Destroying newspaper whilst home alone.

[babybluegirl 3,381]

Hi there,

Well today I went out of the house at 12:50pm and came home at 3:30pm to see Riley behind the baby gate with newspaper bits everywhere! He has played and ripped the newspaper with his mouth and the pieces scattered around the floor. Obviously he has done this whilst I was out and he was home alone, so I'm wondering what should I do in this case, i.e. do I punish him because of what he's done?

I normally come home from being out/work and he's sat behind the baby gate waiting for me and I go over to him, have my high pitched excited voice on about how I've missed him and give him lots of hugs and kisses. I really didn't think I should do this today after coming home to see the mess everywhere. Am I right to not give him the positive attention I normally give him? Instead, I used my low voice and said "NO", but obviously not sure if I should as the damage has already been done?!? Normally if I see Riley ripping up newspaper in the Dining Room and I'm seeing this, I go to him and take the newspaper out of his mouth and say in a low voice "NO". But he doesn't take a blind bit of notice and carries on. I have been told to tap him gently on the nose and say "NO", but how many times should you really do this if he still does the behaviour you don't want him to be doing?

So, after seeing this mess. I gave him the ignore/silent treatment (not sure if it was worse/painful for me than for him). I put the kettle on and went online for a little while and ignored Riley and left him in the Dining Room where he proceeded to lie in his bed (hopefully he was thinking of his wrong actions?!?)

What would you do in this situation, because it's not the first time I've come home to a floor with shredded newspaper everywhere. Following on from this, when I am at home with Riley during the day, he's quite happy to amuse himself with some of his toys or just lay around the house resting/relaxing. However, when we're not home and he's home alone, we watch him on the Puppy Camera and most of the time he's lying by the patio door sunning himself. He never seems to amuse himself/keep himself busy with toys. Is this normal?

Thanks for reading.

babybluegirl

5:03pm

[Pawz4me 6,802]

I don't punish after the fact.

If you catch him in the act, then sure.

But almost all canine behaviorists say that dogs live completely in the moment, and so it's not likely at all that he connected his ripping up the newspaper with your "No" or the silent treatment you gave him when you got home. He may have been very confused by your behavior.

Now lots of times people say "Oh, he knew. He acted so guilty when I got home and saw the mess." But very likely what the person is interpreting as the dog acting guilty is the dog acting submissive because he understands his owner is mad. That doesn't mean the dog understands why the owner is mad!

It might help to leave him out more toys, or to rotate the toys you give him so that they're more appealing. But most dogs aren't really good at entertaining themselves when they're alone.

[Summerangel 18,997]

I am assuming the newspaper is for Riley to toilet on?

If so, I used to use puppy pads in a pad holder. When I arrived home from work one day they had shredded it to pieces. I just put it down to them being puppies and looking for something to do

Funny thing was they hadn't even been to the toilet and I spent longer clearing away all these pieces of pee pad than I would of done if they had gone toilet on the kitchen floor. So from that day onwards I stopped using the pee pads. I don't use anything. If they have an accident, I clean it up and wash the floor...

They don't have many accidents now (not unless your name is Lacey and you like to keep me on my toes lol) but saying that she's been very good the last few days ... But don't tell her I told you, or she'll think of something else to challenge me with ;)

[PipsMom 34,988]

Pip use to do that to his pads. Time I caught him doing it I was on it. Telling him no very mean like, over and over....He knew by my voice I was livid as I picked it up.....it lasted a few more times till he finally gave it up all together.

Catch him in the act...then pounce, otherwise he wont know why your mad.

.

Then theres this week....hubby thought he was doing something funny by letting him grab the junk mail through the door and shred it.

I told him in no uncertain terms he was back sliding what I had taught him awhile back and one day its going to be something important and then he would regret his childish behavior.

WELL....fast forward to Friday when his pension plan hes been waiting on arrived and of course Pip wanted it bad...even tried to take it off the coffee table...

Thats when he realized what he had created and now they both have learned a valuable lesson....

Listen to mama cause it aint pretty when shes mad

Its got to be consistant...no back sliding

[Summerangel 18,997]

Listen to Mama, they are wise words indeed

[babybluegirl 3,381]

Thanks everyone for your comments... I will have to tell Riley off only when I see him ripping the newspaper.

