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originalpinkmountain

Inexpensive area rug to lay flat over WtW carpet - puppy protection

3 years ago
last modified: 3 years ago

We inherited very pale cream colored wall to wall carpet in the family room, and due to our "open concept" house it is going to have to be part of the new puppy's play area. I have never liked this carpet -- if you look at it sideways it stains. We are constantly cleaning it as it is. I have a nice wool oriental rug that covers a good portion of it, but I don't want that out during the puppy's house training period. The wall to wall carpet has to stay, my Dad is still living and he visits often and gets upset if we change too much.

I would like to get an inexpensive carpet but it needs to lay flat over the berber wall to wall carpeting. I haven't had much luck with these inexpensive rugs laying flat. I had one at my old house and it kept a permanent crease. I also have a smaller one here now and it moves terribly and curls at the edges. Does anyone have an inexpensive rug that is working for them under these circumstances?

I'm wondering about those indoor outdoor recycled plastic ones. It would look like heck over the nice berber though . . . on the plus side I could move it outdoors to the patio after the puppy grows up, hopefully. Not going to be able to replace the cream berber, I got the house from my Dad after Mom died and it was Dad's idea to install the light cream berber after he "fixed" the washer and it flooded the laundry room and adjoining flooring in the family room. He's always examining every corner of this house and freaking over any changes, even minor ones. We try not to let it get to us but we try to pace the change we make. :) The carpet is relatively new so there are a few other upgrades ahead of it anyway.

The rug could be a permanent fixture if it is practical, but it needs to clean up well.

Comments (40)

  • 3 years ago
    last modified: 3 years ago

    I don't know what size rug you are considering, but I have a couple of 4x6' machine washable cotton rugs from Hook and Loom.


    They are on tile, but have always laid flat coming from the washer and dryer. (I do have to add two worn out bath towels to the wash or at some point during the cycles my washer may become unbalanced with the weight of the wet rug)


    I wonder if you will need one. A bright little dog may have few if any accidents and there are always puppy pads if yours needs a bit of time.

  • 3 years ago

    Get a Ruggable! I have 3 of them and they are great and wash up beautifully.

  • 3 years ago

    I have a small cotton woven rug on the carpet and it lays pretty flat . . . I saw the Ruggables but wondering how they would work over carpet. All the photos on the web site show the mat on a hard surface. I'm thinking it might slide. I have another small rug that does not slide so it's maddening trying to figure out what the flat and no slide factor is . . .

  • 3 years ago
    last modified: 3 years ago

    Buy a cheap rug and nail it to the floor on the corners and edges to keep it from curling and sliding. It won't hurt the carpet or the underflooring (unless there are nice hardwoods under there).

    Put something waterproof between the rug and carpet, or any pee is just going to flow through an area rug.

  • 3 years ago

    @l pinkmountain, we purchased some Ruggables for my brother's apartment with a low berber carpet and they do stay put once you get them installed properly. We've washed the 2 smaller ones, but haven't tried the 8 X 10 in the washer yet.

  • 3 years ago

    Home Depot has a lot of decent looking, inexpensive rugs online and you can return at the bricks and mortar store if needed. I got this one for my bedroom to cover up the hideous carpet until I work myself up to install wood floor.


  • 3 years ago

    Big fan of ruggables; i have a runner in my K. Easiest thing to actually wash. It will not slide on carpet.

  • 3 years ago

    DD just got 2 of the outdoor rugs. I do not think they will do what you need. First, they are non-absorbent. Secondly, the way they are woven leaves holes, small unnoticeable holes, but holes never the less. Liquid is going to run right through them.

  • 3 years ago

    Ruggables all the way.

  • 3 years ago

    Team Ruggable.

  • 3 years ago
    last modified: 3 years ago

    I certainly don't expect my dog to be having a lot of accidents anywhere in the house. The breeder is already working on training her to actually ring a bell when she needs to go outside, and apparently we are recommended to follow up with it. It certainly makes sense not to switch up both her potty training and everything else in her life as soon as we get her. But like I said at the beginning, that carpet stains and is a problem with almost everything, so under the rare occasion that she does have an accident, it will just compound the problems with my light berber carpet.

    I think I may have a solution because we just realized we have a rug out on the porch that we can bring inside, and won't be missed on the porch. But I am wondering about stains creeping through . . . I may have to test it out. I have one rug from Home Depot that does not lie flat, and a couple that do . . . really bugs me that I can't figure out why some do and some don't so that I know what to look for . . .

