4-legged Paper Shredder!!!! HELP

[Butters_Mom]

Hey,
I just came back upstairs to my apartment to discover that Butters had shredded several pieces of paper. HELP she seems to do this when I leave her alone. I am getting a kennel from a friend this week so I am pretty sure that will help. But what do I do in the meantime??

She doesn't seem to like chew toys except this one bone that she had that I had to take away because it was starting to splinter.

Any Suggestions will be appreciated. If I could take her with me everywhere in the building I would, but the mailroom/social room is offlimits to animals because there is a kitchen in the room as well.

Thanks
Jaye

[GSD]

I dont' think there's any easy solution, except don't leave anything around for her to chew in the meantime, and get a crate. She's only going to learn that its unacceptable to shred papers if you catch her in the act and correct her and give her something appropriate to chew. Everytime you can't watch her, and she shreds something, she's just gotten away with it again, and only strenghtens her will to do it more. If you don't catch her in the act you can't correct for it, so I'd get a crate for when you leave. If anyone else has a "magic bullet" let's hear it. Perserverence and timely corrections and lavish praise will get you through this. I'm sorry i forgot how old your pup/dog is. Good luck

[Crossfire Bulldogs]

I'm with GSD on this one, crate training really is the best way to go and if alone when it occurs you can't give a correction for the behavior.

[Butters_Mom]

Hi,
Thanks I figured that the crate is going to be the best solution.
She is going on 10 months old and is a cocker spaniel labrador mix.

Otherwise she has been pretty well behaved.

Jaye

[kerriebeth21]

What fun it must have been! My dogs LOVE making a mess! Like when the de-stuff a toy....it looks like it snowed in the living room! FUN STUFF!

[willowmum]

Oh Kerriebeth I so agree with you. So far mine have destuffed the sofa, more softtodys than I can remember and way too many envelopes etc to count, and yep I take a photo and clear it up. It is possible to actually move stuff and put it where they cant get at it. Also try a kong to keep her occupied when she's left alone, pups get bored very easily, if she liked the bone try getting her another one!

[Wahya]

Puppy proof what you can. Lock the pup away from what you can't move, and get bitter apple for chew spots. Mine tried to eat the house (a half wall between the kitchen and living room). I personally don't like the crate method. Crate training is most successfully done up to 8 months. After that window has passed, most dogs will concider it prison. If you do want to crate train, start slow. Leave pup in for only a few minutes at first and try to make the crate a positive place. I have a siberian huskey, so the crate is out. Huskies hate being in small places. Good luck!

[IceyBlueSibes]

Originally Posted by Wahya

I have a siberian huskey, so the crate is out. Huskies hate being in small places. Good luck!

Howdy! I see you are new! I own 2 siberian females. One is 2 1/2 and the other is 1 1/2. Funny thing is they both ADORE their crates... We cannot have one for our oldest girl though because she protects it to no end when it's out. Smaller places are actually more comfortable for dogs because it feels like a "den" for them. I think the only reason a dog would think of it as "prison" is if the crate was used in a negative way.

Do you have pics of your poochie?

[linnie]

While your busy training yours not to shred the paper would you like izzie. She not only shreds paper but instruction sheets . I go to read how to do something and find the middle eaten out of the instructions so we do a lot of ad libbing in my home roflmao.

She even eats bound books...pulls them from the bookcase grggrrrrrrr