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why does my dog eat tissue paper

neeley

hi why does my dog love to eat tissue paper ?when i try to take it from her she growls and snaps at me help thanks

•   Sami Mieir says:

  August 26th, 2008 at 10:48 PM

  Neeley, thanks for your question.

  Sometimes we never get an answer on some behaviors. There's no denying that some dogs prefer one texture over another and many pets enjoy the capability of "ripping" something (which is why destructable toys are so popular, ironically).

  It's wise of you to take the paper from your baby. If she swallows it, it could cause an intestinal blockage that would require a veterinarian to go in surgically and remove it. Sometimes this procedure can become indepth enough (and the blockage bad enough) to require removal of part of the intestines. From the behavior that she's exhibiting (growling and snapping), she may either view you taking this away from her as a game or as you being dominant (and she views herself as dominant). The best thing to do would be to teach her to "drop it". A more effective method (at least in the short term to make sure that she does not acquire an intestinal blockage during the time we're teaching her to "drop it") would be to purchase a bad-tasting product that you can place on the tissue paper. In theory, she will do her regular behavior by grabbing ahold of the paper by mouth. The bad-tasting product (which you will have already sprayed on the paper) will leave a nasty taste in her mouth. It shouldn't take but a few times before she realizes that the tissue paper isn't as fun as it used to be. The two products I would recommend would be Bitter Apple (comes in a spray) and also Yuk! (comes in a cream). Expect that she may drool uncontrollably after getting these products in her mouth. This is normal, she doesn't want to swallow the nasty-tasting stuff. The hypersalivation will stop after a short period of time, although it appears concerning.

  Here's a link to help you teach her to "drop it":http://www.petexpertise.com/dog-training-article-drop-it-and-leave-it.html?sef_rewrite=1

  Good luck, Neeley!

  Sami

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