He dug a hole in the carpet!

Sarahdavek · Junior Member Joined: 31 Oct 2007 Posts: 10 Location: Ohio

Faithful lurker here with a problem I'm hoping you can help with!

Brutus is a lovely 10 month old male doodle - fully housebroken, smart as a whip, wonderful with the girls. Today he dug a hole in the carpet of the family room. I haven't seen it yet, but apparetly we are going to move a LARGE piece of furniture to cover it until we are ready to replace the carpet. Does anyone have any suggestions? He has a crate that we attached an exerpen to so that he'd have some space to move while being contained during the day. He dug the hole in the middle of the exerpen area. He gets three walks a day and playtime outside if it's nice. He's got the run of the family room / kitchen when we're home. We had linoleum under him for a while but he totally shredded it. I'm at a loss. Once the weather gets a little better, he can go to my mom's house for the day periodically and be outside with the kids (but not until school is out). Help!
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Sarah
Proud Momma to Brutus (our F3 LD) and his compadres in crime Katie (5) and Emily (4)

hmz819 · Posted: Mon May 12, 2008 12:32 pm Post subject:

I would say just keep him in his crate. I know when I leave Maya just sleeps all day anyway so I don't think it would be mean.
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momoftwo · Senior Member Joined: 03 Mar 2007 Posts: 267

I know of a friends dog that got stressed being left alone and ate the carpet - they had several holes right out in the middle that had to be patched before they could move. When they had another dog over to keep it company it wouldn't eat the carpet. I would say you need to restrict to the crate at this point.

Heather

annabelles mom · Posted: Mon May 12, 2008 1:16 pm Post subject:

if you really want Brutus to have more space you might go to carpet outlet and get a large piece of heavy linoleum and put that on carpet where his xpen is - he might be able to chew it, might not.
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KingstonTodd · Posted: Mon May 12, 2008 1:53 pm Post subject:

crate time! a bored dog is gonna find something to do, and eventually it wil be digging. a crate isnt that bad, as long as there is exercise before and after. they just sleep the day away. lucky doods.

lmtoth2 · Posted: Mon May 12, 2008 1:55 pm Post subject:

I would definitely crate him when unsupervised until he gets past this stage.
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Leslie M

L's Mom · Senior Member Joined: 15 Feb 2008 Posts: 1092 Location: GA

I would just crate hime too! We crate ours during the day and they do just great! I would try to run them pretty hard in the morning though... can you play fetch for a while? We walk ours 3 times a day too, but a 15-20 minute game of fetch can do way more than a 1-3 mile walk... at least at the speed my short little legs will carry me!
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ellabee · Senior Member Joined: 09 Mar 2007 Posts: 1551 Location: NJ

As an alternative to crating, can he be gated in the kitchen? I do this with Dexter when we're gone, and it works out well for all of us.
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deepnite10 · Posted: Mon May 12, 2008 2:42 pm Post subject:

we have a new carpet and plan to sell the house when the economy
turn s around..so im in no mood to replace the carpet if Toby starts eating the carpet..

we do have though several throw carpets thruout the house and he s
quite interested in them. Sad

sarahann · Posted: Mon May 12, 2008 2:50 pm Post subject:

Manchego did the same thing at 6 months old. We left him at a friend's house that we were visiting in the bedroom we were staying in. He was fine the first time we left him but the second time we forgot to turn the lights on and he tried to tunnel out of the room. I think he was scared that we weren't coming back because it was a new house. He has never done anything like that at our house... but we have tiles. Luckily we have house insurance that covers that sort of thing... maybe your house insurance will cover it. It's definitely worth a try, it saved us $1000!

I wish we had crate trained Manchego but now we have the two of them and there really is no room in our condo for 2 large crates. Its also great if you want to travel with them, they will have a place that they feel comfortable in.

Good luck!
Sarah

Linda · Posted: Mon May 12, 2008 3:15 pm Post subject:

If you have any leftover carpet around, a carpet repair guy can patch it right up very easily and cheaply. Check the phone book for carpet repair.
I think he was stressed, not bored. Maybe try the pheromone plug in thing and a filled, frozen kong when you leave nex time. You can fill it with yogurt mixed with some tuna and freeze it.

Jac · Posted: Mon May 12, 2008 4:19 pm Post subject:

Hi Sarah,
I was going to tell you that your puppy will outgrow this destructive phase, but then I remembered how long that phase lasts and how much destruction my dogs caused!
I found a nice article on separation anxiety...I don't know if this is what is going on, but some suggestions might help.
I would suggest that you have someone come in and take your dog out for a walk mid-day. This will make your dog tired and likely will sleep the remainder of the day...but once a dog figures out that it is fun to unravel carpet, you can expect him to keep going to that sometimes...
http://www.veterinarypartner.com/Content.plx?P=A&S=0&C=0&A=1393
Then I read this article...it has good advice too:
http://www.veterinarypartner.com/Content.plx?P=A&S=0&C=0&A=1517
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MaxandMe · Posted: Mon May 12, 2008 4:22 pm Post subject:

HI and welcome Sarah....your 10mo old doodle would probably do just fine in his crate while you're gone.

also Brutus is trying to break in his adult teeth at this age, he will outgrow this eventually but for now maybe the crate is best
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lmtoth2 · Posted: Mon May 12, 2008 4:50 pm Post subject:

Dex went through a brief destructive phase (tore up some carpet and ate a hole in the wall) around 10-12 months. Luckily it did not last long...hope you are in a short phase too.
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Sarahdavek · Junior Member Joined: 31 Oct 2007 Posts: 10 Location: Ohio

Thanks for all the responses and advice! I think he'll be crated for the next few months (at least - LOL!). This is a new thing - he's never messed with the carpet before, and he's been in the same place since he came home to us at 3 months old. I'm going to suggest the fetch in the am to dh (that's his assigned walk time). I'll also play with him at lunch time. I'm home almost everyday at noon except for today and dh found him and the destruction at about 11:30. He's used to the crate at night so I guess it'll be the same for the daytime as well.
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Sarah
Proud Momma to Brutus (our F3 LD) and his compadres in crime Katie (5) and Emily (4)