Ripping up the carpet....

Okay so heres my situation, Two days ago I cam home to see that Duke has pulled up the carpet in the hall. This being a problem cause I move out in a month and now need to pay for this. I found this odd cause he has never so much as even showed any interest in the carpet. He's 9 months and has been out of his puppy chewing stage for months now. He does have toys to chew only problem is the ones he really likes like his rope toys are ripped up in no more than 2 days and I dont have money to replace toys every other day. The reason I think he is doing this is that there is a new dog on our floor who barks all the time and I think its stressing him out. I could be wrong with this but he only started this since the dog moved in on the weekend. What can I get for him to keep him entertained for the day while Im at work, Would the tv being on help him with relaxing so he doesnt have to focus so much on the other dog barking. Crate training isnt the answer cause he injured himself severly the second day I had him in the crate and I cant lock him in the kitchen cause then he will be the dog whos barking now stop during the day and I wont have the neighbours listen to that. Other than the recent carpet chewing he is perfect in the apartment while Im gone. I dont know what to do.... He does have a kong but hes done that in less than 10 minutes. Sorry this was so long but Im thinking theres really nothing I can do about it. If anyone has any toy suggestions or any suggestions at all on what to do then that would be great.

Can I suggest you buy him some marrow bones when you go grocery shopping. They are far cheaper than toys and pet store chews and your dog will spend hours upon hours on one. When he's done cleaning that bone, you can put things like peanut butter on the inner sides and give him another experience. Your dog will also be left with a bone to chew on, which will seem a whole lot better a chew to him than a carpet. I get three or four of them for somewhere around $2.00, which would be a whole lot better on your budget than buying weekly toys.

hmm. tosca sounds right.

mac has started this thing where she has decided to chew a hole in the hallway wall

ToscasMom, although I agree with your concept, I don't know if it will work.

Our puppy chews occasional holes in the carpet, too. For a while it was really bad and now he is finally getting over it. I caught him doing it last night while we were dinner and it is the only behavior for which I will use a correction. Redirecting him wasn't doing the trick at all.

We thought we would be completely problem free once we started giving him large bully sticks. He barely makes any progress on the braided ones (he's small--20 pounds), so we were comfortable giving him one while we were gone. He loves them--they are extremely high value to him, but that didn't stop him from ripping a small hole in the carpet.

The only thing that has worked well as a preventative for us is cayenne pepper. First, I poured some into my hand and encouraged him to lick it. He started licking his lips like crazy and backed away because it was so spicy. Then, I basically took an entire container and sprinkled it all over the place. We couldn't see it, but every time he licked he got a mouth full of hotness! As long as the cayenne was there he didn't make any new holes. I vacuumed a few days ago and the next day, he ripped a new hole.

Try the marrow bone, but if that does't work, I suggest using cayenne pepper.

Thanks I'll try both ideas, I cant redirct him from chewing on the carpet cause he wont even touch it or go near it when Im home. Im just confused because he is out of the chewing stage and he has never been destructive with furniture or carpet. Thats why Im really thinking it has to do with the new dog on the floor and his constant barking. But I am gonna go out tonight and get the cayenne pepper and hopefully it will stop.