How do I stop my pooch from chewing on my expensive rugs?

June 4, 2006 8:12 AM

My dog chews the rugs and other things....

I've got a great new puppy...he's about 10 months old who occasionally chews the ends of some expensive oriental rugs I've been collecting for years....Anybody found anything out there I can spray on the rugs to make him stop....

I crate him when I am not in the house, which is not often.

posted by jamie939 to home & garden (11 comments total)

Sprinkle pepper on things.

It's almost like that nailpolish you can buy to get you to stop chewing your nails. Tastes like crap.

I'm sure pet stores have other pet friendly products.
posted by psyward at 8:31 AM on June 4, 2006

Give him better things to chew, and be vigilant.

There are also foul-tasting solutions you can spray on them. They tend to be basic rather than peppery. On the principle that I should know what I was doing to our puppy, I tasted a drop of it once and it was like being smacked in the face with Nasty.

But mostly: give him chew toys, and watch him like a hawk.
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 8:57 AM on June 4, 2006

Or just put the oriental rugs Somewhere Out Of The Way until the puppy has all his adult teeth and is less puppyish.
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 8:58 AM on June 4, 2006

Somewhat related.
posted by Doohickie at 9:50 AM on June 4, 2006

Vinegar in a spray bottle works pretty well, but it doesn't last very long.

There is also something called Bitter Apple spray that is supposed to be a chewing deterrent. My puppy seemed to like it though. :-/

But I would be concerned about spraying anything on your rugs, for fear they would stain or the colors would run.

Googling "dog chewing prevention" brings up lots of hits, some for products and some for books and training theories, but it sounds like ROU_Xenophobe's posts are your best bet.

Please post a follow-up if you find a product that works well though. My beagle is the King Chewer of All Time...
posted by SuperSquirrel at 10:13 AM on June 4, 2006

Yes, bitter apple. It's like an atomic bomb vomited in your mouth.
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 10:31 AM on June 4, 2006

Get a crate for when you are not there.
Even though both our dogs chewed up lots of things...I cannot imagine what would have happened if we left them alone. Think about it...mentally your dog is around 6 years old and teething. You would'nt leave a 6 year old home alone all day to roam your house (not that you should confine a 6 year old human), would you?

Your dog will hate the crate if he is new to it but try and make it as pleasant as possible. Also, if a crate is not available, consider confining him to a smaller area (like the kitchen?). Be sure to dog proof it, but also know what you will learn a few things. Many times I thought..."huh, who would ve thought they would've done that..."


Give him entertaining things to chew like stuffed kongs. After he tries to get the treat out he will be too pooped to worry about your rugs.

I agree with ROU_xenophobe, put the rugs away until he is over it (a couple of years).

Always praise him for appropriate chomping and ignore the bad stuff. Do not let him associate attention with bad behavior.

If none if these things are appealing then try adopting an eastern attitude (ie Buddhist) to your sweet rugs..and your favorite sweater...and your bedroom slippers...
Still to this day I miss my periwinkle blue gap vintage-style cardigan sweater with 3/4 length sleeves....

Let me know if you want some healthy easy kong recipes...
(ps this is "thelibrarian" the lazy wife of nomich who feels lackadaisical about logging in)
posted by NoMich at 12:00 PM on June 4, 2006

Vinegar in a spray bottle works pretty well, but it doesn't last very long.

My amazing dog-obedience teacher says this is a very bad idea for several reasons. Number one, vinegar is a form of acetic acid and thus can harm the dog.

Number two, she likes to use a spray bottle of water to cool her dogs in the summer. Dogs don't sweat very well, so their self-cooling mechanisms don't do much. A spray bottle helps with that, she says.

Also, she says this kind of punishment just makes the dog fear you, which isn't what you want. She recommends Bitter Apple (or wasabi if the dog likes Bitter Apple, but you might not want to put wasabi on a rug), Kong toys and keeping a close eye on the little beastie.

FWIW, her Welsh Corgi is the best behaved dog I've ever seen.
posted by diddlegnome at 3:32 PM on June 4, 2006

A spray called "Fooey" (from the pet store) is about the worst tasting stuff I know of, I've used it to prevent the cats from chewing on electrical chords and the dog from chewing on wooden chairs...it's worked better than bitter apple for me.
posted by sLevi at 6:31 PM on June 4, 2006

Perhaps my suggestion was unclear: Spray the vinegar on the RUG as a DETERRENT, NOT on the DOG as a PUNISHMENT.
posted by SuperSquirrel at 1:51 PM on June 5, 2006

SuperSquirrel: Oh. Whoops. Obviously I misunderstood, probably because I'd been to doggy class about two hours before I read this thread.
posted by diddlegnome at 6:46 PM on June 5, 2006