I've been lurking here for quite a while and had to finally start an account to reply to this. Just wanted to say that your daughter isn't the only one who thought of the very creative name "long ears" for her rabbit. That was my rabbit's name growing up too! I thought I was the only one ;-) We do something similar to you with our chickens and our 2 year old. "The chickens think lettuce is delicious. Want to give it a try?" Since he's obsessed with the chickens, this is working for now but we might have to get a rabbit down the line too.

I can't tell you which brand to get, but I can recommend that you get a hide that is FINISHED, rather than Aniline-dyed. It will hold up longer and be easier to clean. If you want overall durability, then a solid (or engineered) wood frame, screwed/doweled/glued as well as a hard spring edge, and preferably 8-way hand-knotted springs in the seat deck. I almost hate to say it, but in most cases the more expensive the piece is (within reason)- the better its going to hold up. -Duane

We recently just finished installing and finishing utility grade mixed solid hardwood oak floors from LL (.99/sqft) all DIY. It was our first time installing any type of hardwood flooring DIY. Looking at the Elastilon product, I wouldn't suggest using the very rustic utility grade flooring unless you plan on nailing it down due to the extra fitting/fussing it can take to install it. Also I would be concerned about possible movement with the heavy sanding machines/buffing during the finishing process. I would think an engineered or prefinished hardwood flooring would be better to use with the Elastilon. Laminate (depending on quality) may hold up better with kids and pets as far as scratches. Prefinished hardwood may have a stronger finish (factory) than site finished too. However solid hardwood can be refinished, it may hold up to liquid issues a little better than laminate, have more value, and if you get a rustic character grade flooring the imperfections will blend in. Even with my dogs nails clipped on the site finished solid hardwood, I can still hear the click of their nails, however it's not as loud as it is on laminate floors. If you really want to do site finished utility grade rustic solid hardwood floors, it might be possible to build a proper subfloor accounting for the moisture, on top of the concrete slab. Someone on the Hardwood flooring talk forum may be able to offer some more information on this, I have no idea how easy it is or how well it would hold up. http://hardwoodflooringtalk.com/forum/ Hickory is harder than white oak, so it will probably be more durable, but the lower grades of hickory can have more pattern to them and I don't think hickory takes stain as easily as oak. With a good professional grade finish, I think an oak floor would be fine. With natural oil finishes (100% tung oil, linseed oil, etc.) I think it depends on the finish, after considering it for our floors and researching it, I decided against it. Natural oil finishes can smell and the odor can linger for a while, they may take a long time to dry/cure, and are not as durable as the water based poly finishes. However the natural oil finishes are repairable, which is nice. I've read that in high traffic areas the finish can wear faster requiring recoating once a year or every couple years though. I know my mom has spot repaired old wood floors with poly, but it's probably not as easy as using a natural oil finish because you have to sand. We went with the professional grade floor finishing products (Bona) and decided to use a water based poly (Bona traffic HD in extreme matte) so far with two dogs and two visiting dogs racing and sliding on the floor, it's been wearing like iron. The extreme matte finish gives it a very natural wood look (not really plastic) and is extremely durable, the matte finish also hides more imperfections. The rustic floors also being custom stained with different light/medium brown shades (Bona drifast stains) really helps hide tons of dirt and dog hair. Our floors

I know this isnt what you asked but I'll get to that :) IMO, you need to look at it realistically going in. It's a mistake to get any pet *for your kids* but getting a *family pet* is a better way to look at it. Im only saying this because I dont know what experience you have of pet ownership and it's a mistake a lot of people make that often ends badly. Kids can't be expected to take on the responsibility of pet ownership. You will be the one feeding the pets, walking the pets, cleaning up after the pets and training the pets and it can be a bit like having extra children in the house so you have to be prepared for the time and commitment it is going to take from you. To kids pet ownership isnt about any of those things, it's about playing with them and that's about it. I'm not saying they might not help out, but dont expect them to raise and look after these pets, that will be your job. Also look ahead 10 or 15 years when these pets will still be alive, what will the kids be doing? most likely they'll be busy with other things or may not be living at home. I would recommend you read up on different breeds and make your choice carefully. These are the types of books that might be useful for you and your kids to read before you decide what type of dog or cat will suit you best. As handymac said, different breeds have different personality traits, energy levels, exercise needs, companionship needs etc, so finding out what breeds suit your family and lifestyle is really important. Dont let your kids make that decision because they will go for the "cutest" pet. what you could do though is narrow down the choices to a few breeds that would suit you and let the kids be involved in the final choice that way so perhaps a book on "choosing the right dog" would be my suggestion and it will show the kids that it's an important decision. I am so glad to hear you arent buying them a pet for christmas, that is such a huge mistake many people make and imo it tells the kids "this is a toy" and by february often the kids have lost interest and then the pets are being passed off elsewhere because the parents only got them *for the kids* Good luck with it, and i hope you go in to it with your eyes wide open and realistic expectations and then it will all work out for you but I it's important to know these things ahead of time and not after you already have the pets.