I have a 18 month old black lab who is usually very well behaved. He has recently started to chew the rug in the living room when we go to work during the day, he hasn't chewed anything around the house for 6/7 months now. Any ideas why or how we can stop him doing it. He has chews and plenty of toys left for him when we go to work. Thanks
Re: Rug Munching..... Hi there, and welcome to the forum. I am no expert, but think that chewing stuff can be a sign of anxiety. Odd that he has only just started though. Has anything changed at all around the house, or with work arrangements? Hopefully someone with more experience might be able to help. Jac and Lilly (black girl, coming up for 4 years old)
Re: Rug Munching..... Thanks for replying. No nothing has changed with work arrangements or in the house, we have a dog walker that comes in midday to take him out so its not like he's home all day alone. I've tried the chew stop spray as well but that hasn't done the job either. I'll keep doing my research on it. Thanks
Re: Rug Munching..... I have an absolute champion of a chewer. He chews because he is happy, bored, or excited. I'm sure he would chew if he were anxious, but I don't think he ever is, really. But chewing can definitely be a sign that a dog is bored or anxious. If your dog is home 5 days a week with just a walk at lunchtime he very well may be bored (this is not me getting at a working dog owner, I work myself). On the other hand...the other thing that gets my dog chewing is just simply that he has noticed something interesting to chew. Edges do it for him everytime. A little interesting thread, when chewed generate an interesting ragged bit...and so on it goes. An example is his rubber mat in the car, he started nibbling one end and didn't give it up. In the end I cut the thing in half so all was smooth and straight again, and he left it alone. In terms of rugs, if it's small enough, I'd just try trimming the chewed bit so it's not as interesting and removing it for a bit. Hope helpful.
Re: Rug Munching..... Yeah it was the edges of the rug he started on and like you said it went on from there. The strange thing that got me was the fact he's never chewed it before and nor has he chewed for a while now, perhaps there was a thread he fancied having a go at. I think I'll give that a go, cut it and remove it for few days. Thanks.
Re: Rug Munching..... Hi I was going to say the same as Julie. If my dogs spot a thread on a rug or a cushion they will start to chew even though they've never been interested in it before. Once they start it becomes a habit and the only way to stop it is to remove it. I had to get my mum a new rug in front of the fire because of this. :
Re: Rug Munching..... I find that Labs will occasionally randomly chew things, right up to the second birthday, and occasionally beyond. I am not sure that we can ever know for sure why. Rachael has just taken a fancy to a wooden cover that goes over our mains water stop-cock. I have no idea why. She hasn't chewed anything else at all for months, not even her bedding or toys. If it is just the occasional slip, I agree that removing the item that has caught their eye seems to be the best plan. Unfortunately, I can't move my stop-cock cover.
Re: Rug Munching..... Julie and Pippa are right Cooper started to chew the door mat and carries it wid him wenever he comes to greet us and it carried on for a long time until we replaced it
Re: Rug Munching..... Hi and welcome!! The carnage below started with a little tear in the seat fabric. He'd never chewed anything previously and has never chewed anything since. Except socks. So, I concur with "they're attracted to frayed edges'' and with ''sometimes they just randomly decide to eat part of your house''.