Yes, Julia, the newspaper is down for his toileting, sorry, I forgot to mention this in my original post! Taking up the newspaper is not an option as he's left in the Dining Room and we've only had our new wood laminate flooring down about two months and we can't have him just weeing straight on there. The second night we did have our flooring down, Riley was sick on the floor and unfortunately the boards lifted at the joins which as you can imagine we were not too happy about After putting down some heaving weights, the flooring has kind of gone back to normal, but the wetness didn't help the flooring, (guess it swells the wood?!?) so letting him wee on the floor is just not an option.

As to toys, we have all his toys out in the dining room, so he has access to them all the time and can choose what to play with. He has an assortment - squeaky, rubber, soft teddy type. When I'm home with him, he happily plays with them. Just doesn't seem to when he's left alone.

What toys do you all have that your paws love to play with?

babybluegirl

10:55pm

[Vicki 8,173]

Listen to mama cause it aint pretty when shes mad

I LOVE IT!

Very good advice from everyone too! Catching them in the act is best way to (maybe) get your point across to them.

Vicki

[Sophie's Haven 17,464]

Catching them in the act is best.........but my guys seem to know when I am not happy with something they have done when I am not around.......we have a chat about the issue and I have an idea who did the NO-NO but all 7 get the chat. Lexie use to shred the potty pads up when I left the house, one day I caught her in the act and we had a VERY nice chat while I cleaned up.........she did it about 3 times total and then stopped. I have the radio on all the time so my guys always hear either music or talk radio....sometimes the quite gets them into mischief because they get bored. Just a suggestion. When I am not home I put on easy listening music.......I come home and all is good. You could give him the stink eye........they are good at giving it to us when they are not happy............

[Vicki 8,173]

You could give him the stink eye........they are good at giving it to us when they are not happy............

You guys are always so GREAT and putting a smile on my face!

Vicki

[Summerangel 18,997]

Catching them in the act is best.........but my guys seem to know when I am not happy with something they have done when I am not around.......we have a chat about the issue and I have an idea who did the NO-NO but all 7 get the chat. Lexie use to shred the potty pads up when I left the house, one day I caught her in the act and we had a VERY nice chat while I cleaned up.........she did it about 3 times total and then stopped. I have the radio on all the time so my guys always hear either music or talk radio....sometimes the quite gets them into mischief because they get bored. Just a suggestion. When I am not home I put on easy listening music.......I come home and all is good. You could give him the stink eye........they are good at giving it to us when they are not happy............

I leave the radio on, Radio 2 for my guys ;)

[Summerangel 18,997]

Thanks everyone for your comments... I will have to tell Riley off only when I see him ripping the newspaper.

Yes, Julia, the newspaper is down for his toileting, sorry, I forgot to mention this in my original post! Taking up the newspaper is not an option as he's left in the Dining Room and we've only had our new wood laminate flooring down about two months and we can't have him just weeing straight on there. The second night we did have our flooring down, Riley was sick on the floor and unfortunately the boards lifted at the joins which as you can imagine we were not too happy about After putting down some heaving weights, the flooring has kind of gone back to normal, but the wetness didn't help the flooring, (guess it swells the wood?!?) so letting him wee on the floor is just not an option.

As to toys, we have all his toys out in the dining room, so he has access to them all the time and can choose what to play with. He has an assortment - squeaky, rubber, soft teddy type. When I'm home with him, he happily plays with them. Just doesn't seem to when he's left alone.

What toys do you all have that your paws love to play with?

babybluegirl

10:55pm

Hmmmm, I see your problem. Like the others are saying, I guess you've got to catch him doing it, to tell him off.

[Missysmom 24,975]

I leave a kong with peanut butter and a treat in it for Missy. I have no idea how long that keeps her busy (she probably finishes before I'm out of the drive!) but she's always anxious to show me she cleaned it all up when I get home!

[Summerangel 18,997]

I leave a kong with peanut butter and a treat in it for Missy. I have no idea how long that keeps her busy (she probably finishes before I'm out of the drive!) but she's always anxious to show me she cleaned it all up when I get home!

My dog trainer told me to freeze the kong with its contents, it will last twice as long ;)

[Missysmom 24,975]

Great idea, thanks!!

[babybluegirl 3,381]

Catching them in the act is best.........but my guys seem to know when I am not happy with something they have done when I am not around.......we have a chat about the issue and I have an idea who did the NO-NO but all 7 get the chat. Lexie use to shred the potty pads up when I left the house, one day I caught her in the act and we had a VERY nice chat while I cleaned up.........she did it about 3 times total and then stopped. I have the radio on all the time so my guys always hear either music or talk radio....sometimes the quite gets them into mischief because they get bored. Just a suggestion. When I am not home I put on easy listening music.......I come home and all is good. You could give him the stink eye........they are good at giving it to us when they are not happy............

