Have you ever patched a damaged carpet, rather than replacing it?

[Carol Venolia]

I have some departing tenants whose dog apparently tried to bury bones in the wall-to-wall carpet. There are two bald spots about 6" across and one edge that was shredded in an 8" wide patch for a stretch of about 2'.

The carpet is about 6 years into an 8-year life; it could have handled one more set of tenants without this damage. It's somewhat tired-looking and probably didn't cost much when it was installed.

The departing tenants think I should patch the carpet rather than replace it. I'm thinking it would be really hard to match the faded brown color and slightly matted texture.

If you've patched a carpet, how did it go? How much did it cost?

If you considered it and didn't do it, what were your reasons?

Thanks for any input you can offer!