I guess I'm feeling onery today, but if the niece routinely lets a dog chew up her family's things then I don't think she would take care of them even if the dog weren't there. I do like the idea of making a quilt for the dog though.

I agree with Dunster.

Yelling at the dog does nothing except teach the dog to be sneaky and only chew when people aren't around to yell.

Tell your niece to go to the grocery store and buy fresh habenero peppers at least 10 of them. Cut them in half and put them in a quart jar. Fill jar with vinigar. Let concoction steep for several weeks. Get a spray mister bottle and mix half the hot pepper vinigar and half water. Spray anything she doesn't want chewed. Be careful when spraying this stuff is hot, hot, hot and can cause you to cough while spraying. It won't harm any surface. You can put it on wood, upholstry, blankets, shoes, etc. Give the dog appropriate things to chew such as raw beef marrow bones, Bully Sticks, Kong toys stuffed with treats. The inappropiate chewing should stop within weeks. Re spray any surface as needed. Do NOT spray this stuff directly at dog or any person, it is basically pepper spray that could do serious harm if gotten into eyes or mucous membranes. Only give this recipe to your niece if you know for a fact her kids won't think it is a fun idea to spray someone or any living thing with it. To be used only on surfaces you don't want the dog to chew.

A good vet can have the chewin situation under control in no time but it will take effort on the owner's part. Apparently she doesn't care enough about her pet or her belongings to help stop the destruction. I would give her a quilt and say if it is chewed up by the dog then you will be very disappointed that she thinks so little of your effort but you wanted her to have one.

Make the quilt with love.... give it to her and let it go. Either you care enough about her to make one or it is more important how the quilt is cared for. I always appreciate it when someone I give a quilt to cares enough to take care of it. But when you give something away, it is no longer yours. It is the act of creating and giving that counts and not the how the person responds or how they use your gift. That is my 2 cents. (And oh yes, I do have lots of experience with the letting go and not always good results)

Be aware though...this spicy blend doesn't work with all dogs. I tried a nearly identical recipe with my dogs when they were chewing on our gate and my female LOVED the flavor. It was like I was just putting flavor sauce on it for her and made her chew even more! My male dog wouldn't go near the stuff but my girl LOVED it. The stuff burned my hands and the fumes burnt my eyes so it was definitely spicy as heck but she was crazy for the stuff.

If you make the quilt with polar fleece, it'll at least stand a chance. Maybe instead of a traditional quilt, you could make it in a rag-quilt fashion (but without clipping the seams). If it does get destroyed, at least it won't be a catastrophic loss. :rolleyes:

I would make a scrappy just out of squares. So if the dog chews a hole into it, it can be patched and repaired. The more loved it gets, the scrappier it will look. But then, I also like the make it, give it and forget it idea. We can't control what happens to them after we give them, they are a gift.

I would not make her a quilt, like you said a lot of work and money, but I would make her a lovely wall hanging.

Make her a rag quilt. You'll never be able to tell if Fang has been chewing on it.

How about quilt blocks in frames to be hung on the wall?