re: Vinyl Vs. Hardwood

I have tons of experience with the vinyl plank.

It is water resistant. Wood will blister and laminate will swell if it gets wet, even the water resistant laminate if it sits on it like spilling a drink and not knowing or dog urine. Those type of things do no hurt vinyl. But it is not water proof. If you get a busted pipe it will float and mess up the locking system. Still better than alternatives.

I think laminate is more durable to scratches. I dealt with some vinyl with a white core and had tons of scratch problems and complaints from customers, worse than wood even. I moved to a darker core vinyl and the complaints went away. Do not buy a dark color top with a light color core. Had no problems with barn grey and white or a light vinyl with a darker core. Only had problems with the dark colors with white core.

I would use pad. Most in the industry are going with a built in pad. If you go no pad the slab has to be spot on or you may have problems. The padded seemed to fix most, not all, minor slab problems.

The only wood really being sold in the market right now is the very expensive $8+/sqft material to go in high end houses. Laminate has all but been replaced. If your dogs are small it shouldn't be a problem. 100 pound dogs running around inside will damage any floor that is not tile or concret IMO.