Ceramic is less sliding, less damage. However dogs are dogs and if you have one that goes through hyper fits like after baths etc, they will slide regardless. Keep in mind though, easier on your joints, easier on the dogs joins, so ceramic is rough on a dogs joints, especially if they have to sleep on the floor. Ceramic is tons harder to clean than the vinyl wood though, which you can pretty much dust, no matter how much you clean a ceramic floor if you take a white rag across it you will get dirt.. I'd go with something like this http://www.bestlaminate.net/products/TILE_Black_Slate_Tile_Laminate_Fl ooring-940-0.html not that company per say, but the tile won't show damage from the dogs, it's not ceramic and will have an underlay which will help, it won't get super cold, and it would be less slippery than the faux wood, but more than the ceramic, but easier to clean than ceramic.

We have several persian rugs, of various sizes. We have moved around a lot with the military and lived in many houses, so at times rugs remained rolled/wrapped up because some rooms were just too small for the 9x12's. For the larger rugs, if you have hardwood floors, it is pleasing to the eye to have at least an 18" border. Depending on the size of the room and your seating arrangement, the border can be a little or a lot more. Large persian rugs don't suit being placed on wall to wall carpeting IMHO. Remember that beautiful rugs and carpets are artwork for your floors and need to be shown off. A wood/tile floor makes a lovely backdrop for them, just like a nice frame and matting sets off a painting!

I'm late to the conversation, but I'm glad you are leaving the room the colors it is. I went through this with my dd two years ago. She was almost six and had picked out the bedding, curtains, and pink wall color herself. She was really upset that her room was to be changed. It wasn't worth stressing her out any more than a move already does. At the stager's suggestion, I took down the pink curtains and replaced them with white. I switched out the bedding for a more nuetral color that went with the garden theme of the room. Dd's stuff (with her permission) that wasn't used for staging went into a box for the new house. When we walked through the house with the new owner, she complimented the room. It was the only room in the house that she complimented. IMO, it helped sell the house. I think if your rooms look magazine worthy, then leaving them as is, is fine. If they are just a hodge podge and a mix of stuff, it is better to repaint or stage so that it looks more appealing. I have seen some kid's rooms that made me cringe because everything clashed or looked like it had been thrown together with no thought of what worked.

Our previous home was all hardwood- even the bedrooms. I got an adorable chenille braided rug in pretty pastel colors for dd's room. Big Mistake! It looked terrible after about a year. It was impossible to clean. My suggestion would be to stay away from natural fibers if at all possible (wool, cotton, sisal, etc). I've had the best luck with rugs made with tightly woven olefin. They seen to resist stains the best and are easy to spot clean. I'm not sure you'll find any truly "washable" (as in the machine) rugs other than bath mats. Good luck- hope you find something that will work.