Chews our carpet

[My Wesley]

I'm not sure what Wesley's deal is, but he loves to chew at our carpet. We keep it cleaned well too. The only thing I can think is that it's 10 years old like the house, and the previous owners had two dogs as well. Even though we've had the carpets cleaned twice in a year and a half already. Or are there just food crumbs in there under the carpet he smells? I don't get it. Anyone elses dog do this? Wesley is just 12 weeks now.

[judy]

hmmm. he's kind of young to be into the full on teething mode, but that seems a more plausible explanation than the carpet being appetizing to him. Does he like chewing other things too? you could try putting Bitter Yuk on it, it's supposed to not stain fabrics. good luck!

[My Wesley]

It seems like he's always done this. And he does love to chew, but is really good so far to keep it to his toys. He's got at our Pottery Barn console table a few times, but we catch him immediately. I looked at bitter apple, but you had to spread the guck on your furniture and I don't want to do that to my nice stuff.

I seriously just can't figure out the carpet thing. And he does it in almost every room. And it's not from a lack of toys, because we always have enough. I just have to immediately distract him with a toy again.

I read somewhere that dogs with SM do this. He does lick & scratch & yelp if he's picked up wrong, but I don't feel he has SM. I'm boggled.

[kimberlya]

Ellie does this, too, so I would be interested to see the responses. Only our apartment has never been lived in other than us, and we've only been here a month, so the carpets are about as clean as they could be! She is only 9 and a half weeks old.

[My Wesley]

Maybe it's because they're so darn low to the ground still!

[Nean]

We have had Quincy for a little more than a week, he's just over 12 weeks old, and I've caught him chewing at the carpet too, and he's also a chewer, he'll chew for several minutes on a rawhide, or other toy. Our carpet is just 6 months old. We do have a 2 yr old female Cavalier, and of course she's been on the carpet, but never peed on it or anything. Personally I just think its "puppy"! He also likes to chew on Laci (our 2 yr old Cavalier) ears or tail or whatever he can reach as she walks by. She's getting really really frustrated with him and refuses to even get down on the floor when he's out of his crate. He can't quite jump up on the couch yet, which is good because that's her safe spot from him right now. If we are sitting around in our stocking feet, especailly my grandkids, Quincy is right there biting and pulling at the socks, or even bare toes. Still, I think all of this is just "puppy" and will subside when he matures. Hopefully, Laci will still have a tail and ears by then and we will still have toes and carpet! Wasn't to bright of us to get brand new carpet and then a new puppy!!

Nean

[judy]

It seems like he's always done this. And he does love to chew, but is really good so far to keep it to his toys. He's got at our Pottery Barn console table a few times, but we catch him immediately. I looked at bitter apple, but you had to spread the guck on your furniture and I don't want to do that to my nice stuff.

i think Bitter Apple is sticky and staining while Bitter Yuck, supposedly, is nonsticky and nonstaining. I'm not sure. I do have Bitter Yuck, i was going to buy bitter Apple but the guy sold me Bitter Yuck instead because he said it was better, because it was water based while Bitter Apple is alcohol based. so i tried it. Zack was chewing on the wood baby gate i had for the kitchen, and it was splintering and i was afraid for his safety, but the baby gates were vital at that time and i couldn't find any in metal or plastic which were high enough, 48 inches. He could jump over a 36 inch one, or climb out, but not 48 inches, but they were wood. So i sprayed Bitter Yuck all over the area w here he was chewing and he stopped doing it. Later i discovered he had gnawed on the tips of the rocker parts of my wood rocking chair, i guess he likes wood, i cringe at the thought of the carcinogens in the varnish, so i sprayed Bitter Yuck, but i don't think it worked because he was chewing again. But then, he stopped. It was just a short thing that didn't last very long.

I think the worst problem about Bitter Yuck and all the other things that are supposed to make a dog not chew something is that they don't work, the dog ignores or doesn't mind the taste and chews the object anyway. And one woman on an online user review complained that her dog chewed the chair despite the Bitter Yuck, or Bitter Apple, whatever it was, and then, the dog gave her kisses and she ended up with Bitter Yuck on her lips which tasted really nasty to her.

If you leave a lot of chew toys and long lasting chews like rawhides around, will he leave the rug alone?

[selina]

It could be a texture thing. Alot of dogs like different textures to chew and lick on at certain ages. I would try to deter them with a toy. But they are only babies so it is more than likely teething. My Jeremy likes chewing on my handkerchiefs. Also many foals love chewing on wool jumpers as another example. I think I would be more concerned if they were 18 months old and still doing it.

[Shay]

Lily has done this since day one, she is 4 months now. She will just nibble at the carpet, not the edges, right in the middle. I know it isn't anything to do with other dogs or food etc. We just built this house and have only been in since July

As far as the SM, if you have read some of my post, you know I suspected that Lily has SM. Some of the behaviors that she was doing such as the yelping for no reason has virtually stopped. She still scratches, but sometimes will go for several days without. She still nibbles at her paws, but again, it is now much more sporadic. So I don't know if some of the things were just puppy behavior. It does seem to me that a lot of the stuff has lessened as she has gotten older. I did get pet insurance because I was so sure she had it. The only way to be sure is with an MRI. I still intend to get her checked.

[Barbara Nixon]

Teddy is three, but has always liked chewing on fabric. He is quite content with a ball made from old socks, though.

Some dogs actually like the taste of bitter apple etc. I know that my lot, far from being repelled by a certain aromatic spray, are actually fascinated and will spend a while sniffing at it.