My little Schnauzer girl, Dusty, loves anything to do with paper and cardboard. When we were walking in her favorite park recently, she encountered a coupon that had floated into a drain near the sidewalk. She immediately stopped to check it out and try to carry it away with her to destroy after her walk was completed. Of course, I had to wrestle it away from her and put it out of sight in my pocket. It made me wonder: Are all dogs fascinated with paper and cardboard?
In Dusty’s situation, I’d like to blame it on her age. As we all know, young dogs like to get into everything, but paper of all sorts seems to be her favorite. We no longer have a magazine rack in the house, thanks to Dusty’s skills at pulling every magazine out on the floor. The television guide now sits in the center of the coffee table, out of reach from her puppy paws.
We even have to be very coy about taking the last sheet of toilet paper off the roll, as she immediately wants the cardboard roll. In the early days we thought giving her the toilet paper roll to play with would be inexpensive, supervised, fun. That’s before we had to track down soggy pieces of cardboard that she placed around the house.
Dusty is also a big fan of the paper bags that we bring home from Trader Joe’s or Whole Foods. Dusty is only 14 inches long, so it’s easy for her to crawl inside the paper bags and play. Her favorite paper bags have handles on them. This allows her to drag the bag to a secluded area before the dismantling begins.
Our Schnauzer boy, Buzz, loved paper towel rolls. He was well past his puppy stage when he discovered how much fun the cardboard rolls were. After the last paper towel was pulled from the roll, we would look down to the floor and see Buzz waiting patiently for his special surprise. He would take the roll to his favorite mat in the living room, destroy the cardboard roll completely down to shreds, and then get up and walk away. Of course, yours truly had to collect the pieces and place them in the recycling bin.
For Buzz, the paper towel rolls would become his favorite toy to play with. He even talked his grandma into collecting all of her paper towel rolls and mailing them to him each month in his own special delivery box. Of course, the occasional doggy treat would also be included.
I’m not sure if destroying paper and cardboard is in a dog’s DNA or, if it’s just a lot of fun to them. Maybe it’s the feel of the paper in their mouths or the smell of soggy paper and cardboard. Maybe it’s the sound of crumpled paper when it’s being shredded by a dog’s jaws and paws. Whatever the reason, I’ve never met a dog that didn’t love to destroy paper and cardboard.
Do your dogs love destroying cardboard or paper? What funny or interesting experiences have you had? Let us know in the comments!
Check out these other articles about strange doggy habits on Dogster:
• What Are the Weirdest Things Your Dog Has Buried?
• Are Your Dogs as Obsessed With Stinky Things as Mine Are?
• Does Your Dog Sing? Is It a Blessing or a Curse?
• Why Dogs Dig, and What You Can Do About It
Featured Image Credit: Muk Photo, Shutterstock
