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Shredding puppy pads... >.<


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Well, as the title states, my puppy has begun to shred pee pads. He does this whether we're home or not. He has no shortage of toys, usually has food available (except lately he's been eating his portions quickly and not having much leftover at bedtime), and has bones to gnaw on.

I'm very worried he is going to ingest the stuff and get sick. He has a vet appt tomorrow morning for shots, so while I'm there I'm going to bring it up to the vet as well.

 

Any tips on getting him to stop this?

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Do you have a necessity for pee pads? Most people I know that raise pups don't use them but instead follow some simple rules for potty training - potty the pup when waking; after eating, drinking, and playing; potty frequently; always keep the pup with you (tethering or just being in the same location); use a crate for downtime, naps, and times when you can't be there or be supervising.

 

I think you are right to be concerned. While many pups don't swallow things they rip up, some do, and I had one that did. His odd bouts of vomiting were explained when he hacked up a huge wad of indigestible material (fibers, plastic bits, etc.) from toys he'd chewed and then swallowed bits of their components. It could have been worse as he could have had a blockage.

 

Perhaps you could substitute management for pee pads? Once a self-rewarding habit is started ("Wow, this is fun!"), it can be impossible to stop it when you can't or don't remove the factors (pee pads) that make it possible.

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Management is always the best choice, but for those of us who work full time, that isn't always an option for the hours we are gone from home. I use a pee pad in my puppy's crate because I'm gone at work, and although someone does come in and let him out during the day, I want any accidents contained. I find that my recent youngsters have all wanted to shred the disposable pee pads. I had bought some washable reusable pee pads for my older dog who sometimes has bouts of incontinence, and have used these in the two most recent puppies' crates with good success. Not only do they seem to stay drier to the touch when peed on, but they also don't seem to invite being chewed nearly so much. (The 4 month old no longer has pee pads in her crate, but she did have a habit of chewing holes in the *reverse*--impervious--side of the pee pads, which sort of defeats their usefulness if the holes get big enough. At that point I decided she had graduated from using pee pads since she wasn't having any accidents anyway.)

 

The resuable ones aren't terribly expensive and I'm sure I've saved $$ in the long run over the disposables, not to mention that I'm not creating more trash to go into the landfills. Of course in my case, the expectation is that I will use them for much longer than you'd need for the average puppy, but I still think it could be cheaper than the disposables, even over the short term. Once you're done with them, you can donate to a friend with a puppy, shelter, or vet practice, or just put away and save for the other end of your pup's life, when old age issues might necessitate their resurrection.

 

I ordered mine off Amazon:

http://www.amazon.com/Pack-Reusable-Washable-Housebreaking-Training/dp/B00BOVB4IG/ref=sr_1_3?s=pet-supplies&ie=UTF8&qid=1424700693&sr=1-3&keywords=pee+pads+washable

 

I like these because they have a soft, quilted top that's more like regular soft bedding.

 

I also use the EZ Whelp washable pad, the larger size I've linked to is the perfect size for an Xpen (they come in smaller sizes too). When my geriatric dog pees while in the pen when I'm at work, you can't even tell unless you look really closely. It feels fairly dry to the touch even after having been peed on.

 

http://www.amazon.com/EZwhelp-Washable-Whelping-Puppy-Pad/dp/B003AY7GIC/ref=pd_sim_petsupplies_6?ie=UTF8&refRID=17ZYTWQ7FGBHF6S21146

 

Like I said, I bought these for my older (nearly 15) dog who has old-age related anxiety issues that lead her to pee (and poop) when left alone. Containing her in an Xpen (she also had old-age related anxiety in a crate that makes it nearly impossible to crate her if I don't want her to tear her face up on the crate door and make a complete poopy mess of herself and crate) on the larger pad has saved my sanity. When the pups came along, I borrowed the smaller pads from Kat to use for the puppies.

 

All have held up well to repeated washing and drying. Other than the holes Kiss put in them, which so far haven't affected their efficacy, they have worked quite well.

 

P.S. Even the smaller pads are a bit larger than the surface of the crate floor. What I have done is put bedding down--usually just a simple bath mat type thing, and then put the pee pad over top, tucking the edges underneath the bedding all the way around. No upturned edges leads to less temptation, since edges are often where chewing starts.

 

J.

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I think it's the paper. All 3 of my dogs love to eat paper. Tommy shredded library books but she finally stopped that. I also learned to put the books somewhere other than the bed when I leave. Magazines were a hit for a while so I started throwing them away as soon as I am done with them. They have staples and I don't want the dogs eating those.

 

Joey loves to snack on toilet paper if he can get ahold of it.

 

Zeke just likes to tear up anything that's paper - paper towels, toilet paper, pee pads. Whatever. He doesn't care. I just have to be sure everything is up.

 

I've never had a problem with anybody getting sick on paper but I don't think it's good for them so I just check all the paper sources out before I leave to be sure they are up.

