apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

Flor carpet tiles.

I have one 70lb hairy beast that likes to destroy my rugs as well. I have tried all sorts of rugs and found that modular FLOR tiles are the best bet. I especially like the "Fedora" style because it is:

A) Not too expensive
B) Feels good under the feet
C) Is made from 80% recycled materials and can be recycled when you are done with it as well
D) the tiles make it easy to replace one section if my dog really stains it or chews it
C) all those doggy treat stains, dog stains in general and fur come off with a bit of resolve carpet cleaner and a vaccum

I have 3 rooms covered in FLOR's Fedora for over a year now and they look like new despite being lived on by my dog. :) Give it a try!

more corgi pics and of the destroyed rugs!
The queen's corgis ate the leather upholstery of the royal vehicle. I guess they don't know she's the queen.

I don't think there has ever been a better question posed for me to answer than this. I myself have two corgis, Danny & Starck. By the later of the two names you can see I am a design junkie as well. I too suffer from my beloved pets destroying rugs, 4 to be exact and like you it has been related to rawhide chewing. I have found the best rugs are closely related to their coat color and have a short cut pile that their bones won't catch a loop on. For summer this year I got an outdoor carpet piece in a straw color with a herringbone pattern. It has held up well to the boys.

i'm also very well-equipped for this one. i have two beagles (one who seems just extra fluffy and soft, but then that means also extra sheddy) plus usually one foster beagle. they have a beagle-proof room which is covered wall to wall in flor tiles. we got these actually through lowe's, which has fewer "cool" looking ones, but they are a lot cheaper this way, both because you can get 20% off when they run sales on special order carpet and you do not have to pay the shipping cost that flor charges direct. these have been a godsend -- the hair vacuums up like a charm (and they're black and you can see the hair VERY well) and any accidents or spitup, etc. just result in me picking up the tile and washing it in the sink with a little dish detergent. i also have the fancier flor tiles in the bedroom for an area rug and a chilewich mat in the living room, which has also been fantastic and very easy to keep clean.

I have a nutty mutt who is very hard on my home furnishings, I feel your pain! I have a very low pile, tight weave wool rug (no backing) that is holding up very well after it's first year of abuse. It's the Copley rug from C&B, which they unfortunately don't make anymore. But, I've realized it's the lack of backing that makes it great...easier for the vacuum to suck up the hairs, AND you can always flip it over and vacuum from the other side. I also use a carpet sweeper (I try to do this daily) and it really helps keep the hair problem under control. As for keeping it clean...I swear by the 7th Generation carpet cleaner. It's not marketed for pets, but cleans up the WORST (you know what I mean ;) ) messes with ease. The scent is strong but is gone in about 15 minutes.

The Chilewich "plynyl" rugs are great, although not as ruglike as the Flor tiles. If you have a large washing machine, a good quality flokati is a softer option. I washed mine monthly when my cat when through her "Unapuker" phase and it actually worked out quite well.

being a boxer, boston terrier, german shepherd and toy fox terrier owner, one thing i've always found to be useful is a shedding brush. it's a big loop of corrugated metal that removes loads of shed hairs before they get to the rug.
and a hand in a plain old rubber glove does pretty well for brushing off the woven in hairs.
my mother-in-law has a tried and true method for choosing rug color. it involved taking a baggie full of the dogs' hair to the carpet store. you throw the hair down on the all samples, and the color on which you can't see the hair is your rug.
good luck.

If you're lucky enough to have Corgis, who cares about the carpet/rugs!!! Which loves you more: the dogs or the rugs?

Easy fix. Take the raw hides away - they are BAD BAD for dogs! Problem solved.

I have a super sheddy dog, he's part sheepdog or some such, we're not really sure.

I thought a rug was totally gone until I bought a dyson slim. Truly, this vacuum is amazing.

momma - wow, that's quite a collection of pooches!

Yes, rawhides are bad. I can't figure out why all the pet stores still sell them.

So what does Liz do in the palace?

I have 2 dogs as well. A 65 lb. husky mix and a 30 lb terrier mix and over the years have come up with the following floor coverings that work for me: Chilewich "plynyl" rugs runner over hardwoods in hallway, foyer and kitchen. In the living room I have one of Kyle Bunting's cow hide rugs. They are pieces of art, his designs use scraps of hide and are indestructible. Of course, you have to be alright with the idea of a hide. It is soft and warm in winter and cool in summer. When Levi was a puppy you just blot up 'accidents' and wash with warm soap and water. Not one stain or worn area. They wrestle and eat bully sticks without problem.