    Our ideal is to not spend any more than we have to on this dog, as she was very expensive just to purchase. We just ordered her crate and the bells, going to wait til we get her for the harness and leash. We got a shopping list from the breeder of puppy supplies.

    Spent all day puppy proofing. In addition to the carpet, I have to find a shoe cabinet for the front hall. I've been looking and looking for one anyway, but haven't found a slim profile closed one I like. I have open shoe shelves right at the entrance to our house, it's a bad situation as is, but that's where we go in and out and where I use the shoes . . . not going to work with a puppy, it already looks like a dog chew toy smorgasbord . . .

  • 3 years ago

    We got our dog when he was estimated to be approx 4 or 5 months old (from a shelter). He was rescued with a bunch of other puppies down south and it seemed they were never in homes. Anyway since we had just moved, and the house had old carpeting, I decided to wait a while to replace the carpet. It didn't seem like a good idea to get new carpet with a new puppy.

    Honestly, I think he had maybe 2 accidents in the house very early on

    . I am just getting around to replacing the carpet now (procrastination, indecision, covid etc). So maybe you only need a very short term fix and then I don't think you will need it much more than for a few weeks at most.

    We also always used crates with all our dogs and all but this (our current) dog have loved them and continued to use them all their lives as their space. This one was ok with it, but would never go in to hang out like the rest of them did.


  • 3 years ago

    As part of your puppy-prep, get a bottle of Folex Carpet Spot Remover. It is excellent for treating puppy accidents according to DD. It is sold at HD and AMZ. Also at most local hardware stores and Wal-Marts.

  • 3 years ago

    Congrats on your puppy, Pink! Pic please! Might invest in a carpet stain lifting machine, like Bissell. Even after puppy is trained, sick happens…along with red wine, salsa, and other carpet threats.

  • 3 years ago

    I am seconding the enzyme stain remover and something like a Bissell. Sick does indeed happen. And somehow they know to run for the most expensive rug in the house when it does. Every. Time.

  • 3 years ago

    New puppy! i am jealous. We have bell-trained our dogs for decades. None of our dogs have had one accident once they are trained. Funny story: Our neighbor just got a new puppy as companion to her older year old puppy. She was having trouble housetraining, so a while back, i to,d her to get a bell.She was complaining yesterday about getting up at 4am to let out the puppy. I told her our dogs don’t wake us, but once every few months, i hear our 2 year old dog ring the bell at 530 or 6, and i know he really has to go, so i get up. She asks me, increduously, ”The DOG rings the bell?? I have been ringing it!”

  • 3 years ago

    ReaLife Machine Washable Rug -... https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08K3KLBY7?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share

    I love this rug! I have taken it to the laundromat 2 times and it has cleaned up nicely. They have a variety of colors and patterns. Many say they like it better than ruggable.

  • 3 years ago
    last modified: 3 years ago

    Great to hear from you Dee!! Also nice to know someone else had heard of the bell training for dogs. I had never encountered it before.

    De-cluttering for the puppy has been great so far, forcing me to do some things I've been wanting to do for years . . . speaking of that, can anyone recommend a good wet carpet cleaner machine for dog messes? I'd like something small because we have a very small house . . . we've been wanting to get one for a while anyway because like I said, this carpet show every speck of dirt . . .

    I'll post a picture of the rug set-up later. I moved some area rugs around to fill in the blank spaces. To protect the carpet from my husband too! The only reason I'm bothering is I'd rather have the goofy rugs over carpet look than a dingy cream colored carpet look. Removing it isn't on the "to do" list right now. If we ever sell the house having it look good and not dingy would be a good selling point. No one need know what a PITA it is . . .

    So now that I moved some area rugs around, I will need replacements for them, as they were mats by the doorways for wiping feet. I'll definitely check out some of these rug options. More affordable in the smaller sizes!

  • 3 years ago

    We‘ve also used bell training. We love the electronic one from Mighty Paw - doesn't make marks on the door like the bells on a ribbon. I’ve had both Hoover and Bissell portable spot cleaners and both seem to work equally well. i prefer the ones with a hand attachment and not the ones you just set on the spot and walk away.


