# What is it about paper towels?!?!



## kardut (May 25, 2017)

So our 20-month-old rescue has been with us for about a month now, settling in. But he is totally, completely, crazily infatuated with paper towels...to the point of ignoring the plate of food next to the towel! We have taught him "leave it," and he'll do a good job of that if we see him eyeing one. If he does grab a towel when our back is turned, he'll give it back to us without too much protest. But he's just so, so, so focused on them. (If they weren't so bad for his gut, I'd even consider using them for clicker work -- that's how high value they are!)

We've tried spraying with bitter apple, but he didn't take the bait. And I know management -- keeping the paper towels out of reach -- is the best solution. But life happens, and I yearn for the day when I don't have to police the house for paper goods left on the table!

Funny thing is that he is otherwise very submissive and looks to us for permission before doing anything. He won't even go up/down stairs or to his food bowl unless we give him the OK. Yet he makes the beeline to the paper as soon as our back is turned. 

Not sure I'm looking for any answers (unless someone has a great suggestion), but just wondering if anyone else's pup has such a paper fetish...


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## CAROLINA MOM (May 12, 2009)

My bridge boy had a napkin fetish and he was extremely sneaky about it too. 

We have always eaten dinner at the couch watching sports, he would come up to your plate as if he was about to take something off of it. While you were guarding your plate, he would take off with your napkin.........

He lived to be 15.5, I was never able to break him of this habit of his and he too often caught us off guard. He ate the napkins before I could get it away from him. Goodness knows in 15.5 years, he ate a lot of them.


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## cwag (Apr 25, 2017)

Rukie's paper product of choice is kleenex. He's addicted.


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## jennretz (Jul 24, 2013)

When I did my training to foster, the #1 callout for resource guarding behavior is paper (toilet, napkins, paper towels)....I don’t get the appeal but I’m not a dog 


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## Charliethree (Jul 18, 2010)

My rescued lab mix who is just over 6 yrs. old has a 'thing' for toilet paper and table napkins (used, of course). He used to steal the whole roll and shred it, or shred it straight off the holder, now he takes the end, and drags out a few yards, and chews up what he thinks is 'enough' and leaves the rest for us. For him I think it is just plain old fun, though I this kind of makes sense. '

"What is going on here is not particularly pathological nor is it unexplainable. Dogs, particularly puppies, explore the world, first with their noses, and then with their mouths. Somewhere encoded in the canine genetic makeup is some kind of memory or preference for certain touch sensations such as the feel of fur or of feathers in their mouths. Such touch sensations seem to give dogs a thrill and can trigger a desire to mouth, tear, and shred things associated with those feelings. You can experience this for yourself if you take a clean facial tissue or a piece of toilet paper and place it in your mouth — it feels like a combination of fur and feathers — those totally irresistible feelings for a dog. Dogs seldom actually swallow much of this tissue paper since, when it gets wet, it turns into some mushy thing which no longer is of much interest."

From the article: Why Do Dogs like to Shred Tissues? by Stanley Coren (Psychology Today)

perhaps you could try making him a toy? (from the same article)

'So here is the perfect (and inexpensive) dog toy. Take a deep cotton knit sweat sock (or a flannel sock if you have one) and then take one of those small plastic bottles that water is sold in. When empty these bottles make a crackling sound when they are crushed. Take the empty bottle and insert it into the sock, then tie off the end (or sew the end if you are feeling ambitious) and toss this new toy to your dog. That's it! Your dog will be attracted to the sock toy, and once in his mouth, the fact that it now responds with interesting noises when he bites hit it makes this a very desirable thing for him to play with. The dog will work on this toy, intermittently, for many hours, making this a wonderful diversion for him — if you can put up with the crackling noise going on around you while he plays with it. Just remember that for our favorite domesticated predator it is the fact that toys can be bitten and torn that makes them fun.'


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## swishywagga (Nov 13, 2012)

My boy LOVED toilet rolls, he would literally wrap himself up in them, even two years on since he passed I still pick up tissues etc off the floor thinking he's still around to feast on them!.


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## Ruha (Nov 17, 2018)

1.5 year-old Ruby drives us nuts with her paper and cloth obsession. Paper (napkins, paper towel, tissues and sometimes newspaper) is to shred up and make a mess. Cloth (socks, towels, underwear, sweaters) is just to have in her mouth and proudly show us how clever she is (to put something in her mouth?...really? OK...she's a dog). I guess it's to get our attention. But it has gotten old. I have heard varying accounts that this will soon/will never stop. I wouldn't care if so much if I knew it would not end up with us rushing her to an emergency room. Our prior two Labs never had this. So weird.


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## Julie Timmons (Dec 16, 2016)

My 2yr old loves gloves! He won’t go after hands but if you are wearing a glove he tries to pull it off your hand. I have no idea why he has this obsession! Once he gets one, he just wants to carry it around. 


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