Does Your Dog Eat Carpet?

You gotta love dogs. Dogs are truly man's best friend. My puppy is a 3 month old German Shepherd who loves to eat the carpet. I mean that very literally. I keep finding chunks of carpet strings all over the apartment and threadbare areas where the carpet used to be. Perhaps he thinks he needs more fiber in his diet. We yell at him, smack him on the rear, and even use that spray that supposedly tastes bad to dogs on the areas he starts to eat. He has dog toys and bones all over the apartment that you would think might be more appealing to him. But alas my puppy still prefers to eat carpet.

He will eat just about anything. He must be a garbage disposal covered in hair and disguised as a puppy. He even has the razor sharp blade-like teeth. We named this monstrosity Kuro, which is Japanese for black or ninth son, because he has mostly black hair and came from a litter of 9. So what do you do to stop your hairy garbage disposal from eating carpet?

There are many training recommendations for dogs that you can indulge in however I have some ideas of my own. The first one being stapling a plastic sheet over the carpet until he grows out of this crazy stage. He may never grow out of it, so I recommend picking a color you can live with.

An alternative is pouring wax all over your floor and letting it harden and dry. He'll want to chew the wax and the carpet will be pulled out with it. This is only effective if you wanted to replace the carpet anyway.

You could pull the carpet up and put it away until he chooses another source of fiber. He might find that he prefers a sofa cushion or your favorite blanket.

If your carpet looks like mine there are random spots of missing threads that make it look like a small goat has been there. In order to even it out, put a dog pen on the floor with the puppy in the pen and move the pen once all of the carpet has been eaten. If you're creative you can strategically place the pen to have the puppy devour your initials into the floor.

If you follow these suggestions you should receive rewards and be featured in Better Homes and Gardens for having the most creative floors. It should only take about 14 years to accomplish. Be aware that you may have to have your dog's stomach pumped on a regular basis because contrary to what he thinks carpet is not an excellent source of fiber. I wish you and your hairy garbage disposal all the best in this amazing endeavor.