In my opinion Mercier finishes are as good as it gets. The finishes look great and they emit low to no VOC. One of the downsides to a very clear finish with a high gloss level -- for Mercier that would be Semi Gloss or Satin gloss -- is you see footprints even from socked feet. Do you know what gloss level you have on your flooring? I don't have an answer to the sock feet but I'd strongly suggest you follow -- to the letter -- Mercier's maintenance (cleaning) instructions. See mercier-wood-flooring.com > All About Floors > Documentation > Maintenance Guide. Two reasons to do this, 1-they know best, and 2-if you do what they specifically say not to do (use wax, household detergent, concentrated wood cleaner, oil based soap, vinegar/water mix, no fabric softener when you launder the mop heads... they're very specific) you void the warranty, 35 or 10 years depending on the product. To get their finishes to meet the low to no VOC certifications they base the chemistry of their finishes on soybean oil, among other things (they don't make excessive use of plain old, traditional urethane for example). Their website explains this fairly well. To get their finishes perfectly clean, with no dull, translucent film afterwards, you have to follow their instructions exactly. Amazon sells their cleaning kits, and I think Bona is the closest third-party brand to what Mercier sells as their cleaning kits (50% micro fiber mop head, and cleaning fluid in a spray bottle). Hope this all helps.

From your tests and comments, you're really NOT going to be happy with a dark floor if you are "hard on your floors" and want something that won't show that wear. Dark floors are much higher maintainence and show every single ding and dust particle. You either have to be in love with constant swiffering, or be OK with dust showing 1 hour after you just finished dusting. The visible scratches (and there WILL be scratches in ALL types of wood flooring) will drive you crazy in a dark floor, especially one that doesn't have much grain to hide it. Handscraped will also limit any recoating down the road to hand screening if you want to maintain that look. That's a lot more $$ than just using a machine. Resanding the floor to smoothness to refinish will eliminate the handscraped look as well. So, you're not buying a floor that will be easily or inexpensively maintained. It's basically a "single use" type of floor that when it wears a bit, will cost a lot to recoat or will have to be refinished. Based on your expressed needs and your posted tests and comments, the floor that you can actually live with will be a medium dark non handscraped oak in a satin finish.

The damage on the floor is difficult to see in pictures but it covers a area 36" wide and long in several directions where he pulled the dw out and scooted it across the floor to work on it and then scooted it back causing double damage. The water he cleaned up was from the repair he did and the water standing in the dw. No water damage to the floor. Had he asked for towels for cleaning I would have gladly given him old ones. I told him when he arrived that I would be downstairs if he needing anything to let me know! The cabinet door is down to bare wood. The finish is chipped off and some of the wood is damage. It is not a simple scratch. I am calling to get estimates for the door replacement and a estimate on the floor repair. Waiting to hear from the company. I called in a claim last night.

First and foremost...I'm not seeing huge amounts of issues here. This would be considered "normal wear and tear" on flooring. These scratches would happen with or without dogs. I imagined seeing BIG AREAS (like 3ft x 3ft) with COMPLETE REMOVAL of finish due to nail scratches. I'm not seeing that. I'm seeing a few lines here and there. Normal. Absolutely normal for dog+wood floor. You are welcome to put down area rugs....but beware! Some area rugs cause MORE DAMAGE than dog's nails! Be VERY careful with area rugs. It MUST SAY: "Safe For Use With Hardwood Floors - Guaranteed or your Money Back." That's what you are looking for.