Tuesday, May 26, 2026 from Floor Covering Weekly

Friendly flooring for four-legged friends
By Sharyn Bernard

While dogs (and cats) may be people’s best friends, they can be pretty hard on flooring. Scratches, accidents and muddy paws are a fact of daily life with pets, and flooring manufacturers are stepping up their pet-friendly flooring game to meet consumer demand.

Considering how many households have pets, pet-friendly flooring has a captive and growing audience. According to the American Pet Products Association’s 2026 State of the Industry report, 95 million U.S. households have a pet, with 71 million having at least one dog and 53 having at least one cat. What’s more, more than half of the U.S. households with pets are either Millennials or Gen Z — the generations who will be buying the most homes going forward. So, it stands to reason that these consumers will factor in their furry friends for their flooring purchases.

Having a portfolio of pet-friendly flooring is, “critical because pets are no longer a niche consideration, they are the majority lifestyle in U.S. homes,” said Tami Stahl, vice president of marketing for The Dixie Group (TDG). “An extensive pet-friendly portfolio is no longer optional, it’s essential to meet the reality of how people live. With two-thirds of households owning pets, most customers walking into a showroom are implicitly shopping for pet-compatible flooring, whether they say it or not.”

Consumers expect flooring to meet all their needs, including pets. “Pet ownership continues to grow, and with it, the expectation that flooring should perform for every member of the household,” said Natalie Jones, marketing director, Shaw Floors. “Shaw Floors designs products for real life, and that means considering how families live in their spaces. From spills and scratches to comfort and cleanability, pet-friendly performance has become a core part of how we innovate.”

Pet ownership shows no signs of abating, nor not being a factor in flooring purchases. “It is as big as it’s ever been and is going to continue to be, if not the thing, one of the top two or three things that consumers are concerned about when making a choice for floor coverings,” said David Moore, vice president of product management, Mohawk Flooring.

Durable Design

Pet friendly flooring — both hard and soft surface — needs to be durable but also needs to meet consumers’ design expectations and suppliers are keeping pet needs in mind when they are developing products and collections.

“Pets aren’t just animals; they are family members, and consumers refuse to compromise on either style or their pets’ comfort when investing in new floors,” said Eric Ruppert, vice president of soft surface product development, Engineered Floors (EF). “Having an extensive pet-friendly portfolio that covers both hard and soft surfaces is crucial because it allows the retailer to offer a cohesive, whole-home solution.”

For InStride Surfaces, pets are top of mind for all new products, explained Matthew Runkle, founder and CEO. “All collections we make are built with pets in mind because that is what our business partners told us their customers needed. That was the intention from day one.”

The simple fact is consumers expect their flooring to fit all their needs without sacrifice. “Today’s homes are designed around real life and for many, that includes pets,” Christine Zampaglione, vice president of marketing for Stanton said. “Offering a broad pet-friendly portfolio ensures that customers never have to choose between performance and design.”

Travis Cramer, vice president, sales and product management, Tarkett Home, said function cannot supersede design. “As pet ownership continues to grow, we see increasing demand for floors that balance durability and design. Homeowners want floors that are not only stylish and timeless but also well as pet and family friendly.”

Warranties, technology and construction give consumers peace of mind, too. Mohawk’s All Pet Gold warranty, for example, covers hard surface for scratches, dents and accidents from all pets with no exclusions, on its RevWood, PureTech and SolidTech lines. All Pet covers carpet lines of SmartStrand and Pet Premier. “We really try to address [the durability] through our warranties and messaging,” Moore said.

“We’ve doubled down with our All Pet warranty,” Moore added. “And we’ve got the consumer messaging around the performance promise and then the associated warranties that back up those claims. And in-store, both from a POP and a messaging perspective, as well as on the digital side, we try to align our products with those different feature tiers and the warranty so that consumers know, ‘Hey, if I get an All Pet Gold product from Mohawk, it’s going to be all pet stains, all pet scratches, all domesticated animals, no exclusion warranty.’ ”

Shaw Floors’ Pet Perfect and Pet Perfect+ are geared directly toward this audience, Jones said. “Earlier this year, we extended the Pet Perfect collection into new categories with the introduction of Pet Perfect Luxury Vinyl and Pet Perfect Laminate.” She noted that Briard, the debut style in Pet Perfect Luxury Vinyl, features proprietary PawDefense Technology, delivering 50 percent more scratch resistance than traditional luxury vinyl. Both collections are backed by the Pet Perfect Promise — if a pet scratches it, Shaw Floors will replace it.

What’s more, consumers often want both surfaces in their homes, so dealers need to carry an extensive assortment of pet-proof products.

“At EF, we approach pet-friendly performance as a total-home solution, spanning both hard and soft surfaces,” explained Ruppert. For example, EF’s PureGrain High-Def DLVT features PawPrint Protection for durability. “One of the biggest misconceptions in the industry is that a thicker wear layer automatically means better scratch resistance. We educate our partners that the topcoat matters more than the wear layer thickness when it comes to defending against dog and cat claws.” EF uses EverTuff Clearcoat with high-definition digital printing, for realistic looks and endurance. And in soft surface, EF leans into its PureColor High-Def, solution-dyed fiber carpet .“Because the color goes all the way through the fiber — like a carrot rather than a radish — it is inherently resistant to stains, spills and harsh pet-cleanup chemicals,” Ruppert added. These are backed by EF’s Paw Print warranty.

“One size does not fit all; different households require different solutions,” TDG’s Stahl said, noting soft surface often is used in bedrooms and living areas, while hard surface is installed in high-traffic zones. “A limited assortment risks losing the sale entirely if the customer doesn’t see a solution that fits their specific pet situation. A strong pet-friendly flooring portfolio ensures you can serve the majority of today’s consumer base, address real-life performance needs, and tap into one of the most emotionally driven purchase factors in the home.”