Yes, when I'm not at home, I leave the radio on - Radio 2 on the tv or Classic FM on the tablet. At night time, the music is going all night long too - Classic FM (hopefully this is easy listening with no dog barking/car tooting adverts.)

I will have to try out the Kong toy that I bought more. I'm just anxious of putting things in there that will make a mess of the place. e.g. I hear about freezing treats inside. I give Riley an ice cube in the kitchen and that whizzing around makes a wet trail everywhere! I wouldn't want that in the Dining Room with the new flooring down as I don't want the water "lifting" the wood.

We woke up to sick with Riley this morning The only thing I can think of differently that we did with his eating yesterday was four strands of spaghetti. Would that have given him an upset tummy? The sick was only on the end of his Vet Bed to where he sleeps and luckily there were two towels underneath for more padding/security so that anything won't go through to the floor. Then a little strange/foam type bit on the door mat by the patio door, but it had got underneath the door mat and had been there "brewing" so it's lifted the laminate flooring again My husband made a comment about not sure what was a good idea, getting wood laminate flooring or the dog! We thought laminate flooring would be so much better to clean up with a dog around, everyone seems to have it in their houses these days and so we've done this to all of downstairs, bar the kitchen and lounge.

This is what I mean when I say the wood laminate flooring is lifted (always at the joins). Sometimes longer areas than others depending on how much liquid has been down and I guess for how long. If you instantly wipe up the liquid, it's fine, but obviously if Riley's been sick or had a wee during the night on the wood flooring, it can be down for many hours until we discover it when we go down at 7am. Might have to rethink where we leave Riley at night time and during the day when we pop out/go to work. Didn't really want to use the kitchen as it's not exactly big (smaller than the Dining Room) but it might have to come to that as we have tiling down, so it'll be easier to wipe clean

Floor Lifted:

babybluegirl

3:43pm

[Vicki 8,173]

My dog trainer told me to freeze the kong with its contents, it will last twice as long

That really is a GREAT idea! Thanks for sharing!

Vicki

[Vicki 8,173]

That is terrible the way the floor has "lifted"!!!

I wouldn't think it should do that with just a little bit of dampness.

Isn't there some way you can seal it to keep it from doing that?

So sorry to see that is happening with your new floor.

Vicki

[babybluegirl 3,381]

That is terrible the way the floor has "lifted"!!!

I wouldn't think it should do that with just a little bit of dampness.

Isn't there some way you can seal it to keep it from doing that?

So sorry to see that is happening with your new floor.

Vicki

I'm going to get my husband on the research case, surely we're not the only ones with a dog with wood laminate flooring! There must be some sealant you can put down to protect it. I think my husband said the other week that you shouldn't soak the floor with water when washing because of "swelling" Unbelievable really, as of course you want to wash the floor with something other than a duster-type cloth. When we clean the floor we normally follow the instructions and put 1 litre of boiling water with one cap of floor cleaning liquid and I squeeze out the mop thoroughly before sweeping on the floor.

babybluegirl

8:22pm

[Vicki 8,173]

I'd sure look in to it further as I've never heard of that happening. I don't have any wooden floors, so don't know too much about it though.

Do let us know what he finds out.

Vicki

[PipsMom 34,988]

Then a little strange/foam type bit on the door mat by the patio door, but it had got underneath the door mat and had been there "brewing" so it's lifted the laminate flooring again My husband made a comment about not sure what was a good idea, getting wood laminate flooring or the dog! We thought laminate flooring would be so much better to clean up with a dog around, everyone seems to have it in their houses these days and so we've done this to all of downstairs, bar the kitchen and lounge.

This is what I mean when I say the wood laminate flooring is lifted (always at the joins). Sometimes longer areas than others depending on how much liquid has been down and I guess for how long. If you instantly wipe up the liquid, it's fine, but obviously if Riley's been sick or had a wee during the night on the wood flooring, it can be down for many hours until we discover it when we go down at 7am. Might have to rethink where we leave Riley at night time and during the day when we pop out/go to work. Didn't really want to use the kitchen as it's not exactly big (smaller than the Dining Room) but it might have to come to that as we have tiling down, so it'll be easier to wipe clean

Floor Lifted:

Wood Flooring Lifted (12.11.14).jpg

babybluegirl

3:43pm

I read this early morning....then went off to work...but all day I have thought about the picture you posted of the laminate lifting....

