My Dog Shreds Paper While I'm Away
Poor Alistair. About a week ago I left him alone in his play pen and he managed to get a pack of bobby pins in there, push the pins around and shred the paper. Since then, almost every time I leave the house, go to sleep, etc. and he's not in his dog crate, he finds paper and goes wild. He knows he's not supposed to do it. He understands well enough not to do it in front of me, but when I'm not looking, he goes for it. He just took a massive corner off my 3-subject notebook and ate my stats homework. (Not kidding. I'm too old for that excuse.)
So far, I've been rewarding him when he comes home and hasn't eaten anything and ignoring him when I come home and find shredded paper. That doesn't seem to be enough, so I just sprayed the paper basket and my notebook with bitter apple, hoping that it drops a hint. Has anyone else had this problem with paper chewing or anything other clandestine bad behavior? What did you do to stop it?
Thanks!
Mary
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Jane on
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Yep, mine love it. I recently came home to about 20 shredded paper grocery bags lol. My only solution is to keep any kind of paper out of their reach. They don't understand reward or punishment once you come home, it only works if you can catch them in the act.
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Permalink Reply by Emily & Scout on
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At least it's your dog that does it... My cat shreds paper... He does it slowly, bit by bit, and into small pieces, none of them bigger than a dime... At least the vacuum can get it all
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Permalink Reply by Cindi & Twinkie on
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Taller trash cans? No seriously, I hope you can get it straightened out. It's annoying to find a mess around every corner.
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Permalink Reply by Beth on
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I hate to say it but paper-shredders are usually very dedicated and find it terribly rewarding. I really think the only solution is closed trash cans and no paper left in reach.
:-(
Sorry. They just love it so much. Both of mine rarely shred stuff, but those who love it don't find many other things as rewarding, so it's tough to stop.
Something counter-intuitive may be to sometimes give him empty cereal boxes and stuff. If he has an outlet to shred with your blessing, he MAY be less inclined to go looking for stuff when you are not around. For diggers they recommend giving them an ok place to dig, and my experience is that shredding is very like digging. It's part of the nesting instinct and can be tough to overcome.
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Permalink Reply by Bev Levy on
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I would crate him when you are not going to be there. Also get some cow bones and try smearing a little cheese inside a Kong to encourage chewing appropriately. I agree with Beth that some empty cereal boxes to tear up occasionally might help. The reality is that corgis are short and can not get into things unless stuff is left where they can reach it...I always say mine have made me a much neater person :)
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Permalink Reply by Leisa Boysen on
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Oh my....I believe Tharros actually thinks this is his JOB. If its not paper its stuffing from toys. I have grown used to my bratty one being surrounded by shreds of SOMETHING. UGh. He is a tenacious shredder and while I am sorry you have to deal with it, I am almost relieved to hear someone else has a compulsive shredder. I don't have any helpful tips-other than to attempt to keep papers out of the "Corgi zone" (which can be difficult if your darling is also a little climber with cat like ability to jump like Tharros appears to be, as well) Thar can be so exhausted from extensive excersize and STILL will attepmt to ferret out a tp roll in a garbage, a kleenex that missed the garbage or a reciept,,,anything shreddable....goofy puppy. I will be reading this thread in hopes that you get an answer that helps!
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Permalink Reply by Mary Nameth on
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Thanks everybody. I'm going to continue to monitor this discussion to see if I get more helpful hints. It's both comforting and disconcerting to know this is a real problem. Alistair tried to chew my tennis shoes when I was gone once, but after I "explained" to him tennis shoes were not OK, he stopped. This has been a much bigger problem.
Taking your suggestions with some extra training:
1) The paper bin is on my desk and still sprayed with bitter apple in case he tries to jump for it.
2) He's getting crated whenever I leave the house, even on short trips where he was allowed to stay out. He also gets crated at night.
3) He's getting training where I put a piece of paper on the floor and pretend to be sleeping. When he goes for it, I suddenly wake up and tell him "no." He's a smart dog, so he'll separate circumstances, but this will hopefully get him not to look for paper while I'm sleeping.
4) He already has tons of bully sticks and chew toys. He shredded my notebook within a foot and a half of his bully stick.
5) If all else fails and he just has to eat paper, I will definitely give him an outlet. I didn't think of that, but it's kind of like toys. He need to know which paper is "his."
Thanks so much everyone! I'm hoping this gets better over time and not worse. :-/
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Permalink Reply by Anna Morelli on
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I would be cautious of giving him cardboard boxes, or other paper type products to tear up, as this would still reinforce his chewing something inappropriate. I would also not leave paper on the floor as this just sets him up to fail and be scolded. Help him instead to be successful. Personally, I would not allow him on upper surfaces of any kind, be it sofa, bed, or anything else. He should know his place is ON the floor, no exeptions and there he has his toys and cannot get in trouble. If paper should accidentally fall, of course I would tell him no. He does not know chewing paper is wrong, dogs don't think that way. He knows it's fun, but he also knows it's not fun when you are around, so he does not do it then. I would set a few mousetraps on the table, or wherever he tries to go for notebooks, sitting on top of the notebook when you are home, so that if he tries to jump up when you are in another room he will be startled, unsuccessful, you'll hear it right away and can then give him a piece of your mind. When you leave him home alone, either crate, or make sure all upper surfaces yield nothing. General training and exercise will also keep him physically and mentally stimulated, so he does not need to relieve boredom.
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Permalink Reply by Katy on
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Yes, Buddha loves and always has loved, to shred paper from 7 weeks of age. He destroyed his first set of AKC papers. If he finds paper in his "domain" it shall be shredded, and he's going on 8yrs. He's only destroyed one shoe in his lifetime and never again after the ensuing discipline. Maddie on the other hand, like to eat chair legs and carpet o.O'
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Permalink Reply by Vee Luther on
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one of mine loves shredding paper and the other 2 ignore it. go figure. It's pretty interesting to watch the shredding attack. I usually save an empty ceraeal box for this purpose and take it outside on the terrace and let 'er rip. I think it might be in that category of "this is my job" , because that one corgi is so dedicated. Otherwise, we just keep paper far away from the culprit.
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Permalink Reply by Julia on
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One of my pups at the "Puppy Primer" book that came with his first day of puppy class. That's how I learned about the lower shelves of bookcases :(
Reading this thread made me realize that I haven't had a wastebasket on the floor for twenty years. Not very elegant, I know, but it just seems normal to me now.
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Permalink Reply by Roger/Laurie on
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My Tenby (age 5) is a shredder. He doesn't chew the paper just shreds it, even the smallest receipt he finds on the floor.. Because of his vet visits and daily medication I have suggested more than once that Tenby get a job. We could get a truck and have people throw in all the papers they need shredded. He would be happy and help pay for his medical expenses.
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