Puppy Help Please - Chewing Carpet Issue

[frndshpcptn]

We have a 10 month old Havanese puppy, who is generally well-behaved. We have had her since she was about 9 weeks, and in that time she has generally been a good learner of proper puppy behaviors.

The problem is, she is constantly chewing up our carpet! We had a Berber loop carpet initally, and she would grab a hold of an end and unravel it. We tore out that carpet and replaced it with cut pile carpeting, thinking that might help.

It hasn't - she digs in the corners and pulls out individual fibers from the carpet and eats them.

We tried black pepper, and while it deterred her, it seemed to cause eye irritations (she had cherry eye as a puppy, but has it surgically corrected when she was spayed).

Please help!! Any ideas on how we can curb this behavior? I'm worried that all this carpet fiber is bad for her system.

We monitor her behavior (and she's secured in a safe playpen-type area while we are at work), but if I turn by my back for one minute, she's off and digging up the carpet again!

 

[cherylp3]

Have you tried the bitter apple spray?

 

[java]

Do you have carpet all over your house? Can you restict her to the non- carpeted parts?
I'm no dog trainer- but that sounds like a behaviour that could be changed with the help of a professional.

 

[Hercules10]

The trick is catching her in the act. Stopping her with a firm "NO" to let her know she's being bad. Then replace the carpet with an approved chew-toy.

But you really need to catch her in the act and stop her.

 

[Aimeedyan]

Oooh, that's a frustrating one. Mine have done that on occasion with various "surfaces" in my home.

It's simply going to take time, patience, and lots of corrections. Catch her in the act like the pp said - correct her (I don't use real words to correct, I use EH EH!), redirect to an appropriate chew toy. Over and over until you're ready to give up. She will eventually get it, mine all did, just takes LOTS of time.

I've been there. No fun (and another strike against ever getting a puppy again!). Good luck =)

 

[frndshpcptn]

thanks! This is really helpful.

We do catch her in the act and correct her, but she just keeps doing it over and over again. For example, last night she was chweing and I walked over and said "no" loudly and gave her another toy. she took that toy and the second I went back to what I was doing beforehand, put down the toy and went for the carpet again.

Part of me thinks it's partly for attention. She loves to have all eyes on her, and if we are not paying attention to her at that moment she will grab carpeting and bounce over to us chewing it, know that we will stop whatever it is we are doing and chase her / bribe her to get it out of her mouth (she also does it with shoes and paper).

I don't want her to think its a game - I am worried that it can be harmful to her long term.

We are picking up the bitter apple spray today - does it leave a long-lasting smell?

thanks!

 

[jrmasm]

Put her on a leash and attach it to your beltloop. She'll get plenty of attention that way and you won't have to worry about her sneaking off to chew on stuff.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

You set her up for training. Leash her, correct her right before she chews and not after. Give a tug, while saying something like "No Chew". Since she is a puppy, 5 times of correction in a training session is good to start daily.

Key is timing to get the message across. Praise when she stops and give her a chew toy.

At this time in training she cannot be allowed free roam otherwise you are back to square one.

Eventually she will catch on to what you want. Takes time.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

It's really as simple as a) not giving her the opportunity and/or b) correcting and replacing with something you want her to chew, as pp's mentioned. You have to be there every time to correct, ie she should never be left alone on a carpet until she can learn not to chew it. At this age, this is the case for her learning just about everything. You teach her what you want and what you don't want. This develops the communication between the two of you over time. It's a lot of work, but it will really pay off when she's about 3yo and up. Until then, it's just constant repetition. Hang in - with consistency, she'll learn.

We have a 10 month old Havanese puppy, who is generally well-behaved. We have had her since she was about 9 weeks, and in that time she has generally been a good learner of proper puppy behaviors.

PS my friend has a one year old Golden Retriever who has been very well trained, and despite that, you can see he's beginning to "feel his oats", ie testing the owners by pressing the limits. He's cute as a button but exasperating at times (last week ate a dead/decomposing squirrel - even though he knows he's not supposed to - and was sick for 3 days, LOL). They're working on consistency now.

 

[Aimeedyan]

I'm not sure what the bitter apple spray would do for you, honestly. It's used to spray on surfaces that the pup wants to chew at - a table leg, corner of a baseboard, etc. You can't soak your carpets in it.

I'd try the umbillical cord method - leash that baby to you at all times.

 

[frndshpcptn]

thanks guys! I'm going to begin the leashing tonight. I think it's a great suggestion and am looking forward to trying it out.

In terms of a replacement chew toy, her favorite chews are the Bully Sticks (spiral ones). I don't want to have too many of those, though, per week.

She doesn't seem to like to chew on regular, rubber toys.

Has anyone found something that's not treat-based that is a great chew subsituate for training purposes?

Thanks!

 

[The Mystery Machine]

Has anyone found something that's not treat-based that is a great chew subsituate for training purposes?

Thanks!

We use the Nylabones for powerful chewers. My dogs cannot have any "food" chews so this works for us. And no mess or extra treating to mess up digestion.

I would withhold the bully sticks until the you get your pup on the Nylabones.

 

[Hercules10]

Kong used to make some toys that you could put treats in and the dog would have to work the treat out. Keep them busy...however it took my male shepherd 2 seconds to bully the treat out and my female shepherd a good 20 minutes to carefully and methodically work it out.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

thanks! This is really helpful.

We do catch her in the act and correct her, but she just keeps doing it over and over again. For example, last night she was chweing and I walked over and said "no" loudly and gave her another toy. she took that toy and the second I went back to what I was doing beforehand, put down the toy and went for the carpet again.

Part of me thinks it's partly for attention. She loves to have all eyes on her, and if we are not paying attention to her at that moment she will grab carpeting and bounce over to us chewing it, know that we will stop whatever it is we are doing and chase her / bribe her to get it out of her mouth (she also does it with shoes and paper).

I don't want her to think its a game - I am worried that it can be harmful to her long term.

We are picking up the bitter apple spray today - does it leave a long-lasting smell?

thanks!

I just wanted to say it is not for attention or to play. The dog knows that you are not taking this seriously.

The reason you don't take it serious is because it is a "puppy" and puppies are "cute".

Image this puppy as a dog doing this behavior. You will not tolerate it for 1 second.