It bugged me....so I'll tell you why...

I help my brother in law in his house cleaning business....we mop laminate flooring week on week, year on year and I have only seen this kind of damage a few times...

Just last Monday I picked up left over planks of laminate that had been steeping in water for sometime due to a leaking conservatory through the roof.... It had bent a little.....BUT the laminate was intact...no lifting like your photo....

Most laminate is sturdy enough in glued construction that moping with more water left on the planks than any puppy can wee or throw up and cause damage...that's the part that bugged me....Why was yours doing it?

And Never, never, never ever mop with boiling water!! That will cause it to lift real fast because it melts the glue construction....only warm...never hot water Or steam mops ever...it will lift for sure.

Think I may overstep my comment here but where I have seen laminate lift it was the fault of the manufacturers....they all state keep it dry, no water etc....but that's in a perfect world....it dont exist in a normal household...never...

I think you were sold a inferior batch or brand. The ones I clean all the time never do that and they are exposed to all sorts of water.

So what do you do?

Well the manufacturers aren't going to replace it...they will use the claim...no water period...so we can forget that.

So what's left is damage limitation....you mentioned a sodden mat....

Your going to have to replace your mats with solid rubber backing ones.....if he wee's ...it's contained by the rubber....

Or place a rubber mat under a original mat.....keeping anything made of fiber separated by rubber from the laminate.

And yes there is a sealer you can apply to laminate flooring....have hubby research the name of it.

But you glue joints together first....major pain if it's already down...

Then work on him....trying to get a handle on his wee wee spots...

Edited November 14, 2014 by PipsMom

[babybluegirl 3,381]

Thanks Crystal for your reply, a very interesting read! It's something we're going to have to look into as we can't have the floor lifting each time Riley has an accident on there. Hopefully as time goes on, he'll less likely to wee on there because of him naturally being older, but sometimes you just can't anticipate sick.

The wood flooring is now down and in place in three rooms, so there's no going back to glueing at the joins. I'm not sure if we've been sold an inferior batch/brand, but maybe there's quality and quality and we've got the cheaper end of the wood laminate flooring, hence it lifting with water?!?

Interesting about you mentioning never ever use boiling water on the floor, it makes sense now that you say it will melt the glue, but we've been told from other people that using boiling water is the best way to quickly wash the floor as it's so hot, that it dries really quickly!?! This is so confusing.

I'll get my husband on the case for the "sealant" as there has to be an alternative

babybluegirl

4:23pm

[Summerangel 18,997]

Is Riley still destroying the newspaper ?

[babybluegirl 3,381]

Is Riley still destroying the newspaper ?

Hi Julia,

I saw this post a while back and was going to reply saying that as I've been home quite often, Riley hasn't had the opportunity to destroy the newspaper down that is there for his toileting. However, on the occasions that I have had to go to work, I do sometimes come home to a bit of newspaper tearing. Obviously, if I see him tearing newspaper at the time, i.e. in the evenings when we're at home, I will say "NO" in a low voice, but I'm helpless in doing anything during the day if I'm not there.

However, these past few mornings, say for the last four days or so, we've come down to see Riley surrounded by a bit of newspaper torn up and pieces everywhere with evidence hanging out of his mouth, as if to say "MOI, no surely it was someone else?" lol.

Again, not sure when he's done it but seeing as there's newspaper hanging out, it must be in the last half an hour or so from us coming down at 7am-ish?!? What to do!

PS: I love this picture that we caught of Riley on the Puppy Cam with the evidence behind him, lol.

Let's hope he grows out of this phase?!? Luckily there's never any toileting on the newspaper that he destroys! lol. (Touch wood).

babybluegirl

12:54pm

Edited December 12, 2014 by babybluegirl

[Missysmom 24,975]

Ummm I'd say Riley is gonna be on Santa's naughty list if he doesn't stop tearing up newspaper Soon!

BTW cute pic!

[babybluegirl 3,381]

Ummm I'd say Riley is gonna be on Santa's naughty list if he doesn't stop tearing up newspaper Soon!

BTW cute pic!

LMAO! How funny Missysmom... I better let Riley know that Santa Paw is watching over Riley to see if he's been naughty or nice

He's currently snoring his little head off by my feet

babybluegirl

1:43pm