  • 3 years ago

    DD tried ”bell training.” Soon learned the dog would ring the bell just to have her come. It was more the dog was training her than vice-versa. Nevertheless, he is the best trained dog ever. He doesn’t get on the furniture, doesn’t beg at the table, won’t eat off the floor, obeys commands like sit, stay, heel. When he gets tired of the kids playing with him, he gets on his bed.


  • 3 years ago

    I have a giant washable cheap-but-nice-feeling rug from Safavieh's Lyndhurst line. Lots of sizes and lots of patterns/colors. I like it a lot. They can be had from Ama2on or Overstock and do not look terrible.


    I decided to wait until my dog went to the rainbow farm upstate bridge before getting a good one. He's housebroken and well-behaved but he's pretty filthy. :)

  • 3 years ago

    Bissell's little green machine is my favorite carpet cleaner for puppy and adult human messes. Just a little reminder, at the risk of being a downer, having a puppy is not a cheap prospect; besides food and other accoutrements, you have to prepare for medical expenses, which many pet owners forget to plan for.

  • 3 years ago

    The Internet ate my response. Very weird, I typed a response and posted two pictures and as soon as I hit submit, I got bumped to another much older post about carpet cleaning . . . hmmm


    Anyhoo, yeah we know there are going to be a lot of expenses with the dog so we are trying not to get a lot of unnecessary stuff. It's going to be hard not to spoil her . . .


    Here's the family room with the area rug collection. I know it looks goofy but as it is, hubs tracks in a lot of dirt and this carpet just doesn't cooperate. I tried to get him to take off his shoes but he swears his sneakers are pure . . . even socks with dust on them track dirt onto this carpet. I've been wanting to get a steam cleaner for a long time actually. So the puppy is making me spend money I haven't wanted to spend bur really needed to . . . we still have to figure out how to deal with the cord mess around the tv and stereo. There's a heat vent where the speaker is so we can't put a cabinet right over it in that spot. Somewhere in a box I haven't unpacked, I used to have a cord cover from back at my old house. We had less cords back then though . . . It looks ugly anyway so anything we do will be value added . . . that's hub's media area and the two brown bordered rugs there are to cover his tracks, that whole carpet area looks dingy . . . I put smaller cotton area rugs under the bigger ones to protect the carpet further.


    Here's a little perch we made for her to look out the window. Believe it or not, that is the ONLY window facing the front of our house in the living area. We are eventually going to put her doggie bed in there too, it's close to our bedroom, just down the hall, and close to the front door to let her out if needed. And close to a closet for coats and leashes, etc.



  • 3 years ago

    Do you have an x-pen? Small dogs have a hard tome learning insode from outside. Also, if there have been dogs on that carpet before, it can be more difficult. Our prior dog had kidney disease and got to the poont of having accidents despite being potty trained

    Train to potty on command so you can take her out potty, bring her inside for lose play, then put her in the x-pen for some rest. Then repeat, potty/play/confined rest. Despite knowing better, I did not do this with the last one who’s foster had a doggie door and pee pads and paid the price, losing an area rug.

  • 3 years ago

    We've never had a dog or cat on anything in the house. Haven't had pets since I was a kid. Hubs had a dog for many years but that was long ago so nothing left from those days.

  • 3 years ago
    last modified: 3 years ago

    I just want to say that you did a good job arranging those smaller area rugs over the wall-to-wall. The colors work well with your furniture and the room looks cozy. And yes, those cords need to be protected from sharp puppy teeth. Ask me how I know!!

  • 3 years ago
    last modified: 3 years ago

    I'm thinking now we need to maybe get a puppy gate and just gate off that whole media area. Or, hubs looked into smells dogs hate, maybe dousing the area with some kind of citrus odor . . . I have never liked hubs "media area" anyway lots of clutter and the TV is so big, way off scale, but its a compromise I made for my marriage . . . hubs stereo system has five speakers! Surround sound, oh boy!

    Edited to add that the area rug in the front with the colored squares is the one that won't lay flat and curls at the edges. We like the rug, the colors "really tie the room together" but its a PITA. I had a maroon oriental rug in there before, it looked even better with that . . .

  • 3 years ago

    With a puppy, you never leave then unattended. You dont need to do anything with the cords unless it becomes an issue. Ive yet to have a dog that is deterred with the bitter apple or citrus spray. If you cant watch the puppy, it goes in the crate. Lather, rinse, repeat. My dogs were in their crates when we werent home for the first year. They never chewed cords because they werent given the opportunity to.

