# Should I discourage shredding?



## eeloheel (Dec 28, 2010)

Barsky loves to shred paper; I think it's his favorite thing in the world. He doesn't try to shred furniture or clothes, just paper. There isn't paper laying around everywhere and he doesn't steal it from desks, but our bunny gets recycled paper to shred and he occasionally pushes it where the dog can reach.

My first thought was to immediately discourage this, but I started thinking that I could easily turn this in to a fun stimulating game; Wrap a treat in a big ball of paper, or even tightly pack paper in to his kong for him to spend some time trying to pull out.

Do you think that if we play games likes this, it will cause him to believe that all paper he sees is a toy, or is this a potential playtime option? Is it the sort of game that can turn in to a bad obsessive habit?

(I think the rabbit and the dog have figured out some rudimentary language; sometimes the dog will let out a small whine, and Randall (bunny) will BRING him a piece of paper. They're not allowed to play together, but he knows how to slip it out of his cage. )

//Edit: It may be worth noting that he does not ingest or 'chew' on any of the paper. Just rips it in to little strips. Maybe I should have named him Toomey, like that guy from the Langoliers...)


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## sassafras (Jun 22, 2010)

Personally, I give my dogs paper, old boxes, the empty rolls from paper towels or toilet paper, etc. all the time to chew. It's one of their favorite things to do, it's cheap, and they don't eat it. In fact with Squash, much of my puppy supervision time has been spent doing crosswords while I watch him. As I finish them, I tear the page out, crumple it up, and toss it to the dogs. Instant dog toy!

I do think that it turns any paper into fair game, though, so you can't blame them later if they get something you didn't want them to shred. It's on you to keep important papers safely out of reach.

ETA: Our puppy class instructor suggested designating a specific room in the house for this kind of activity. He was using boxes as an example but you could do it with paper, too. So in room X you are given paper you are allowed to chew, but not elsewhere. Personally the layout of my entire first floor is basically one room so it's not very practical, but it might work for you if you're worried about them getting stuff you don't want them to.


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## RubyFeuer (Mar 30, 2010)

I would want to. I think it's fun to watch them rip stuff up, but I don't like it when she gets things that are important that might have blown off...so you might want to think about is it really worth it when that one important thing blows off your desk and he shreds that? Just a thing to think about really. Mine even destroyed a phone book...that was kinda funny though because we were gone for like 5 minutes and came back and it was just a spineish and shreds lol. I've tried to detour her from actual papers and she seems to be getting the point. She hasn't done anything with a paper in a while and just gets toilet paper tubes and box pieces. I hate when the wind blows over my paper towels or a tp roll (super strong wind here pretty often) and she will destroy it and it makes me mad because it's expensive and makes a massive mess.


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## winniec777 (Apr 20, 2008)

Since our dog loves it so much, I use it as a training tool. But I control all the paper. She's not allowed to just steal it. She'll still take it without permission if it's the witching hour and she's in a mood to be chased (paper being a great prize to run away with) but respects the hairy eyeball I throw at her or a quick "leave it."

Some dogs ingest the paper, which is not good. I would just make sure you're careful about what he has access to and never leave the dog unsupervised with paper. If he shows any signs of eating it, that's the end of giving him paper. Paper can cause intestinal blockages and make a dog very ill - life threatening stuff. Even after 5 years, I still watch my dog every minute she has paper and pick it up as soon as she's done the shredding part to make sure she doesn't go on to chew on it some more and accidentally swallow any of it.


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## hanksimon (Mar 18, 2009)

I agree with everyone 
1. If the dog doesn't swallow, I don't see a little harmless destruction. I used to give one of my dogs Styrofoam to rip up. He never swallowed and it was a horrible mess for me to clean up, but he looked like it was the dental equivalent of popping bubblewrap !
2. Make sure that he understands that only some paper is his, the rest is yours ... ALWAYS. For example, my dog likes to destroy toilet paper rolls. He is not even allowed to sniff toilet paper... But the empty cardboard rolls are his...
3. And like winnie said, you can sometimes use the paper as a lure or as a reward....


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## Elliebell (Mar 13, 2011)

In my house the rule is that my dog is allowed to take things from our paper recycling bin to shred. So we'll put paper, old cereal boxes, that kind of stuff in there and if she feels the need to shred, she can take stuff from there. Of course, the only stuff that's in there is the stuff we're recycling anyway, so there's no danger of important documents in there.


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## lil_fuzzy (Aug 16, 2010)

I let my dogs shred cardboard boxes and paper. Cardboard definitely is more fun because it takes heaps longer.

The downside is that puppy came across one of hubby's old childhood books that had fallen on the floor one day, and ripped it to shreds....


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