I'm considering changing the carpet in my lounge/dining room for a laminate type covering.

I'm just wondering if I have puppies who have accidents..... or older ones come to that .....does the urine soak through the joins and then make it a bit smelly?

Obviously it would be cleaned up straight away, it's just that the OH is resisting the change using this as a reason.

I dont know if it actually does but common sense would indicate it is a possibility. This is why I decided to go for vinyl flooring in my living room. I got a wood patterned one and it looks very good, It surpises visitors when I tell them it is not wood. Vinyl is also a lot quieter than laminate and much less slippy for the dogs.

My friend got wood effect lino too, and it was brilliant, it had a textured finish so you really had to look to see it was lino.

Yes :p we had laminate through years of pups and oldies and though it looked clean, upon removal it was not!! We got ceramic in the end and though not cheap it will far outlast laminate. It is brilliant! Think lino would be preferable too :)

I'm going to replace my carpet for wood effect vinyl flooring too. Just about to start my research as to what to buy. Any recommendations?

Just to say, don't get lino if you have a pup still at the chewing stage. I had it all over the house, it looked great, my mum even asked if I wasn't going to put any rugs on my WOOD floor. :) Enter Penny the Malinois pup, who a fortnight ago decided to turn the lino in the hall into a jigsaw. Had to take it all up as it was completely ruined and am now thinking we have to put ceramic tiles down.

I'd be more concerned about the effect on the puppies'/adult dogs' joints than the worry of urine. I always ask potential new owners of my puppies what floor covering they have in their downstairs rooms and if it's laminate I advise putting down some non-slip runners. Vinyl might be a better option as you can buy varieties that have a more non-slip surface than others.

We had laminate flooring in the kitchen, but any spills or accidents and it soaked through the joints, and they started to warp and lift.
I have a very heavy duty, non slip wood effect vinyl now. Looks great so easy I get the hoover attachment and a quick round the edges to remove the hair balls that seem to congregate, and then a go over with the mop and it smells and looks lovely.
Mine has several shades of grey in it, so dirty marks don't show up to much, so no need to do it everyday. I got it from B & Q and they seem to have a good range.
I would also say the fitting is very important, mine  has been glued down and they did a good job, so no edges that the dogs could get up and they put edging plates at the doors. Has been down over a year now and none of the dogs have even attempted to chew it.
My friend has just had her kitchen done in a very heavy type of vinyl panels, a bit like very large oblong tiles, because it is all sealed there are no joints,  she has a large island in the kitchen it was to awkward to do it with a roll of vinyl having to cut a very large whole in the middle.
These planks of vinyl were very thick and heavy duty could be used to get round the island without the wastage, they are also non slip, she has 3 Beardies and her son also has a Beardie who visits frequently and the other son two pugs. All were able to run around without slipping as it has a rough service, it looks like tiles until you get down and touch it, not sure who makes it, but worth asking round a few flooring suppliers as there are new development coming out all the time.
Would definitely go for a very heavy duty vinyl, some of the cheaper ones are quite thin and then they are more inclined to wrinkle and pucker. Worth paying the extra for the thicker stuff and it will last you years.

Not got laminate, considered it, but ditched the idea on the basis of wee/vomit/anything else :-O that might get down the joints - yuk! Plus slipping ... gang of Border Collies don't need to be 'rushing' around to move quick and slip - don't want accidents. Mainly ditched laminate idea due to the noise!! Took one of my boys in for a spot of heelwork into Carpetright, on the flooring I was thinking of getting ... woweee, what a racket he made and that was with well clipped toenails. His noise multiplied by a number - decided I wouldn't be able to stand it ;-) So, if you want to go the laminate route, I'd say test your dog out on it first!

I too am wanting wood effect lino. Not had a flooring chewer before but then by the sounds of it neither had Goldmali :-O Might just stick with the very non slippery, non noisy but donkeys years old carpet :-D

We have a tiled floor in the kitchen/dining room, case of necessity as we have a wood burner which occasionally spits out hot bits, anything else and we would have burnt holes in it. Dogs have coped with it and my breed love to lie on it if they are hot. Everywhere else is carpeted with a colour that doesn't show mud and dog hair too much, we are not house proud!

I wouldn't use laminate as it will creep under the floor regardless of how good the flooring is. We have cushion-floor in the kitchen wooden floors (Sealed) in the dining room and hall and ceramic tiles in the conservatory. All equally good.
Aileen