The first step in stopping your puppy from chewing the carpet is determining why he’s doing it. Then, you can fix the issue by nursing the puppy, stimulating him, or easing his anxious thoughts.
Puppies mostly chew on weird items out of anxiety or when they’re teething. You can easily determine the cause by monitoring how often and how aggressively they do it.
Why Should You Stop Your Puppy from Chewing the Carpet?
The seemingly insignificant act of chewing on a carpet is actually more hazardous than you think. Aside from ruining the carpet, here are a few risks:
- The fabric that gets pulled out from your carpet could act as a choking hazard.
- Tiny shreds on the rug might get stuck in your puppy’s teeth, leading to an infection.
- The pup may swallow any sharp item that’s been on the carpet, causing internal injuries.
- It may turn into a habit, and the puppy will chew on any fabric he finds
- Some synthetic fabrics can irritate your pup’s gums
- The act may encourage other dogs in your house to do the same
Why Is Your Puppy Chewing on the Carpet?
Here’s every reason your puppy is chewing on the carpet, along with how to stop the act.
1. Premature Weaning
Chewing on soft materials or the carpet is your puppy’s way of coping when they have been weaned too early from their mothers.
This happens commonly with puppies who got taken from their mother when they were only 6 to 8 weeks old.
Your puppy’s natural instinct to nibble on soft, inanimate objects means he thinks that he found a substitute mom to nurse on.
How to Stop It
Just like human babies, nursing is an essential phase in any puppy’s life. Early weaning can result in a poor immune system.
To overcome that, continue feeding the puppy canine milk formula using baby bottles.
Nursing puppies with these baby bottles will help them continue their nursing phase, preventing them from developing any potential behavioral concerns, such as aggression or attention-seeking behavior.
2. The Puppy Is Still Teething
Most dog owners don’t realize this, but teething is a painful phase for puppies.
When your puppy is about to lose his baby teeth, the pain compels him to just chew on everything and anything he sees fit.
Additionally, it doesn’t end here. When the adult teeth are about to come out, it causes intense discomfort.
Puppies often try to overcome that by chewing on anything in front of them, carpets included.
Usually, this stage begins when your puppy is three weeks of age and lasts until your little furball turns six months.
How to Stop It
Try giving your puppy cold items to chew on. They’ll ease the pain and stop him from chewing the carpet.
One good option is a frozen tea towel.
However, make sure to monitor your puppy when chewing to ensure he doesn’t swallow any threads or loose bits.
Alternatively, get your puppy a chew toy and make sure that you clean and sterilize it for his safety.
Choose a toy designed to promote dental hygiene. There are toys that can assist your puppy’s dental health by scraping off the plaque building up with every bite they make.
3. The Puppy Is Suffering From Stress
Sometimes, stressed-out or frustrated puppies take out their anxiety on your carpet.
A number of situations contribute to your puppy's anxiety, such as being left home alone for a long period of time.
Other than that, leaving them with other animals that pester or irritate them can cause aggressive behavior. That, and situations beyond our control, like thunderstorms or loud fireworks.
Chewing on stuff helps them deal with stress, and the carpet is often the easiest item to access.
How to Stop It
You must first find out what triggers your puppy’s anxiety. That way, you’ll be able to anticipate when it’s about to come.
You can then put the puppy in a room without a carpet until the anxiety attack passes.
Generally, chew toys are among the most effective anxiety relievers. Aside from helping during the teething phase, they stimulate the pup’s mood.
Chewing on a toy may help your puppy release endorphins, which puts them in a calmer state and eases their anxiety.
Another option is to use pheromone therapy to treat your puppy’s anxiety.
This therapy uses synthetic dog hormones to help your dog feel calmer or less anxious. These synthetic pheromones imitate the pheromones that the mother produced when the puppy was born.
Spraying pheromones on your dog’s coat or in the air may be enough to soothe him. In turn, it should stop him from chewing on random items.
4. The Puppy Is Bored
When your precious little pup spends most of his time indoors, he can get bored fast and lose interest in his toys.
Puppies generally have a lot of energy and need to release it somewhere. In this case, this ‘somewhere’ is likely your carpet.
How to Stop It
Make sure that your pup gets enough physical and mental exercise.
Go for daily walks in the park and playdates with other puppies. You can also provide him with dog puzzle toys to help stimulate his little canine mind.
These kinds of activities should get your pup wiped out, so he shouldn’t give your carpet the time of his day.
Alternative Solutions
If none of the earlier tips work, you can resort to anti-chew sprays.
You can spritz them on your carpet, and their scent should throw the dog off, so he won’t attempt to chew on the fabric.
Alternatively, you can keep the puppy in a room without a carpet until the phase passes.
When you get him out of the room, try to direct his attention away from the carpet by giving him a toy.
You can also try some disciplinary action so the pup associates his chewing act with punishment.
Most puppies who chew on random items stop doing it eventually, so you shouldn’t worry much about it.
Paul has been creating content for the dog niche for many years. The information he shares comes his first hand experience growing up in dog lovers household and then owning multiple dog breeds of his own as an adult. Paul enjoys doing the hard research to collect, analyze and present our dogtemperament.com readers with the best answers to their questions.