Please Help!

[ashez]

I do not know what to do with my chihuahua. We live in an apartment and for the most part she's good. However, last night she went around and chewed the carpet out of the corners of my house. And, she also chewed a HUGEEEEEEEE spot out of the carpet, kinda as though she was pulling it up. Does ANYONE have ANY ideas one A) How I can fix the carpet, but most importantly, how I can fix my dog? She will literally do it in front of us. My husband is losing his patients and will make me get rid of her if she continues. Any ideas??

[mrose_s]

how old? is she spayed? and could she have gotten away twith this once or twice before, making her thinks it ok to do?

[Tobysmom]

I'm not sure about how to train her not to chew the carpet but maybe until she learns you could put her in a puppy proofed non-carpeted room while you sleep or train her to be in a crate while you sleep so at least she can't do it when you are not able to watch her.
As far as training her not to chew it I don't know since I've never had that problem, but I'm sure you'll get some good advice from others here.

[Tail_Chaser]

maybe you could patch the carpet with a piece from a closet or other place where it wouldn't be noticed. ah, i love my hardwood floors :p
definately don't trust her alone roaming the house at night. keep other toys and chew things available for her so she won't be bored and resort to giving your living room a make over.

[frznbuns]

Soon as though she is bored.. How old is she? could she be teething? get a squirt gun and use it when you catch her doing it? Kennel at night or when you have to leave her alone. LOTS AND LOTS of chew toys for her should be around.. I keep a couple of baskets filled with toys and bones for them.. Also get some bitter apple spray.. use this on any of the spots of carpet that she is starting to chew.. Good luck

[sparks19]

We had the same problem with Teddy. He was crate trained and slept in there at night and when we were out but once he started getting a little bit older we decided that maybe he would be ok let him run around the spare bedroom with the door closed just when we went out. He chewed the carpet he chewed the window sill he chewed the floorboards. he chewed everything. I bought TWO big bottles of bitter apple spray and I went around and sprayed the ENTIRE room. He was then allowed in his room when we were home and if we were only going to be gone for an hour at most. the rest of the time he had to stay in his crate. We slowly allowed him more time in the room and less time in his crate and now he doesn't use his crate at all except when we go to someone elses house for the night. His crate is still in his room and is left open so he can go in and out as he pleases.

It took some time to get where we are with him now. He is almost 11 months old now and hasn't been crated in over a month. You can't expect her to be perfect over night but getting her nice and tired and worn out throughout the day will help a ton. She will be too tired to put any effort into destroying things. However, if it is causing stress with you and your husband I would suggest a crate be used. At least until she is a little older (if she is a puppy).

[smkie]

i was going to suggest bitter apple spray, patching the carpet, and that the dog sounds bored, but you all beat me to it :D

[Irish]

Just be careful she doesn't show any signs of illness - if she does take to the vet. Not to scare you but my sister's dog ate her carpenting once and he became very ill. They didn't know what was wrong and ended up doing an exploratory, because the dog was near death, and it turned out a peice of carpent had wrapped around his intestine, subsequently killing a part of his intestine.

I'm sure this won't happen to your dog, it is rare, but I just wanted you to be aware of the danger. With my sisters dog they had no idea and kept running tests, by the time they did the exploratory and found out what was wrong - it was too late.

[smkie]

since i rent..and don't want to be responsible for the carpet i always get a huge,,mega huge rug with a soft back (the ruff one will do damage) and put it over the landlord's carpet. That way if i spill paint (which sooner or later i do) or the dogs want to romp i don't have to worry about damage to something i cant pay for. I just replaced the one i had..it was completely worn out, picked one up on sale for 20 bucks and the carpet underneath looks as good as ever plus the dogs like the extra padding.

[Fran27]

Very good idea Smkie.

I was going to say some things, but everyone did already. Definitely put her in a safe place when you are away - puppy proof room or crate. Use the bitter apple on the carpet, and say a firm no when you catch her doing it. Give her toys and praise her when she plays with them.

[IcePrincesss17]

I do not know what to do with my chihuahua. We live in an apartment and for the most part she's good. However, last night she went around and chewed the carpet out of the corners of my house. And, she also chewed a HUGEEEEEEEE spot out of the carpet, kinda as though she was pulling it up. Does ANYONE have ANY ideas one A) How I can fix the carpet, but most importantly, how I can fix my dog? She will literally do it in front of us. My husband is losing his patients and will make me get rid of her if she continues. Any ideas??


My puppy pulled threads up on the carpet and was laying there playing with them and chewing them, so I cut the pieces that were pulled out and sprayed the area with bitter apple. I also did the "NO BITE!" routine with him when he looked like he was going to chew on the carpet and start pulling stuff up. When he did that, I'd say "NO BITE!" and then give him an appropriate toy to chew on and tell him "Gooooooooooooood bite!" and give lots and lots and lots and lots of praise when he takes his attention away from the carpet and puts it on the toy! Good luck!

[stirder]

Rory tore up a spot about the size of a cd where the carpet meets the kitchen. In her defense Jack (the cat) pulled it up first because he thought it looked better for sharpening claws than his huge carpet tree/castle thing. We were already thinking of replacing it with hardwood though and we own our house. Not really sure what to tell you except that a carpet man can fix the spots in just an hour or so depending on how bad they are. what he will do is cut out a square or rectangle of your carpet, take a slighlty larger square and remove the threads from the edge, and insert this into the hole with the threadless edges under the present carpet. No one will ever know but you and it shouldnt cost more than $50+/- per spot depending on how large they are (how much carpet he has to buy to replace the shredded parts).
For preventing it from happening again I would do what Smkie said about an area rug. Is it a puppy? If he/she does it mostly when you arent there to watch her keep him/her in a crate while gone. If she starts looking like shes gonna do it while your there tell her no and redirect her attention.

[Doberluv]

Give her another job to do. ie: obedience practice. Get her a little tired out with some exercise. Supervise, distract. Show her what she CAN play with and reward. Don't let her get at the carpet and chew on things you don't want her to. Stop her from doing it and getting self rewarded because it's fun. Give her alternatives. Puppies do this sort of thing and need to be taught... kindly, firmly, patiently, with reward for good behavior and consistancy. Good luck.