too long (like many on YouTube are) and maybe you should get them trimmed a bit or do some road/pavement walking to keep them shorter. Those rechargeable Dremel tools are also good at filing/sanding them down a bit.

If you look at the B&W picture above, enlarged, you'll see these nails are far too long and need taking back, avoiding the 'quick'!

http://i53.photobucket.com/albums/g63/zag300zx/2009_12_24_Christmas_126.jpg

Thanks for the link Mikey. The ones being installed is Yellow Birch, which is just below the Oak. Might be too soft, might not be.

Yes her nails are longer than they should be in that picture. I haven't been the perfect parent when it comes to the nails, I've hit the quick twice before and now she squirms like a fish out of the water . Haha. She's not that bad, but I will try to work them back over the next few months. She gets daily pavement walks, which helps but it is no match for the indestructible basset nails .

I'm going to ask if I can bring her in the model home and listen first hand, that'll be the only real way of knowing for sure. Thanks for all the responses.

I'll leave you with one more picture.

 

[smitte21]

We have hardwood and laminate flooring. I do try to keep our bassets nails pretty short though but it is difficult with Roxie as her nails grow very long very fast and it takes me forever to get them back for a show weekend if I have let them go for a month. It takes me two weeks of grinding them every other day to get them back. Our rescue boy Beau though only needs to be done once a month and I can take his way back. So I know if I here it clicking my dogs nails are too long. If it gets annoying just remember to trim her nails more often. The dremel works great but does take a bit of getting used to. The doggie ones they sell are pretty useless for a bassets thick nails unless you want to sit all day doing it. I use a cordless dremel and it goes pretty quick... they have gotten used to it and while at one time they were complete bears to do their nails (or at least Beau was) now they are both little angels as they get a pedicure.

 

[zag300zx]

We have hardwood and laminate flooring. I do try to keep our bassets nails pretty short though but it is difficult with Roxie as her nails grow very long very fast and it takes me forever to get them back for a show weekend if I have let them go for a month. It takes me two weeks of grinding them every other day to get them back. Our rescue boy Beau though only needs to be done once a month and I can take his way back. So I know if I here it clicking my dogs nails are too long. If it gets annoying just remember to trim her nails more often. The dremel works great but does take a bit of getting used to. The doggie ones they sell are pretty useless for a bassets thick nails unless you want to sit all day doing it. I use a cordless dremel and it goes pretty quick... they have gotten used to it and while at one time they were complete bears to do their nails (or at least Beau was) now they are both little angels as they get a pedicure.

I have a cordless dremel as well, but have never tried it on the dog. What setting do you use it on? It goes from 1-10. I also assume you use the course sanding wheel?

I took Libby over to the house this morning and let her walk around on the floors. Its no where near as loud as the laminate flooring. Its more of a dull clack, and I think it'll be just fine.

 

[SophieB]

I bought my Dremel from B & Q and it came in a nice colourful tin and had numerous bits with it but I have only used
the circular shaped sanding piece for our Bassets' nails and it looks like the one shown in the picture on the link below!

Mine looks like this and sits in its charger >> http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/uimages/chicago/020209-dremmel2.jpg

 

[smitte21]

I have a cordless dremel as well, but have never tried it on the dog. What setting do you use it on? It goes from 1-10. I also assume you use the course sanding wheel?

I took Libby over to the house this morning and let her walk around on the floors. Its no where near as loud as the laminate flooring. Its more of a dull clack, and I think it'll be just fine.

I most likely have the same dremel you are referring too as my dremel has 10 speeds as well. I use it on 10 and use the large sand paper tube over the sanding drum. I use the rough sand paper as well. It goes very quick if you do it right but you also need to be careful as if they kick you can really gouge your fingers... believe me I did a doosy on myself many times before I got the hang of it but now the bassets are very good about it.

 

[gsally]

Our girl Lucy had long nails, she hated to have them trimmed and gave the Vet a good work out every time we had a nail appt. Our first Vet said we wouldn't have to worry about the length of her nails; if we walked her enough they'd get worn down...........wrong! We walked her enough 2-3 times a day until she was age 9 and ages 9-12 one to two times a day. Her nails did not wear down. We have hardwood flooring and I can tell you since she crossed the bridge last Oct., I miss that sweet sound of basset nails on my hardwoods!