Defeating hardwood-marring kids and dogs by using hardwood that's already marred (distressed)
Not only have I installed a few tavern grade floors but I bought both from build-direct.  

I think some people are confused.  This is not engineered.  You will have a LOT of variety.  So you better like all of the character or you will throw literally half out and any savings will be out the window.

As far as holding up to kids and dogs I would do a thorough scratch test.  Really you are testing the top coat.  Take a hammer to it, a screwdriver, and put on some heels and dig them in.  Whenever doing a floor from build-direct we get at least 5 samples and go over the durability of each before purchase.  I am very surprised at the the variance, especially with the engineered.

For the wood you picked out, it requires nail down.  Which means you will need to put down a subfloor.  There are hardwoods that you can glue down to concrete subfloor but most "home" subfloors are not smoothed enough to support this type of install - which is mainly for apartment buildings.  You would need to take pictures of your subfloor to know for sure.  Anyway I certainly wouldn't plan on doing an "odd" install with tavern/utility grade.

I am not sure what type of dog you have but I am guessing you have one that would scratch a wood floor.  So I would suggest that you take the engineered flooring out of the equation.  Which means you can float vinyl planks - there are some that look a lot like the Jasper you want or you need to get the subfloor put in.