Stahl highlighted TDG’s Trucor Tymbr laminate collection that is engineered with an aluminum oxide wear layer inside a hardened resin system as ideal for pet households. It also offers a 72-hour water resistant promise to resist pet accidents.In addition, Trucor SPC and WPC feature a 20 mil wear layer for scratch resistance, waterproof construction and an attached IXPE pad for noise reductions.

TDGs’ EnVisionsSD Pet Solutions Nylon and DuraSilkSD Pet Solutions Polyester are constructed to resiststains, spills and fading. “The fibers are also designed to be easy to clean and maintain, so homeowners don’t have to sacrifice softness or style for durability,” Stahl explained.

Stanton’s Pet Guard carpet collection is specifically designed for homes with pets, featuring durable constructions and solution-dyed fibers that resist staining, fading, and everyday wear, Zampaglione said.

Indeed, pet-friendly flooring should consider everything from the coating to the backing. “Homeowners want floors that can handle spills, scratches, muddy paws, food bowls and the everyday realities of bringing home a new furry family member,” Runkle said, noting that InStride Surfaces SPC collections carry a 20-mil wear layer and CleanStride top layer. “This is critical because it allows our products to stand up to play time, daily life, and the occasional accident,” he said. “Product thickness gets a lot of attention, but core construction matters just as much,” he added. “Our cores are fully waterproof, so nothing penetrates and nothing swells.”

Tarkett Home created ShoreFlor laminate to meet the waterproof and scratch resistance needs, but it’s also can withstand steam mops. “ShoreFlor’s waterproof design ensures protection against spills and splashes, while the scratch-resistant surface maintains its beauty, even in high-traffic areas,” Cramer said. And in soft surfaces Tarkett features PAWSH Solution Dyed Nylon with Protect Stain Warranty. “Homeowners no longer have to worry about the realities of sharing their home with their pets and the messes that they make.”

A total flooring portfolio is part of Southwind’s strategy, noted Drew Hash, president and CEO. “Southwind floors perform across all our categories for pet homes. Our solution-dyed PET carpets resist stains, while our waterproof rigid core products like SPC and WPC stand up to spills and scratches. It’s a combination of durable construction and built-in protection.”

Selling the Story

Retail sales associates (RSAs) are the key to selling pet-friendly flooring, and they should almost immediately ascertain if this is a consideration in flooring. “The RSA’s job is to qualify the consumer and get them to a product that they’re going to be the most happy with,” Mohawk’s Moore said. “This should be a topic of discussion with them in the first 30 seconds of a conversation with a prospective client.”

Most pet parents know they will need pet-friendly flooring. “If pets are part of the household, they are usually going to come up in the flooring conversation,” Runkle said. “My advice to RSAs is simple: when they do, do not just move into the standard qualifying questions. Ask to see a picture. People love showing off their pets. The second a customer pulls out a photo of their dog or cat, the conversation changes. Now you are not just talking about flooring. You are talking about their home, their family, and the life that is going to happen on that floor every day.”

Indeed, personal conversations will help shape the discussion, Jones said. “RSAs should take the opportunity to understand each customer’s lifestyle and recommend flooring that fits their home and needs. To better focus on pet-friendly flooring, start the conversation by asking about the pets in their household, how many they have, their size and any concerns like scratches, accidents or shedding. These insights guide meaningful recommendations. We’ve seen the most successful RSAs find a way to connect personally, learn about their customer’s pets, their homes and how they live day to day.”

The more the RSA can relate and connect to the customer, the better. “RSAs should focus the conversation on translating the features of the floor and show how they’ll be a benefit in real life pet moments,” Cramer of Tarkett said. “Dirty paws being tracked in from the yard, spilled water bowls and zoomies will happen. Helping pet parents visualize how well the floor will hold up to messes, water and everyday traffic will help the homeowner feel certain they’ve chosen the right floor to stand up to pets.”

RSA training and using supplier materials also helps. “Education is an RSA’s best tool,” EF’s Ruppert said. “For example, when a customer comes in fixated on a 20-mil versus 12-mil wear layer for their Golden Retriever, an RSA can build instant credibility by explaining that the topcoat matters significantly more than the wear layer thickness for preventing surface scratching. Finally, RSAs should heavily leverage the warranties as a closing tool.”

Mostly, RSAs should be the authority in the area. “Be confident in the product you recommend and help reinforce the choice made,” Stahl said. “Consumers are looking to the RSA to be the expert. They want the RSA to solve their problem, not simply sell them something.”

“By providing a range of styles, textures and surfaces that all support pet-friendly living, Stanton empowers homeowners to create cohesive interiors that reflect their lifestyle while maintaining durability and ease of care.”
– Christine Zampaglione, Stanton

“Pets are an enormous part of people’s lives and that means that it’s an enormous part of the purchasing decision for the products that they interact with. And flooring is a huge piece of that as pets can tend to wear or live on floors hard.”
– David Moore, Mohawk Flooring

“As pet ownership rises, we’ll continue developing flooring solutions that balance beautiful design with durability, making homes more livable for everyone who shares them.”
– Natalie Jones, Shaw Floors

“Pet ownership is not a niche, so to help our partners stay agile and install more floors, we deliver a portfolio that lets them say yes to every customer, every lifestyle and almost every budget.”
– Matthew Runkle, InStride Surfaces

“Assume pets are part of the home and verify early with the customer. Then guide customers to the right solution.”
– Drew Hash, Southwind