Obsessed with chewing up area rugs!

[Tricia, Shiloh, Fenway & Tessie]

Fenway is about 7 months old....always been a paper shredder, toy destroyer, chewer, nips alot. His newest obsession is with my area rugs. He lifts up a corner and starts working on the binding until he chews it off and starts unraveling it down the sides of the rug. He knows it is bad.....and he won't do it if I am in the room. But, if I go to the bathroom....or to the laundry room....or anywhere out of sight....I come back to him destroying it again! Any ideas? I hate to crate him every single second that I can't be with him in the same room. The bad tasting stuff doesn't work either....I spray it, he still chews on the item that was sprayed.

[Sally]

Duncan is a 6 months and has the same issue when we go downstairs to go outside. I have a doormat size rug that he stretches out on while i put his leash on and starts to gnaw. But i usually say "no" and then open the door for us to go out and of course the notion of running outside to play with sticks and chase butterflies is more appealing than the rug.

When I first brought him home he did try the same thing on the area rug in my dining room but luckily the bitter deterrent that i used worked for him. He hasn't gone back. One thing I was told by the puppy class teacher was that you should keep trying different brands of spray (bitter apple, bitter yuck etc etc.) she said sometimes there will be one that will work when all other didn't. I still use a baby gate to keep duncan confined without crate when i am doing things in the house and can't keep my eye on him. I've also taken up the mats in the kitchen for now.

If he has a favorite chew toy you could try and leave that for him when you leave the room. Also, you can try rotating chew toys. Find something he hasn't had in a really long time and give it to him. Might distract him long enough.

I also do a sit and stay command to duncan if i am just running upstairs to get the laundry or something. This way he sort of waits patiently (i say that loosely) until i return and that remains his focus.

Good luck with Fenway.

[Tricia, Shiloh, Fenway & Tessie]

Yeah, Fenway is a master escape artist, I should have mentioned that....ex-pens do not keep him confined....most gates don't either. I think the main reason I am even having this problem is because he broke the last gate I had that would keep him in the kitchen area....so now he has more freedom when I am not looking.

I am interested in the frozen kong thing, I think I am going to make another post about that in the main forum. I think some of us might need "kong stuffing" classes, lol

[Christine + Ellie]

Haha, my puppy does the exact same thing! She chews up my rug and I see bits and pieces of the remains of what she's pulled up. I spray the edges when I see her do it and lately she's avoided the edges. When I catch her chewing I give her a toy and that occupies her pretty well.

[Carla, Lucca and Izzy]

Bitter Apple is still the only thing that works for us. He loves the area rugs and it drives me crazy. Sorry I can't help you.

[nonnie browne]

Hi Tricia,
Buddy is seven months also and is kind of a spaz right now. I am assuming it is adolescent crazies. This past week he started wandering off in the shrubs to do his pooping - which I guess would be fine, but a couple times I thought he had gone and apparently he had just be screwing around out there. He then proceeded to poop in the house for the first time in like five months. Sheesh. He also has started literally patrolling the house at night, room to room, window to window - and does some impressive barking at anything that moves outdoors. None of these behaviours have ever been typical of him. He used to never leave my side, poop on demand - and generally just hang out and play or lay near my feet. What gives? Last night I got tired of calling him back (which thankfully he is pretty good at) and I wanted to sit and work on my computer, so I leashed him to me. We did this when he was a puppy and I guess I may need to do it again on occasion to manage him. Yeesh, sorry for the long winded reply! I am hoping they grow out of this "stage" of independence.