Stop chewing my @#%*&! Rugs!

[Barney's Mom]

Is there any way to get a puppy to stop chewing rugs? Or should I just face reality and take them out of my kitchen altogether??

Barney is confined to the kitchen and he knows he is not supposed to chew my braided kitchen rugs. I have already removed two runners, but left one that is under an antique metal cupboard, simply because I don't want the metal scratching the floor. About 8 inches of rug shows around the cupboard, which is just enough for Barney to play tug of war with it! When I catch him doing it, he gets a firm NO and a squirt with the water bottle. So, of course, when I am in the room, he doesn't do it. But hey, I can't stand over him with the squirt bottle all day, so the minute I leave the room, the little stinkpot starts chewing and yanking on the rug, growling in delight! I think Cairns are just small humans with fur. Their intelligence is amazing.....

Anyway, does anyone have any good tips on how to get Barney to leave my rugs alone, or should I just give up and remove the last rug and wait until he's 2??? I really miss having something soft under my feet when I do the dishes.....

Thanks, folks!!

[Aurora5000]

Sounds to me he doesn't like being confined to the kitchen. He'll show you.

Make sure he has plenty of other stuff to play with.

Chase says "BARNEY, YOU ROCK"!!

[Tracy A.]

I haven't had rugs in my Kitchen in a year. I'm still waiting for the boys to outgrow the "throw-rug" killing.

Best to take them up and put the cab. on drink coasters or something solid.

[tlwtheq]

You might have to give up until he's older. At least there's a chance he'll grow out of it. My Cairn babies respect the rugs but my bunny never will! We have this berber carpeting in the area where he's allowed to run free...Bigwig loves those loops!

At any rate, I highly identify and sympathize!

Tara, Olie, Teddy, Sweet Pea's and Bigwig the Bunny's Mom

[goforette]

Rugs and towels are my girls' favorite things at the moment too - it's tug of war all the way. However I read in someone's thread somewhere in here once that they used a can of pennies. We've starting using that technique and my girls totally get it. I feel bad because they're terribly frightened when I shake it at them - not even close to them either I can do it from any distance and they knock it off and they get the message not to do it again. So far we haven't gone back to eating the rug or grabing towels from me for a whole week. Now I know it's too early to get hopeful they'll keep it up as behind my back it could be a totally different story. But thank goodness for this can of pennies. Maybe he just likes being sprayed with the bottle so he keeps doing it to get a spit bath...... HA!

[Maggie15]

You could try some vinegar (or tabasco) on the edges where he's chewing.... i did that with maggie when i noticed she would chew an edge of some wood furniture, she stopped... you probably have to re-apply it often... another thing is that we keep maggie in a expen when we are out, so she doesnt have access to anything we are concerned about her eating up when she has too much free time! ...when you come home is barney just sleeping on the floor somewhere anyways?...we find that maggie just snoozes in her kennel within the expen, so i dont feel too guilty not giving her the run of the house...

a

[mrskti]

Bitter apple spray took care of chewing on anything I didnt want them to chew on. Wish I'd had that before they got my new rocker on the porch last summer!

[eastofeden]

I have to laugh . Our girl thinks the world revolves around her. Absoulutly nothing phases her. So none of your suggested techniques would help us.

A squirt bottle...Ha..that means Mom wants to play with me. I love water.

A tin cup with pennies.....Mom sure looks foolish making all that noise.

[tena]

If all else fails resort to the "sad face". If sophie keeps pesting something after a zillion attempts to stop her. I catch her in the act and just stare down at her with a very sad face. Within moments the message sinks in, I give a long sigh and say "oh sophie"......It's what kept her from eating my laundry baskets.

[goforette]

If all else fails resort to the "sad face". If sophie keeps pesting something after a zillion attempts to stop her. I catch her in the act and just stare down at her with a very sad face. Within moments the message sinks in, I give a long sigh and say "oh sophie"......It's what kept her from eating my laundry baskets.

I am so going to try the sad face.... I'm going to practice looking really depressed - that's good -they're smart enough for sure to get it.... HA! I like this idea.

[JerryLv]

I have a rug eater also and I have about 5 holes in the carpet to prove it.

After about a year he is not as bad as he once was, but a throw rug is just too tempting.

My dw found a pretty good solution. She purchased a sheep skin about 24" X 18" and gave it to

Zen. It is his favorite thing and needs to be chewed on each evening before bedtime. I've also

started taking it in the car so he has something beside the seats, etc. to chew on. It's not fool proof

but it does work most of the time. Worth a try.

[TheScotts]

Well, lemme put it this way: Connor: 5 Throw Rugs: 0

He is now a year old. I will wait a while longer for this addiction to pass....I bet you will too!

[AngusMacDoggal]

Throw rugs are Angus' favorite things. We have all tile in the FL house, so I used to have throw rugs until Angus. They are now all put away. He chews them all, makes tunnels out of them (which I think is cute) the chewing tho, some are rubber backed rugs and I do not that that good for him to eat. I love the sheepskin idea. A friend made him a fleece blankie and he drags that around the house to snooze on in various places. Funny, he doesn't chew his blankie only my rugs!

[grillywarren]

Did someone say CHEW!!!!

I LOVE to chew!

So what if I chewed a hole and then got stuck in it! I can still

bark at you

Bitter apple spray has helped, but only AFTER I notice the chew marks!

Ellie

[Teri9672]

as others have said, try the bitter apple, but you do need to respray it often.

Teona was a wall baseboard chewer. We still need to replace some wood from when she was a pup.

[Darcy's Mom]

Oh my, those pics are priceless. I guess that's one pup that outsmarted himself. I needed a good laugh to start this Friday morning. Now if only I can last till 5:00.

[Kirbysmom]

I too have found the can of pennies to work-only took once for each incident-chew a rug, pennies get shaken, bark like mad at the can because you got told no, no more chewing on that rug. Try another rug, can gets shaken, bark like mad at the can because you got told no, stops chewing all rugs because somehow the rug makes that sound. Go after a cord, can appears-no shaking needed-bark like mad at the can because you got told no, no more chewing cords.

I get a can of pop to drink, (looks like penny can) bark like mad at the can because it's out (and as Kriby would say-I DIDN"T DO ANYTHING THIS TIME!)

I now have learned to put all drinks in a glass.

[Barney's Mom]

Thanks for all the good advice! Now, get this!!!

I put away the last braided rug under the metal cabinet. I stuck a yucky woven Walmart throw rug under the cabinet, and guess what? HE AIN'T CHEWIN' IT!!! Has NO interest in it, could care less about it!! AAAAAHHHHRRRRRGGGGG!!!

What is it about my NICE rug??? He destroys that, but leaves the gross, disgusting, very unattractive rug alone??

Barney, you will be the death of me........

[CathyAnn]

Barney has expensive taste...... .

[Eliz222]

Yes, Barney has good taste! LOL! It feels like the same frustation you feel when you give a child a new toy and they play with the box it came with instead of the toy!

Scout loved to chew and she outgrew this "habit" when she was about 2, so I would give it more time.

[alaskpat]

I have the same problem with my two 10 week old pups, and not just the rugs but the couch, any towel hanging or in my hand, there beds, whatever else they can find. Sasha, the female, usually starts the rugs and Riley, the male, joins in. Bitter Apple works especially on the couches but has to be reapplied. I also have Berber carpet and the loops are very attractive, usually a stern no and a push away from the spot works, for a few minutes anyway lol. They have lots of toys but whatever one has the other has to have it too. Just keep trying to train them and hopefully it will stop in a couple of years, I hope. Trying to get them into a puppy class that I am hoping will help.

Patrick