Dog proofing a tent floor

I was wondering if anyone has any advice/experience in dog proofing a tent floor. My wife and I are planning on taking my black lab (50 lb) and dachshund on a short trip this weekend. The dogs normally sleep with us and keeping them outside overnight just wouldn't work.

I'm a little worried about their nails puncturing or compromising the waterproofing on the floor of the tent. They will probably be walking on it and occasionally they scratch the floor before laying down.

I was planning on grabbing some 2mil drop cloth from Home depot (it's light and cheap) and just cutting it to the tent size and putting it down inside before letting the dogs in. I think this should work, but was just curious if anyone with more experience had any opinions or other ideas.

Maybe a piece of that Tyvek vapor barrier/house wrap.

In the almost 8 years that I've had Hysson, I've never had any problem with his claws vs. the tent floor. I do have him sleep on a piece of CCF pad, but he has to walk over the floor to get there.

Admittedly, I do clip his claws twice monthly, so they are relatively short.

The only time I've ever had a problem with a tent floor was when I inadvertently pitched the tent over a mouse hole!

i got myself a piece of Tyvek to use as sa ground sheet...it did what it was supposed to do, however OMG so crinkly and loud...everytime i rolled i woke myself up...i imagine a dog laying on it may be afraid of the crinkles and you'd be insane by morning

I never clip my dog's nails. I just take her running 2-3 times a week. Running on concrete or asphalt seems to keep them short. Of course, I doubt OM could run that much. I just hope and pray I am as fit as she is when I get a little older.

MarkNM, you can wash the Tyvek in a washer (cold water) and it comes out much softer (though slightly shrunk).

Thanks for the tips.

They do get plenty of running and I clip their nails if they don't get worn down, so I probably don't need to worry. I was planning on making a foot print from some drop cloth and will have some extra that I was thinking about using but it sounds like I may not even need it. I'll probably just pick up an extra pad for our lab, the little one likes to curl up at the bottom of one of our sleeping bags. (I'll make sure to keep an eye out for mouse holes, tho :))

It does help that my dog Hysson is crate-trained. He regards my tent as his crate (note the emphasis), so he goes in willingly and lies down quietly. If he were one of those dogs who likes to "nest" (scratch up his bed), he wouldn't be allowed in my tent! The main stress on the tent is when he wakes up in the morning and goes into his whole-body-tail-wag routine. This can be especially enjoyable if there has been a lot of condensation on the tent walls during the night.