UGH! Your dog or puppy chewed up the doormat again! Why do they keep doing this? Why does your dog chew the doormat? How can you stop this? What repels dogs from chewing doormats? Will your puppy grow out of chewing on doormats?

Today, we’re going to answer all of the questions you have about this incredibly frustrating problem. And, of course, we’ll cover how to stop your dog from chewing on the doormat. Soon, this will all be behind you forever. Keep reading below for our article “Stop Dog Chewing Door Mat!”

How Do I Get My Dog to Stop Chewing the Doormat?

To get your dog to stop chewing the doormat:

1. Make sure that your dog is never without a proper outlet for their biting like a toy they can relax while chewing on.
2. Spray a deterrent, such as a 1:1 blend of distilled white vinegar on the doormat.
3. The smell of vinegar will not be detectable after around one hour, but your dog will continue to be deterred.
4. Give a firm, calm “no” or “stop” right away when you notice that your dog is once again biting the doormat.
5. Do not yell or get mad, because if they’re acting like this stemming from anxiety (which is very likely), this will only make their stress worse.
6. Put them into a short time-out in their crate or a closed-off room for around 10 minutes.
7. If you see your dog starting to go after the welcome mat, point them to a toy.
8. Reward them with pets, a treat, and praise when they pick a toy instead of chewing on your doormat.
9. Make sure that anyone else who lives in your home is also using these instructions.
10. Stay patient and consistent.

This should stop your dog chewing on the doormat, but you’ll still need to address the underlying issue which was causing all of this in the first place: your dog’s anxiety. If you ignore that, your dog will continue to suffer, and you’ll find that your dog keeps misbehaving in other related ways.

To properly cover that, we must first talk about what makes dogs function and has for thousands and thousands of years now. I’m sure you’ve heard before that all dogs are pack animals, and that in every pack there is a pack leader.

But when your dog chews on the doormat, they are definitively showing you that they have no trust for you as the head of the family pack.

If they did, they wouldn’t bite the doormat and ignore all of your commands to stop. They wouldn’t display any other types of anxiety-related disrespect or misbehavior. And they would obey your commands at all times — immediately — and they would do so happily.

Show your dog that you are not just their pack leader, but a capable one worthy of respect, and you’ll make all of these great things a reality.

Obviously, you’ll be better off. But your dog will be too because they’ll no longer have to deal with all of the worry and confusion that their anxiety issues are currently saddling their little shoulders with every single second of every single day.

Sounds terrific, does it not?

“Yeah, absolutely, but how do I do any of this?”

You should watch an excellent free video series which is on this very subject — how to be your dog’s pack leader — by a renowned trainer named Dan. In the series, he explains absolutely everything in ways that are very simple to follow and teach to your own dog, and he gets right to the point so that you can start seeing these crucial changes in your dog in no time.

Start watching Dan’s free training series now by clicking here. And don’t worry, because no, you’re not going to have to be mean or yell at your dog. Dan never uses those types of methods. Not just because loving teaching techniques are the right thing to do, but also because they’re the fastest way to achieve permanent changes in your dog’s behavior.

Why Does My Dog Chew the Doormat?

Your dog chews the doormat because they’re experiencing anxiety, and the act of chewing releases endorphins that soothe them. It likely also helps relax them because your doormat carries your scent. Remember the dogs have a very acute sense of smell, so even something like your doormat will smell like you to them, even with the very brief contact it gets.

It’s surely aggravating if your dog is chewing your doormat and you have to keep buying new ones, but the real problem is when they’re doing so and ignoring you when you tell them to quit. This shows that they’re experiencing high levels of stress and have no other outlet for these feelings.

The combination of this display of worry along with disobeying your commands is an indication they do not trust your leadership. If they did, they would experience little to no anxiety and would also obey your commands, so chewing would only be done for fun and only with allowed objects — like their toys.

It’s likely if your dog chews your doormat that they’re chewing other things as well. Is your dog also chewing your shoes, chewing up your headphones, chewing water bottles, or chewing your water hose? These are just a few examples, but if your dog has a chewing problem, it’s almost certain to also be showing itself elsewhere.

You certainly don’t want to be constantly replacing your destroyed items. But even more importantly, you don’t want your dog to continue experiencing anxiety like this. To learn how to stop your dog from chewing your doormat while also ridding them of their anxiety problem, go back to the first section now.

What Repels Dogs From Chewing Door Mats?

A 50/50 mixture of distilled white vinegar and water repels dogs from chewing door mats. Make the mix in a spray bottle, then spray your door mat with it, particularly around the edges where your dog is likely focusing their chewing. The smell will go away after about an hour, but your dog will continue to be repelled.

You still, however, need to address what was causing your dog to chew on the door mat. If you simply just spray your door mat without addressing the root cause (anxiety), your dog is just going to find something else to chew up. Go back to the first section now where we’ll cover how to handle your dog chewing the door mat and their anxiety all at once.

Will My Puppy Grow Out of Chewing on Door Mats?

Your puppy will not grow out of chewing on door mats unless they’re still teething and under six months old. Even if this is the case with your dog, it’s still important to handle now or you run the risk of giving your puppy the idea that chewing up your door mat and other objects is acceptable. Teething puppies should focus their attention on chew toys.

By the time they’ve become an adult dog, they’ll have the belief that they can chew whatever they want, whenever they want. The behavioral problem will be even harder to address and even more ingrained in who they are as a dog. Go back to the first section now and we’ll teach you how to handle this through training, even if your dog is still a teething puppy.

I’m sure you’re looking forward to not buying another door mat anytime soon, so I’ll let you begin now. Best of luck with all of this, and thank you for reading our article “Stop Dog Chewing Door Mat.”