Puppy chews/scratches her diaper-pad

[kat.villacortalopez]

Hi! My two-three months old puppy likes to bite rugs, newspaper, and specially her diaper pad...although the diaper bitting just happens when I am not watching her, I have read that sometimes it is just out of anxiety, but how can I make her stop? She has other toys laying around but she chooses the -already peed on- diaper.

 

When I cannot see her, I have make aside an space in the laundry room separated from my older dog for her to be in. My dogs aren’t allow inside the house (we have a terrace where they spent most of the day), and my older dog has made her peace with it.

 

Anyways, the destroying her diaper pad only happens when she has spent a long time in there (mostly through the night).

 

Any tips? Is this just a phase?

[Adrienne Farricelli]

Hello, and welcome to the forums,

Congrats on your new puppy!

 

Shredding pee pads can happen due to boredom, under stimulation (shredding is a way to vent their pent-up needs for play and mental stimulation) and anxiety can cause that too (for example dogs who are boarded and away from their families are known for shredding their beds when they never do it at home.)

 

Some puppies may even decide to start shredding their wee wee pads if they notice that this is the only way they can get their owner's attention. Even if they end up being scolded, these pups may feel that negative attention is better than no attention at all!

 

However, there may be a fun component too and often that's the most likely cause. Because the mere texture of the pee pads is pleasant in the mouth, combined with the fact that the pee pads can be easily ripped apart (which mimics what dogs did naturally in the wild to prey), certainly leads to an entertaining, highly reinforcing experience.

 

It's not surprising, therefore, that when it comes to shredding pee pads to pieces, this behavior can quickly and potentially become habit-forming (as the behavior tends to strengthen and repeat).

 

I am pretty sure this is frustrating as those pee pads are expensive (and rugs are even more!), not to mention it's quite a chore picking up all those minute pieces. On top of that, shredded pee pads defeat their main purpose which is to collect and absorb the puppy's' waste.

 

So what can be done about it? Here are a few ideas:

 

-A good starting point is to make the activity of shredding the pee pads a more difficult task. This can be done by taping the pee pads down to the floor or by placing a heavy object on them so that the puppy cannot remove them. However, some puppies enjoy the "resistance" created and will tug on one side and pull the and shred the pee pads even more.

 

-A better option may be investing in a special pee pad holder (shaped sort of like tray) to help keep the pad in place. The pad tray acts as holder, considering that it has latches purposely designed to lock the pad securely in place and ensuring it stays flat. There are mixed reviews on these trays tough with some owners reporting success and others still reporting the shredding, so this is something worthy of considering.

 

-Alternatively, you can try to invest in washable, reusable housebreaking pads. These are made of fabric and they also help save money in the long run. Many puppy owners have had success with these, although a determined puppy who is bored may even try to rip these apart.

 

-For very stubborn cases, the use of those "grass-like doggy litter boxes" may provide a suitable replacement. It may just take a bit of an adjustment period to transfer dogs to their use. As a plus though, these work great if dog owners ever decide to potty train their dog to go potty outside one day on grass.

 

-If you are at home and can supervise the puppy throughout the day, training the puppy the leave it cue can be helpful and even potentially life saving that day the puppy or dog grabs something potentially harmful. You can find how to train "leave it" here: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/brain-training/obedience-101/take-leave-it/

 

-Ensure your puppy has access to plenty of toys (rotate them every now and then to keep her interest alive and invest in interactive food-dispensing toys that provide a mental workout) and ensure that she is provided sufficient play time, training, socialization and mental stimulation so that he has less opportunity to think about ripping things apart. Puppy classes are great at this age!

 

- If you offer your puppy a toy that she has seen too often, she will likely lose interest in it. Try instead, offering toys that you keep handy for the purpose that are rotated, or even better, a toy that has food in it (stuffed Kong, Buster cube, Kong Wobbler-you can use kibble in this latter one etc) that will keep her busy and reward her for making a good choice.

 

-Last but not least, use management. If you are there to actively supervise, you can tell your puppy "leave it" the moment you notice her attempt to bite/scratch the rug, but when you are not there, either keep her away from the rug area or move the rug away to prevent rehearsal of the problem behavior.

 

To answer your question, this is likely a phase-but don't expect her to grow over it on her own. While pups as they grow older lose interest in tearing things apart just as the (hopefully!) lose interest in nipping all the time and chasing their tails, lack of intervention (or the doing the wrong things) may cause some pups to persist in these behaviors carrying them along past puppyhood.

 

Hope this helps,

Keep us posted

Best,

Adrienne

Edited May 15, 2019 by Adrienne Farricelli

[kat.villacortalopez]

Great advice! For now I have used the pad holder...but she smells it and pees outside of it :( haha I know she knows that’s her place but yet doesn’t stand in the middle of the thing. I will do the rotation thing, I was leaving all her toys around.

 

I try to play as much as I can with here, hopefully she’ll grow out of it soon. Thanks!

[Adrienne Farricelli]

I hear you, pee pad training can be quite a challenge and many pups struggle with it. It's often much easier taking them directly out to eliminate if that's a feasible option. Here' a few more ideas that come to mind.

 

-At your pup's age consider that she hasn't yet attained much bladder and bowel control. By the time she realizes it's time to potty, she may have already soiled the area. Better bladder and bowel control come with age.

- It helps to cover a large area with pads to up the chances for success, but since your pup likes to shred the pads, this may mean placing several pad holders and pads placed side-by-side to provide a larger surface area, but this can turn costly.

-To help set your pup for success, rather than placing the pee pad in the farthest corner of the house, it helps to make it easy-peasy to find. To a small puppy, an average room is quite large and by the time she realizes she has to go potty, she may pee/poop on herself. The smaller her confinement area, the more salient the pee pad will be and the easier it will be to reach.

-When you know it's time for your puppy to potty, you can try to keep her contained in an enclosed pen with the pad strategically located at the opposite side from her bed, water bowl and toys. Pups should instinctively avoid soiling where they sleep, eat and play.

-Always keep the pee pads' location the same. If you really must change location, make sure to do so gradually inch-by-inch over the course of several days.

-Make sure the location of the pee pad is quiet and with not many distractions going on.

-Avoid scolding your puppy for missing the pad. Scolding potentially associates your presence with punishment causing the puppy to want to potty secretly out of sight perhaps behind a chair or under a bed. Always praise and reward your puppy for using the pee pads as she should.

-Clean up your puppy's accidents with an enzyme-based cleaner which removes traces of residual odors. Consider that to a dog, any residual odors from previous accidents potentially triggers them to soil on them once again.

-If your puppy won't potty on the pad, sometimes placing a little drop of urine on it from a previous mess can help your puppy identify the pee pads as the place to potty.

-Once your puppy learns to reliably used the pads in his enclosure, you can gradually increase his confinement area (keeping the pads always in the same place) until he graduates to being left loose in the house and remembering where to go.

 

Toys can work great for distracting, especially if they are toys that you can stuff with food or are toys she hasn't seen for a while and you can increase their attractiveness my wiggling them around. Hopefully, she'll learn to find interactive toys more appealing than ripping those pads apart especially now that they are in a pad holder and more difficult to grab!