Obsession with paper and shoes, grrrr!

Spanishfrenchie · Aug 31, 2016

Trixie has a fascination for paper which is driving me mad! Toilet paper, kitchen paper, newspaper, wet wipes, puppy pads, everything!! If she has a wee on the floor and i try to dry with kitchen/toilet paper before disinfecting and mopping, she dives straight on top of it, biting it and running away. Does anyone have any tips? She absolutely SHREDS puppy pads even if they've been taped and secured to the floor!! For now, I need to use them as when she's awake she's drinking SO much and weeing every 5 minutes!! When she has any kind of paper i say NO firmly and try to prise it out of her mouth, tried giving her treats, it's been going on since i got her and nothing is helping. Also she's the same with shoes on the floor.. We have to put them away immediately or she chews them.. I've bought some bitter apple spray online but it doesn't arrive until next Monday. Some help would be appreciated before i lose my mind hahaha :whew:

MunasG · Aug 31, 2016

Spanishfrenchie said:
Trixie has a fascination for paper which is driving me mad! Toilet paper, kitchen paper, newspaper, wet wipes, puppy pads, everything!! If she has a wee on the floor and i try to dry with kitchen/toilet paper before disinfecting and mopping, she dives straight on top of it, biting it and running away. Does anyone have any tips? She absolutely SHREDS puppy pads even if they've been taped and secured to the floor!! For now, I need to use them as when she's awake she's drinking SO much and weeing every 5 minutes!! When she has any kind of paper i say NO firmly and try to prise it out of her mouth, tried giving her treats, it's been going on since i got her and nothing is helping. Also she's the same with shoes on the floor.. We have to put them away immediately or she chews them.. I've bought some bitter apple spray online but it doesn't arrive until next Monday. Some help would be appreciated before i lose my mind hahaha :whew:

The bitter apple spray will work for the shoes but make sure you reapply because it wears off. As for the paper well that's just a puppy thing. Nellie used to do that all the time. But I always had the tissue in my firm grasp so she never made away with it. You'll just have to keep saying NO firmly abs giving her a toy instead. Luckily Nellie was not into her pee pads

Jakeyjake · Aug 31, 2016

She will eventually grow out of it. Jake used to pull the toilet paper off the roll, shred grocery bags, newspaper, pee pads, too. It's just a puppy thing. You can also try giving her less freedom until she is older. An xpen worked great for us.

Spanishfrenchie · Sep 1, 2016

Jakeyjake said:
She will eventually grow out of it. Jake used to pull the toilet paper off the roll, shred grocery bags, newspaper, pee pads, too. It's just a puppy thing. You can also try giving her less freedom until she is older. An xpen worked great for us.

Yeah Trixie is the same.. anything thats paper or similar she's OBSESSED!! Also we have an X pen which is joined to her crate but when I get in from work i play with her for a while, but then I need to cook dinner, clean, etc so she goes in the X pen.. but my partner thinks it's cruel when we've been at work and she's still stuck in there, all excited and still wanting attention!!

Also we go for walks before bed and try to tire her out but if she's out of the X pen when we sit down to watch TV late at night she just runs around chewing everything, I feel guilty that I can't have her cuddled up on the sofa with me at night but she's so excited I know I'll get no peace and after a long day I just want half an hour to chill! Any advice??

Jakeyjake · Sep 1, 2016

Spanishfrenchie said:
Yeah Trixie is the same.. anything thats paper or similar she's OBSESSED!! Also we have an X pen which is joined to her crate but when I get in from work i play with her for a while, but then I need to cook dinner, clean, etc so she goes in the X pen.. but my partner thinks it's cruel when we've been at work and she's still stuck in there, all excited and still wanting attention!! Also we go for walks before bed and try to tire her out but if she's out of the X pen when we sit down to watch TV late at night she just runs around chewing everything, I feel guilty that I can't have her cuddled up on the sofa with me at night but she's so excited I know I'll get no peace and after a long day I just want half an hour to chill! Any advice??

Maybe keep her on a leash while you watch TV and give her a special chew that she likes. You can also stuff a small Kong with canned food and put it in the freezer as a treat. Are you able to have someone come in mid day to play with her or walk her? A tired dog is a good dog, so I would try and make sure she is getting enough exercise. She will eventually calm down as she gets older.