  • 3 years ago
    last modified: 3 years ago

    I have not seen a lot of dogs chewing on cords either, (and we have bought some nice chew toys for the puppy too), but I had a friend who had a cat that she could not break of the habit. It ended up electrocuting itself. It was very weird. I know that was an unusual situation but I can't help but think of it sometimes. I am not too concerned about it, but just trying to do an "ounce of prevention" for the simple, low lying fruit. The cord mess looks carpy anyway . . .


    We have a large walk in shower which we are turning into a puppy playpen for when we have to be gone. We don't plan on leaving the puppy alone for any length of time, (hubs is retired and I'm on sabbatical) but we have it set up just in case. We never use the shower, it's huge but in the back of the house so the water pressure is low and it take forever for the water to get hot. The previous owner of our house was wheelchair bound, so that's why it's there. We have another regular shower tub that we use in the other bathroom. In the winter we turn it into a mini greenhouse and start all our tomatoes in there. We don't have to worry about water spilling on the floor . . . .

  • 3 years ago

    An x-pen will allow ypu to create a secure space with room to play anywhere. Lots of the time, you can find them on CL or FB Marketplace.

  • 3 years ago

    We once had a Cocker pup who went under a console table (while chasing a ball) and bit an electric cord all in the blink of an eye. The puppy seemed fine until a few days later when blisters formed inside her mouth. Our vet was able to treat her and she recovered but it was a painful time for pup and an expensive learning lesson for us.


    I, too, recommend crate training.

  • 3 years ago

    Congrats on your puppy! Our pup had the occasional accident while training. After day 1, I rolled up the patterned rug—it was hard to see the tiny puppy poop and we stepped in it! Rugs that are very dense won’t seep in as quicky. Our cat used to vomit on our oriental rug in the dining room and the puddle would just sit on the top and the inside would be dry. I also used to put a couple of cheerios on the accident spot for the puppy to eat after I cleaned up the accident and neutralized the smell. Not sure if that does anything, but I read that dogs don’t like to pee/poop where they eat.

  • 3 years ago

    We did an x-pen with a tarp underneath that we could get in and play with our puppy. She was hard to potty train as it turned out she had a painless uti - so we dealt with a lot of accidents. Went through a lot of nature’s miracle! We had her crated when out of the house for the first few months than graduated to penning her in the dog-proofed laundry room.

  • 3 years ago

    Fairly big Xperia. We went through a couple of tarps but it was a godsend! An offcut of sheet vinyl would work well, too!

  • 3 years ago

    We did not want to use a crate with our sweet pup - our first (and only so far) during our marriage! We used a baby gate and blocked off our master bath. I will admit I was really worried about potty training, but she was smart and took to it quickly. We did leave a puppy pad for her during long work days. One morning she simply would NOT go into the bathroom and I had to get to work, so I left the gate open, and that was that! She would still go into that room to nap on the rug while we were gone. We never used a bell but she learned to go to the door when she needed to go out, and if we didn't see her there, we got a small "woof"! She also knew to come to us with "the look" (take me out mom!!). She was the best girl ever!


    I fear that whatever type rug you use over your carpet will allow liquids to seep through. Some more than others.

  • 3 years ago

    I'm not expecting the rug to substitute for pee pads or covering with plastic of the floor under an inside a pen, or a close watch on the puppy. I have some old washable rag rugs under the big rugs, so it does give me an additional layer of an absorbent item I can wash. Just gives me some time IF a spill happens to get to it, and show less dirt over time. I'll still have to be super vigilant about the cream carpeting but we're used to this. Works for human spills too! The puppy will join the coffee and wine spillers in our house! :)

  • 3 years ago

    @l pinkmountain gotcha! I know you must be so excited about the puppy!!

  • 3 years ago

    look into a "Waterproof dog bed cover Pet blanket on amazon". I wont lie the blanket does not scream out " im bougie" but I loved it. After an accident put it in the washer and dryer. You dont have to spent time on your hands and knees trying to scrub out odor and stains. The tempery rugs can also leak through onto the carpet your trying to protect. My Beagle freaks out in bad wether and will not go outside. When the weather is bad I put the waterproof blanket by the back door for her. When you no longer need it... great for the beach. :)