Miss Amelia is a Very Naughty Girl

[BethM]

So we've had Nick and Amelia for almost two and a half years. They never once got on our sofa.

In September last year, we got married. Relatives sent us money, we got new living room furniture with it, because the stuff we had was old and worn.

Just a week or two ago, Amelia decided she likes getting on the new sofa.

Here's the problem: Amelia is a chewer and a digger. She destroyed the cushions of our old dining chairs. She chewed through the fabric, dug a hole in the foam part, then proceeded to tear holes as big around as dinner plates in every dining chair. (We got new chairs, just wood with no cushions, and she no longer gets on them. I will have to re-upholster those chairs so we can sell them this summer.)

Before she learned how to get on the sofa, she got on the new chair that matches the sofa. Jason thought it was really cute, and didn't scold her. Then I found a hole the size of a quarter in the back cushion. (I just turned it around so it doesn't show.) Now, the ottoman lives upside down on the chair if it's not in use, so she cannot get up there. But now she gets on the sofa.

I have spread out the blanket that's there so she can't do immediate damage. (The blanket is easier to replace!) Amelia and Nick are no longer allowed unsupervised run time in the evenings. In the mornings, I have to go in there every 10 minutes and chase her off the sofa. Yesterday morning she got up there 5 times! I have tried chasing her off. I have tried clapping at her. I have tried spraying her with water. She gets annoyed at these, and eventually gets down, but she will get back up again. My new strategy is to pick her up. She HATES being picked up, and will go into her pen and not come out. Mind you, Amelia is the heavier of those two, and REALLY needs her exercise. So I hate to not give her run time. I also don't like punishing Nick, but he would be really unhappy if he was out of the pen and she was in.

How does everyone else deal with destructo-bunnies and furniture?
I wish she could be trusted to not eat the sofa.

 

[kherrmann3]

Toby liked digging and chewing at our carpeting in one spot. I just picked him up around his middle, firmly plopped him down on the rug that he was supposed to chew on instead, and told him NO!He caught on. He hates being picked up, too. Just picking him up and removing him from the offending spot irritated him to the point of not chewing there anymore. That's all that I can think of...

 

[sewwhat]

Try the old dog trick, put tin foil on the sofa, the metal crinkling might keep her off. If it bothers her enough she might decide not to keep going up on it.

A cat trick is to put a loop of packing or wide tape(not the really sticky stuff), sticky to the outside and they usually do not like something stuck to them.

good luck

 

[Elf Mommy]

I'm not sure how well they'd work for bunnies, but here are a few options from Fosters and Smith

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[align=center]X-Mat Pet Training Mat[/align]
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[align=center]Scat Mat,Strips[/align]
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[align=center]Sofa Scram[/align]

 

[irishlops]

i dont know but maybe blocking it off when she is running about...???
like using nic pannels or wood. then use tinfoil, and take the wood /panels away/.
she will really want to get up, but then! oh no!! whats that shinney stuff/ it crinks! then she will go off.
hopefully/...

 

[NorthernAutumn]

Auuugh... I feel your pain! I spent last Saturday darning the futon for about 5 HOURS STRAIGHT (no lie!).
Slatey is my culprit... he is obsessive about killing little wrinkles and folds in the couch fabric. He is a buncher and chewer to start with, so the futon is paradise!
He starts a hole, and then the other two add to it.
I can't keep them off the couch, as it is right in their territory (and that's where I visit with them) [Shared house, yadayada, not enough space].

So, to replace the murdered blanket that I thought would slow them down, we covered the mattress with a double bed fitted sheet.
There's already holes:X. I've sworn to Nate that the day he wants a new mattress for the futon, I'll buy it...

Is it possible to cover the couch with a plastic slipcover when you're not around? Pain in the butt, though. If that isn't your visiting place with N & A, then the aluminum foil trick should work

Tell me how it works out! Good luck

 

[Bo B Bunny]

I'd be careful of the electric pads because of the chewing, but I think I'd use some foil and see if that helps.

Also, noise diversion training might help.

Mine aren't allowed to play without supervision or we block them away from furniture. Bo and Tony love to pee on things.. :?

 

[tonyshuman]

I've tried tinfoil before and it mostly works. You have to replace it though, because if it gets crumpled up it stops making the annoying crinkling noise. I've also heard that bunnies hate tabasco and I've been thinking of making a dilute solution of tobasco in water to spray on things that my guys like to chew. They're now immune to all the pet-store "no-chew" remedies...

 

[BethM]

Well, Naughty Girl didn't come out to play this morning. I had to wash this week's veggies, so they were confined in their pen until salad was ready, then she decided not to come out after she ate.
Last night, Jason and I were both on the sofa watching a movie, and she actually hopped up *while we were on it,* then looked around and hopped right back down. She seemed annoyed that we were on her sofa!

I might try to make something with NIC panels, maybe a long "tube" that I can just set on there. Then I could just put it on end in a corner when the sofa was in use.