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toilet paper thief

2K views 11 replies 12 participants last post by  SMBC 
#1 · (Edited)
tissue thief

Harvey has always had a thing for tissues but it has gotten out of control lately. Everyone in the house has a bad cold and I'm careful to keep the bathroom doors closed (so he can't get in the trash) and keep the tissue boxes out of his way but my parents always put tissues in their pockets and he is stealing them right out of their pockets!!! He's so fast, they don't even know he did it until they see him run off and realize their tissue supply is gone. lol.

He was practically drooling while watching me blow my nose today just waiting for me to put the tissue in his reach. Why do dogs love dirty tissues?? It is so gross.

Anyway, I was wondering how bad it is for them to eat tissues?? He loves to play keep away so I try to just ignore him when he gets a tissue (although it's very hard not to laugh when he steals it out of pockets).
 
#2 ·
Winnie loves tissues and toilet paper. I don't know why, he just does. We deal with this by having trash cans that have lids. It keeps him out. He's never had any problems with eating the paper. It usually passes when he goes to the bathroom. He's never gone for anyone's pockets, so no advice there! It's, funny, though. What a naughty little thief!
 
#4 ·
TP in the can and cans on the TP

What I did for the toilet paper is take a few of empty soda cans, put some pennies in each can, and tape the openings closed. Stack as many cans as you can on the roll of toilet paper and wait. You want as much noise as you can get when the cans hit the floor. When the dog goes for the TP the cans fall and make a racket. I only had to do it once. Have not had a TP issue since.

I have a large house plant in the entry with 5-6 cans stacked around the base. If I remove the cans Levi eats the volcanic rock in the potting soil. With the cans in place he leaves it alone. For now I am just living with the cans.

As far as napkins and tissue we just have to guard them. Levi will snatch them from your hand if you are not paying attention. He really loves socks also. If you are carrying socks he will come from behind and snatch them.

I used to walk around in the morning with me socks in my back pocket. He could pick my pocket without me even knowing. Next thing I know...soggy socks.
 
#5 ·
Lol I also have a major toilet paper / kleenex thief. Started from day 1 and she always goes for it when there's a chance. Today she snuck up on my dinner guests and stole their napkins of their laps!! Bounce laundry sheets are a target too, she goes Nuts when she sees one! I usually manage to pry most of them out of her mouth before she can swallow them, although I'm sure she's snuck some I havn't noticed.
 
#6 ·
There's some training that can help make life a bit easier...the more you practice, the better the dogs get. This utilizes clicker training and it is one place where without the clicker...it's much harder to be successful due to the timing/presentation of the reinforcer (treats),

Take a tissue (piece of toilet paper, paper towel, napkin...bounce sheet....sock....etc...). Crumple it up so it's hidden in your fist. Hold out your fist. Your dog will probably give it a quick sniff. As soon as his nose comes off, click, and give him a treat. At the click, hide the tissue-hand behind your back. When he's done chewing, re-present. Practice lots of times...20+. Your dog will not touch your hand... and you will think ... "He's bored!". He isn't bored...he's smart and figured out that it pays to leave the tissue alone.

Now... take a look at your hand. The tissue is in your closed fist. Your finger tips are touching the palm of your hand. This is 100% closed. Remove the tips of your fingers from your palm, so that your hand is only 95% closed. Do several repetitions like this. And some more. And some more. And then open your hand further... and further...and further.

When you are able to present the tissue flat on your hand... wave it a tiny bit. Click when your dog gives you the (super scientific) "I will NOT touch it!" look. Feed a great treat after every click. Repeat, every few repetitions, increasing the amount of waving your tissue is doing.

Repeat with other items (always starting with a new item closed in your fist, the progression takes a shorter period of time every time you go through this.)

With over 80% of dogs/puppies we get to waving an item in the first session.
Common errors:
-Adding a word to it. In class we do add in a "Leave It" later, but the tempting item should be the cue to leave it. Way easier for us!
-Opening your hand to show the dog what you have. Yesterday a puppy went from not touching the hand to frantically clawing and grabbing because the owner had thought "He was bored and won't look at it." The goal is the dog not touching!
-Keeping the tissue hand out all the time. Hold it out when you're ready. Remove it after the click. Leaving the tempting item out for a long time can make the dog less successful.
 
#8 ·
Ahhh, yes -- Sophie practically drools watching someone blow their nose! Ewwwww!!!!
 
#9 ·
When Maggie was about 9wks, I was working midnights and decided to take a nap on the couch before her vet appointment (she was REALLY sick when we got her) She didn't like being trapped in the bathroom all day, so, we had puppy proofed the house and I decided to let her walk around the living room and clean any messes when I got up. I woke up in a cocoon of shredded TP and there was baby Maggie wagging her tail, SO proud of herself....she'd shredded 2 4 packs of TP...apparently I looked cold.
 
#10 ·
Cody is a big paper thief and will also take tissue out of your pocket. He will eat the toilet paper off the roll :doh:, take napkins off the table...

Jake was a big paper-eater also but never ate the toilet paper and never took paper from the trash cans.

I'm going to try the cans in the bathroom to start, I'd like to be able to have my toilet paper on the roll instead of on the shelf!

I haven't used clicker training before, am wondering if I could use it as described above even though I don't in the rest of his training? Or would it be better to train/practice the exercise with treats only, as that is what he is used to? It would be nice to wipe my nose without a salivating dog watching me..
 
#11 ·
We have the same issue with the toilet paper! We are considering getting a motion detected air blower to put above the tp roll. Do you think this would work? Sounds the like the cans with coins worked, but our holder is in the wall so we can't balance anything on it.

Thanks!
 
#12 ·
We used to have the same issue with our dog, and now currently, our cat. Our cat literally puts the end of the toilet paper in his mouth and runs and leaves a trail of toilet paper throughout the house, and he also eats it. But, our dog used to do the same thing, as well as go into the garbages and eat the used kleenex (eww). But we never had any issues, and I don't think it would be bad unless they ate tons and tons of toilet paper, but I think it would take a lot. I do think it was partially our fault though. We used to give our dog the empty cardboard toilet paper and paper towel rolls, and he would run around the house with it, and then destroy it into little pieces. He ABSOLUTELY loved doing that...so maybe he was just trying to get it down to the little roll, who knows.
 
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