Puppy keeps stealing and eating paper

Dookie · 02-04-2008, 04:52 PM

tissues, napkins, paper towels....she snatches it, runs, and when I try to take it out of her mouth she swallows the wad.

Does anyone else have this problem? Is this okay to digest?

ChrissyBz · 02-04-2008, 05:05 PM

It can cause an intestinal blockage. You're going to have to keep these things OUT of your dogs reach.
A blockage can be life threatening and cause a need for major surgery. What if she got a hold of one that had staples in it?

BoxMeIn21 · 02-04-2008, 05:28 PM

No need to freak the poster out...

Rowdy has a paper addiction - no paper products are safe in my house and lord knows he's pooped his fair amount of paper mache. Don't panic though, I would just keep an eye out, usually you will find the paper come out the other end. I would assume they would need to eat a mass amount of paper to cause a blockage, but it's just safer to keep the items picked up.

ChrissyBz · 02-04-2008, 05:35 PM

Sorry, didn't mean to sound so alarmist. Just too much personal experience I guess. I had a dog die from a blockage and I've always blamed myself for not watching closer.

BoxMeIn21 · 02-04-2008, 05:44 PM

That's unfortunate.

I am sorry for your loss.

sn0fl8k3 · 02-04-2008, 07:14 PM

MINE too, she will steal them from the garbage can or if you forget and put in on the coffee table. She doesn't really eat them though she just tears them to shreads them to pieces or carries it around in ther mouth so i have to chase after her..

ChrissyBz · 02-04-2008, 07:25 PM

Yes, well, it wasn't paper either. Dog food.

ETA: She ate so much she got a blockage. She got into the bag and I didn't notice.

LittleMoonRabbit · 02-04-2008, 07:28 PM

My dog steals and shreds paper.... but I don't think she ever eats it.

briteday · 02-04-2008, 09:57 PM

Get a garbage can with a lid or keep the garbage can in the cabinet, etc. I don't leave anything except for magazines on my tables. I guess I'ma minimalist anyway so it's easier for me.

FriendsOfZoe · 02-04-2008, 10:24 PM

Zoe playing chase with my homework:

Why Zoe will never be able to fetch the paper for us:

Clearly, Zoe loves paper too. Work on the drop it command, and if all else fails, find a great treat that she will trade for. Whenever Zoe gets something now (even though we try to keep all the paper out of her reach...she's pretty tall now!!), we just run to the dog cookie bag or some freeze dried liver and she drops it right away to eat the treat, giving us enough time to clean it up.

SK63 · 02-04-2008, 11:42 PM

My current dog is a Vizsla and I've been pulling paper out of his mouth for nearly 8 years now. He's an obsessed paper freak. His latest deal is to steal soggy firecrackers that someone lit off on New Years Eve. He gets the ones that did not go off and thinks it's the coolest thing in the world. He has eaten his share of napkins, paper towels, kleenex, etc ,etc with no ill effects.

This pic is what he produced while at work with me for four hours. I would get on the phone and he would start surfing the trash cans, just like a kid.

Elana55 · 02-05-2008, 10:17 AM

I have had to child proof the garbage, the kitchen cabinets, the toilet paper and the paper towels or Oliver, my kitten (8 months old.. ALMOST a cat), opens them and gets into them. Naughty (my older cat at age 11 who nevver stopped being a kitten) taught him how to open closets and drawers. He got into opening other things onhis own. I fear the day when he gets the refrigerator open and I have to get a lock for that as well.

If I do not hide the TP or the paper towels, Oliver will TP or paper towel the house.....

I come home at night.. knowing I made the bed when I left.. but it is completely UN made because Oliver and Naughty have been sleeping in it under the covers.. heads on the pillows!!!!

If I leave the newspaper out or the mail.... Oliver shreds it.. and decorates the entire house with it. he even shreds the bills!

Meanwhile, the Dawg is prefect.. never steals anything or gets in the trash and has even been taught not to take the cat's toys (tho they take HER toys... ). she slinks off to her crate or rug if the cats get into something and I find it and yell out "CAAATS!!!" with an upward pitch at the end. Meanwhile, the cats come running.. and look at me as if to say, "You wanted us???"

Out of reach is out of trouble (until they learn how to open and get into something else).

Dookie · 02-05-2008, 12:34 PM

Thanks for all the replies...I guess this is somewhat normal behavior. I'll work on the training!

She only takes napkins, paper towels, and toilet paper so staples aren't an issue. She usually just chews the paper or shreds it, but if we catch her and try to take away the paper, she swallows it...that had me worried.

echo8287 · 02-06-2008, 02:33 AM

My daughter came over for a visit a couple of week ago and said why are all the trash cans on the vanities. I said Sunny has been vandalizing them and I had to move them out of reach. I put a towel down in the kitchen to give them some Kongs filled with food and peanut butter. Came back and the towel was chewed up and a string hanging out of one them 's mouth. I started to pull on it and it was about 15 inches long, they love this stuff, David

Eileen · 02-06-2008, 06:33 PM

Dogs eating paper or stealing things. A training technique I learned is called, The Seeding Game. You take items that the dog likes to chew that is not good for them and you put them on the ground in a straight line. You put your dog on leash and walk by these items and say "leave it" and give a collar correction. You keep going by these items using the leave it and collar corrections
until you see the dog is avoiding these items. Practice every day for 30 days you can add or take away different items. After 30 days put these items on the ground, take off the leash and as your dog approaches the item say leave it practice for a few days. Than put some items on the ground and go around a corner, or behind a door make sure you can see your dog. If he decides to take something yell leave it. End results you can leave items on the floor, leave the room and your dog does not touch the items. It will take time to educate your dog remember dogs learn in 30 days. Good luck and have fun with the seeding game. Eileen-author-"All Dogs are Angels at Heart"

Love's_Sophie · 02-07-2008, 01:16 AM

Teach your pup "Leave it" (above poster gave a fairly good way to teach it), and "Drop it"...for drop it, you will have to have a recall\come so that when the dog comes to you, you can ask her to 'drop it', and with a treat in hand, so she can see it, entice her to drop her prize, and take the treat instead! Most dogs will NOT avoid a tasty treat for paper!!! Reward her as soon as she drops the paper and give her that treat!