Eating paper?

[Melissa]

OK, so I did a search and found some stuff on doodles shreding paper, however no one mentioned their doodles eating the paper that they shred.  Buddy seems to be able to find pieces of paper or take out menus and when it is quiet and I go to see what he is doing, he has actually torn off pieces and they are no where to be found and usually the next day I see it come out in his poop.

 

Has anyone else had this issue where they actually eat the paper?  If so, do they grow out of it? Is he telling us he is hungry?  We feed him twice a day and then supplement with a couple of treats in the afternoon. I know we have to be more diligent about not leaving paper out but I am really hoping this is just a phase.  He is almost 8 months. 

 

Thanks!

[Lesley, Wellington & Bingley]

You can try a homeopathic recommendation for paper eating. Both my doods (as pups) chewed/ate wood above anything else and so a calcium imbalance is suggested. Calcarea phosphorica 6x (calcium phosphate tablets) did the trick. After a few days on those which I got from a health food store neither dood chewed wood again.

This is also recommended for paper eaters - especially tissue eaters.

[F, Calla & Luca]

Do you know how that works?

[shelly]

Wow! I must have missed this in the first readings I did... do you have to have their blood tested to see if they are lacking calcium? What's in the tissues that satisfies their lack of calcium? I don't think you can just give a dog calcium without a blood test, can you????? This really intrigues me as sometimes Tori has more bouts of paper eating than others... I just chalk it up to US being CARELESSabout leaving paper around.... maybe not

[Adina P]

I don't think it means he's hungry...some dogs swallow what they chew and others don't. Rosco typically doesn't swallow what he chews...but sometimes he does =)

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

I'm pretty sure both of my Doodles would chew and swallow paper if they had the chance. They think anything laying on the floor or in "ready reach" is a chew toy. I have to be careful to keep paper and other things I don't want them to chew up where they can't get to it. All of our trash cans are now put where they can't get to them...I know they would consider the paper items to be a "delicacy". I'm not sure it's a phase. They like and need to chew, so I always make sure they have antlers or other safe chew toys to satisfy that need.

[Camilla and Darwin]

Darwin typically doesn't eat what he chews, but occasionally, he does. He has never had a problem with rope toys, but one time, for some reason, he swallowed a huge clump of one of them. I had to induce vomiting, the piece he swallowed was about the size of a golf ball, maybe a little bigger. Silly dog! Now I watch him carefully when he is chewing ANYTHING. I think he would eat paper if given the chance.

[Joanne ~ Spud*]

Yum. I'd say half of my dogs eat paper. None eat recyclable paper--I guess it tastes bad. They love clothing tags and tickets--heavier grade paper. . Yep, my Pete ate some good concert tickets once.

When the lawn is mowed and a pile may be missed in the grass--paper sheds into the wind.

I have used the phrase, " The dog ate it", and it was the truth!

[Carol and Banjo]

One of the greatest joys of Banjo's life is a good tag! Personally I prefer a nice glass of Merlot.

[Candy & Hudson]

Too funny!! :D

[Deirdre]

Gus ate paper towels, and Kleenex and many other paper items. I was always pulling paper wads out of his mouth he stopped eating socks, wood chips, and paper at about the age of 2-21/2. If I dropped a paper towel on the floor in his mind it was a piece of filet!

[Julie, Boomer, Milo & Casey]

Did your dog ingest socks? Mine has done that (he's 18mo now). We have all laundry behind closed doors now (its hard with small children) but he has no access to socks. Its a constant concern of ours though. I don't know if he'd eat a sock now (he probably would) but he hasn't had access to one so I don't know if he's outgrown it or not. My concern is that we are leaving him with an in-home boarding place in a few weeks. I told her that all socks had to be out of reach. Its a real concern and until/unless you have a dog that ingests them, I don't think people realize how serious it can be.

[Deirdre]

Gus didn't eat socks he swallowed then whole! He did this many times they would always reapper about 1-3 weeks later when he would throw them up. My daughters adult size 9 socks, told her I was going to wash them and she could wear them again, she started picking up her socks. Knee highs were the worse it took some work to poop those out. I'm so happy he's grown up. I never saw him put a sock into his mouth only saw the after effects, he was good.