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Yes, I do need to use the pee pads because my sister and I are only home with him 3 days a week (Sat-Sun-Mon). Last night he didn't shred them, thankfully. It's about every other time we put them down that he does it. We do have hardwood floor so it is still easy to clean up messes if we don't put the pads down, but then it's also easier to step in it, too! Lol.

I have to leave here in a few minutes to go to vet, but will read over responses more thoroughly when I get home later this afternoon!

 

Thanks!

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Don't you have the pee pad holder tray thingy in the pet stores there? Our new pup is pretty much done using his but we still leave it in his cage when we have to go out for anything longer than a few hours. The pad is sandwiched under the top grill so the pup can't get at it. They are good for the few months you need them and the dogs seem to grow out of using them and end up just sleeping on it...lol. Maybe these are just a lazy Japanese thing.

 


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Julie - He is by himself from about 9am to 4pm only four days a week. Sometimes my nephew or SIL (who live next door) come to let him out, but not often. He is NOT in his crate at all; he has the entire kitchen, half the living room, and a hallway blocked off.

 

I do not have a pee pad holder - I *think* I may have seen them at Petco, though! I think he'd still manage to shred the pad a bit though.

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Julie--THANKS so much for the washable link! I always hate myself when I break down and use pads when I have pups (like now) in the x pen because they are as evil as disposable diapers. It never occurred to me that they would make washable ones! YAY! (But they are pricey),

A

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I don't want to make another new thread right away, but along with the shredding of puppy pads, Sutter has been displaying some food aggression signs. He is fine with his kibble, but with treats he races away, growls/barks, and shovels the treats in his mouth faster. Normally when he does this I firmly tell him NO, pet him and say good boy as long as he's being civil, or, I'll take the treat away.

 

He had a puppy playdate with a friend's BC pup, and they were eating ice together on the ground and Sutter freaked out on the other pup, who returned the barking/growling/nipping, and Sutter came running behind me crying.

I have contacted a trainer/behaviour specialist so we will probably begin classes in a few weeks (private ones are so spendy, wow!), but until then, what are some things I can do to cut back on this behaviour? He gets treats several times a day, so I think I'm going to cut back to giving him treats unless we're training on obedience commands. Then he can just have a stuffed Kong to keep him busy. He is not aggressive when he has his Kong.

Why is he doing this? I do not want a food aggressive dog! :(

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If you take the treats away from him when he guards them, you're just proving to Sutter that he has good reason to fear loosing them.

 

I like the trading up game, where you offer the pup something even better than what he has. As soon as he releases the first item, you praise lavishly and give him the better one. Then you give him the original item back, too.

 

This is a topic that comes up frequently here. You could try searching the archives for "resource guarding" and "trading up." You'll find lots of helpful suggestions.

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Thanks GentleLake, I will definitely search resource guarding and trading up. :) I hope the trading up will work, but he seems to think that whatever he has is way better than anything else I could offer him! lol I'm also going to look into maybe adding clicker training into the mix to see if that will help him too.

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Just tried a quick trading up session. Gave Sutter a little sweet potato and duck meat stick. He did his usual "turn away" and run away from me thing. When I approached him I asked him to give me the stick, and showed him a piece of beef (from canned dog food) instead. After about 3 repetitions, I then approached him without the chunk of beef and asked him to give me the stick. He immediately did so without any bad behaviour! :)

 

I will work with him on this a couple of times a day!

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That's great! You did give him the treat back after he gave it to you, I hope.

 

Keep reinforcing him for a while on this until he's not showing any signs of hesitation to give you the initial treat. Stopping the reinforcement too early can result in his backsliding. You want him to be completely sure that you're no competition for high value objects.

 

Really, you want him to not just object, but to be happy to give things up to you. Don't try to cut corners and rush this before you have it fully proofed.

 

Great start, though.

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Yes, I gave him the piece of wet dog food and his stick back!

 

He was playing the same game with his tennis ball while fetching so I was also working with him on dropping the ball when I asked, and rewarding him with a piece of kibble, and then throwing the ball for him again. He will get the hang of it. :)

 

I am definitely going to continue working with him, even after he's not showing any signs of hesitation.

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  • 1 month later...

Thanks to Julie for the washable pad links! Megan, with her kidney failure issues, is doing a bit of leaking at times and I ordered pads for covering her nighttime bed and day areas.

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Megan's leaking is totally connected to her kidney failure and the increased water intake that that requires. So I don't know if that would be helpful to her. I have to be careful to not give her anything that will compromise her already-damaged kidney function. I shall try and find out if this is something to try, though, and thank you for suggesting it.

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I've worked full time and raised several litters of pups. They get a potty box, just like a litter box. For larger (older) pups I buy one of those giant, under the bed storage containers and fill it with pelleted horse bedding (buy at feed stores like TSC). I wet the bedding down and fluff it so it turns into soft bedding and does not tempt the pups to eat the pellets. They do have to be taught to use it. I place a lightly soiled puppy pad at the bottom so the smell attracts them. You can scoop the potty box almost like you would a cat litter box.

 

Some decide to be little devils and dig it in, but better wood shavings everywhere than a pup needing surgery for an intestinal blockage.

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