How to stop a dog from destroying and eating bedding
Dogs often treat blankets and padding inside their crates or houses as chew toys, tearing them apart or even swallowing pieces. This creates a dangerous safety hazard that forces owners to remove soft bedding entirely, leaving their pets with nothing comfortable to lie on.
What the numbers show
Counted from the threads quoted below. How we count
- The most recent one is from October 2026.
- This comes up 41.5× more often in r/dogs than across the site as a whole.
What people tried
Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.
Found another way around this?
Share your steps and trade-offs so fellow engineers don't have to reinvent the wheel. No account required.
How to stop a dog from destroying and eating bedding
- 1Accept it and remove all soft padding that she eatsDid this help you?
- 2Switch to a chew resistant cot with no loose fabricDid this help you?
- 3Using plastic kennel bottomsDid this help you?
- 4Using standard blankets or fabric beddingDid this help you?
- 5Leaving bare kennel floorsDid this help you?
- 6Switching to heavy rubber stall mats cut to sizeDid this help you?
- 7Using elevated cot-type bedsDid this help you?
- 8Using a crib mattress with a waterproof cover and tight-fitting sheetsDid this help you?
- 9Using a toddler mattress with a waterproof cover and removable sheetsDid this help you?
- 10Removing beds and blankets entirelyDid this help you?
- 11taking away forbidden items and giving the dog a permitted toy insteadDid this help you?
- 12Covering furniture with blankets and pillowsDid this help you?
- 13Barricading furniture with pillows or placing chairs on top of couchesDid this help you?
- 14Accepting damaged furniture or restricting accessDid this help you?
- 15packing away items out of reachDid this help you?
- 16providing toys and cycling through themDid this help you?
- 17crate trainingDid this help you?
- 18giving various chew items like rope toys, Nylabones, deer antlers, and hollow bones with peanut butterDid this help you?
- 19buying kid puzzle mats as a replacementDid this help you?
- 20making makeshift scratching itemsDid this help you?
- 21using praise or catnip on designated itemsDid this help you?
- 22keeping the pet out of eyesight or supervised constantlyDid this help you?
In their words
Unedited, grouped by where they were said, most upvoted first within each place, each linked to the thread it came from.
“I've been having problems with my 1 year old fox terrier and her destructive chewing behaviours.”source ↗
“She is fine while there is someone home, but once she's left home alone with our other dog she will take things from the coffee table and bookshelf to chew on.”source ↗
“Anyway she won't leave the blankets or padding in her house. She thinks they are there for her to tear apart.”source ↗
“I am looking for suggestions on how to get her to leave her bedding alone so she has something soft to lay on.”source ↗
“We’ve had plastic bottoms for the kennels but my beaucie seems to love to push them out of the kennel”source ↗
“We’ve tried blankets with our german shepherd, he has no problem eating them. Not chewing them, that would be too harmless. He would EAT them.”source ↗
“I feel incredibly guilty. My dogs are basically my kids and I’d do anything for them, but I do not want to risk their safety for a few hours of comfort while I’m away.”source ↗
“I’m no longer willing to try blankets, I need something extremely durable that won’t break— or would at least show signs of wear and tear before breaking that way I could replace it.”source ↗
“My 6yo chihuahua has recently been targeting seams and the weak spots on beds and blankets. I've had to take all of them away for her safety, but I don't want her on the cold hard ground.”source ↗
“She will eat stuffing and strings.”source ↗
“My chihuahua does the same thing with seams, drives me nuts.”source ↗
“We have a dog like this. Eats beds only when where not home.”source ↗
“I have to put a chair on top of my couch to stop my dog because he's a couch ninja. He knows he's not allowed so only does it when I'm out or asleep.”source ↗
“How do I get my dog to stop digging in the couch and/or get him to stay off the couch to include when we are not in the room?”source ↗
“One of my orange boys loves foam. He’s destroyed many foam things like yoga mats, garden knee things, and now he’s going after some of those foam tiles like you get for kids )in my case it’s for crochet.”source ↗
“He’s also in love with one specific rug in the home but I think it’s a similar texture to sisal so that’s our own doing.”source ↗
“I am having a hard time with scratching too. I don't really understand the point of carpeted scratching posts that just teach them 'this is a scratchable surface'!”source ↗
“except for destroying anything soft she can fit in her mouth im starting To train her as much as I can”source ↗
“whenever I see her chewing anything she’s not supposed to (like not dog toys) I take it away and Give her one of her toys instead but that doesn’t seem to be working”source ↗