Flor tiles, for reasons expressed above. Although our old, not particularly valuable, but nice persian rug has held up for years despite dogs, cat, humans. As for rawhides, large chunks can block dogs' intestines and prove fatal. Instead, try raw (not cooked) beef bones from the butcher. They come frozen and in slices; not too unwieldy for a Corgi. Our beloved dog (a Lab, despite her advanced years still quite the chewer) knows she's only allowed to chomp on a bone in the kitchen with the doors closed (in other words, food belongs in the kitchen, not the living room). She really seems happiest when she knows what's okay and what's not, and the house is cleaner too.

I give my dog rawhide and one thing that helped the raw hide problem in my home is i taught my dog that she had to lay on her 'blanket' while chewing bones. If she left the blanket i would get up and put the bone back on the blanket. after a year of close supervising and replacing of the bone she got smart about me always getting up to move her bone, now she just eats bones on her blanket only... which is extremely easy to clean in the washing machine... as for the hair that makes the carpet look dirty i found a sweet attachment for our dyson ball vacuum that works wonders on dog dirty rugs and furniture. otherwise i agree with buying a color close to the color of your dogs.

Use kongs. These keep the dogs occupied longer and aren't messy. http://www.kongcompany.com/worlds_best.html

Momma's advice for carpet shopping was hilarious!

I won't give carpet recommendations since so many others have, but the one thing that's saved my house has been the 3M Fur Fighter. Apparently the pets love the new R&B sofa just like we do, because their hair gets *everywhere*, and vacuuming/lint rolling will only do so much. It takes off everything left on upholstery, and even my white wool coat. In a word, fabulous.

http://www.3m.com/brands/scotch/furfighter/productDetail.html

Side note: I have not yet tried this, but I believe the 'disposable' pads can be thrown in the washer and air dried instead of pitched.

One more thing--a very cheap, effective way to get rid of pet hair on rugs and upholstery: use a rubber dishwashing glove--one with lines or some kind of design on the palm to make it less slippery. Takes a little elbow grease, but if you run your gloved hand over the surface a few times, you'll be amazed how much fur is released.

I have had two corgis and man, they shed!! Try the furminator brush. It works wonders.

I have two corgis, too. Wow! How many rawhides are you feeding them? Mine get one small rawhide each per week and they have never caused any damage to my rugs or my carpet. I recommend having a groomer take some of the fuzz off of them at least once every three months or so and especially when they throw their coats. I also recommend investing in a great vacuum cleaner.

My vet recommended that I let my dog chew on rawhide.

The flavored rawhides are often stained and can leave stains on the floor.

FLOR carpet tiles. Also, consider training them to eat their rawhides on a doggie bed with a washable cover. (Those things get slime-y.)

Flor - but order extra tiles so that when the doggy chew stick leaves a mark, you can replace the tile with a clean one while washing the dirty tile in the sink. Washed tiles usually take less than a day to dry outside.

Wow, thanks for posting this, and thanks everyone for your comments! I think we're going to go with the FLOR tiles, they seem to be a good blend between price and durability.

I don't have any pictures of the rug in question, as the internet at home conveniently died, but here are our two dummies, Edison and Gus.

Otherwise, we do have a Dyson (I think it's pretty much required equipment when you have a dog that sheds this much,) but it's so powerful that we can't use it on the rug - it sucks the rug up and blocks the brush bar making a horrific ratcheting noise. We have the brush attachment, and it works fine on the furniture, but the stuff on the rug is in there way too deep.

The hair is a much worse deal than the rawhides, they get one of those every couple of days but very small ones, and they just kind of nibble on them over the course of a few days, then stash them somewhere. Recently they've been putting them outside in the snow for a few days, then bringing them back in - must be like putting a Snickers in the freezer for them. We also furminate them as often as we can, but it's impossible to keep up with the amount of fur they produce.

We'll also try the carpet rake and the carpet cleaner. Thanks again everyone!

This doesn't help with the rug but there is a vitamin supplement that I gave to my boxer that cut down on her shedding by 80%. She loved the taste of the vitamin on her food. Missing Link is the name. You can get them from the pet store but the line sold by the vet is better. Cost is about $20 for a month and worth every penny to cut down on the shedding.

I can't agree more with all the previous posts regarding FLOR fedora tiles. I have three cats that at times can't keep down their last snack...the FLOR tiles are great, I pick one up, rinse in the tub with a little soap and slight scrubbing and the spot is gone. I have extras so I don't have "gaps" while the scrubbed ones are drying. I absolutely love them and they are a great price!