2bullymama · Sep 2, 2016

Do you have any antlers or bones for her to focus on?

BamaGroomer · Sep 3, 2016

Haha sounds just like Milo! He's 5 months now and wherever his head turns he goes with his mouth open. If I say "Milo do u have something in your mouth" he takes off running. Then I know he has something. They are very smart! I think like most puppies they will grow out of it. Good luck and sending u plenty of patients! Lol

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davidh · Sep 3, 2016

Sounds like typical puppy play, they love to play. As far as the puppy pads go, they all shred them. We buy the cotton washable ones. PM me or search online for reusable cotton puppy pads.

Eryn · Sep 4, 2016

Our Flint does exactly the same, as soon as he has something he runs off so that we'll chase him &#55357;&#56834;&#55357;&#56834; We've given him chews and antlers but he's not interested. They all grow out of it though (eventually). A good walk usually calms him down when he's trying to chew everything.

Spanishfrenchie · Sep 6, 2016

BITTER APPLE SPRAY ARRIVED! YAAAAY. hahaha

She sneezed and barked at the shoes then ran back to her toys, so that's worked!

As for the paper.. going by everyones advice I just need to be patient and hope she grows out of it lol!

GreatWhite · Sep 9, 2016

Spanishfrenchie said:
BITTER APPLE SPRAY ARRIVED! YAAAAY. hahaha

She sneezed and barked at the shoes then ran back to her toys, so that's worked!

As for the paper.. going by everyones advice I just need to be patient and hope she grows out of it lol!

Good news! I'm going to try that as well. Mine has a shoe obsession paired with an armpit smelling/licking obsession :bad:

blushy · Sep 10, 2016

2bullymama said:
Do you have any antlers or bones for her to focus on?

This is my only peace if I want to relax with Titan!
[MENTION=2072]GreatWhite[/MENTION] If you want to hang out on the couch and not worry about a mischievous dog, antler is my suggestion. 30 minutes is long enough for a puppy and she might not want to chew other things (as often) she shouldn't if she knows that's her chewing time.

My dog is deaf though. And I can't call him if he's wandered off getting into things... Like climbing on the fireplace and knocking all of my pictures over...

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GreatWhite · Sep 12, 2016

blushy said:
This is my only peace if I want to relax with Titan!
[MENTION=2072]GreatWhite[/MENTION] If you want to hang out on the couch and not worry about a mischievous dog, antler is my suggestion. 30 minutes is long enough for a puppy and she might not want to chew other things (as often) she shouldn't if she knows that's her chewing time.

My dog is deaf though. And I can't call him if he's wandered off getting into things... Like climbing on the fireplace and knocking all of my pictures over...

He does have antlers, doesn't seem to be too interested in them, occasionally he will opt for a bully stick or frozen peanut butter on a Nyla bone instead of a shoe but so far nothing beats a crusty old chuck taylor

blushy · Sep 12, 2016

GreatWhite said:
He does have antlers, doesn't seem to be too interested in them, occasionally he will opt for a bully stick or frozen peanut butter on a Nyla bone instead of a shoe but so far nothing beats a crusty old chuck taylor

Why did I think your dog was a girl? Whoops sorry!

You'll have to find something for "calm time" maybe a marrow bone?

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kiminmn · Sep 12, 2016

GreatWhite said:
He does have antlers, doesn't seem to be too interested in them, occasionally he will opt for a bully stick or frozen peanut butter on a Nyla bone instead of a shoe but so far nothing beats a crusty old chuck taylor

Mine prefers well worn Toms.

GreatWhite · Sep 16, 2016

blushy said:
Why did I think your dog was a girl? Whoops sorry!

You'll have to find something for "calm time" maybe a marrow bone?

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LOL No worries, I'm not offended haha

We usually do calm time an hour or so before bed just so he will chill out and be able to settle in the bed to sleep, we use bully sticks for the most part, he's getting a lot better with it since we have really buckled down on keeping a really consistent schedule with him. As for the shoe issue its actually more of an endearing quality than a problem. (so far) he hasn't actually chewed up any shoes, he just steals them from the closet and then zooms about the house like a mad man, it's actually pretty hilarious. That being said I try to discourage it anyway just because I'd rather it didn't snowball into a problem

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