Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
First of all, I have three dogs, Bessie, a mellow black mouth cur who found us, Truman, a slightly nervous, and thoughtful half Jack Russel half Chi who we adopted, and Trixie, the only non-rescue dog who we have. She is very attached to me, I'm her "main human". She has a typical mini-Dachshund personality. She's brave, but very sweet, barks a lot, she's a little neurotic and demanding, but very loving and affectionate. She can be a tad neurotic. Thinks she's a Doberman. Things like that.
She has a habit of filling her mouth with kibble, taking it from the kitchen into the family room, climbing her little doggie staircase and depositing the kibble on the couch and eating it. She repeats this practice until she's done with her meal. I understand that some do this. It doesn't bother us. We think it's cute.
Then this happened, a practice that I am NOT familiar with in dogs.
I was about to leave the house and I was wearing socks inside. As I put my first foot in my short boots, I felt what I thought were pebbles - which was strange. When I emptied out the bootie, I found that it was full of kibble and used tissues. I have postnasal drip and I blow my nose a lot sometimes. The tissues were in the waste basket near the couch. She likes to attempt to eat them, which we find disgusting.
Second boot, same thing. Full of kibble and used tissues. What on EARTH?
This is the first time any dog I have shared my life with has engaged in this activity. Why the tissues? Is she trying to keep me at home? Does she intend to use boots and shoes as bowls? Is it a sign of something wrong?
Has anyone experienced this? While we think it's funny, we wonder if it's a sign of something. We know she's a little crazy, but this is just weird.
I would wonder if this is her version of burying a bone...to hide something of value from other dogs who might want it and to save it for later enjoyment. Some dogs bury a treasured toy instead of a bone. Maybe she feels competitive pressure from the other dogs at meal time, or feels she can't eat as leisurely as she might want. So, she takes food out of the bowl to enjoy it somewhere else. It would be interesting to try an experiment...feed her separately from the other dogs and see if her kibble hiding stops.
The reason for taking the tissues might be slightly different. They are saturated with the person she is most comfortable with and thus, values most. It may be an attempt to create a den or nest surrounded by comforting things. The shoes simply might have been convenient, but they are also soaked in her person.
My father had 3 dogs in a house that was FULL of mice. I often found dog kibble in his shoes because mice would take it from the dog bowl and “store” it in his shoes.
If it is her… yeah, no idea. I can understand her storing kibble in your shoes (like a mouse) but I don’t understand the addition of the tissues, unless she is trying to cover/hide here stash from the other dogs.
My father had 3 dogs in a house that was FULL of mice. I often found dog kibble in his shoes because mice would take it from the dog bowl and “store” it in his shoes.
If it is her… yeah, no idea. I can understand her storing kibble in your shoes (like a mouse) but I don’t understand the addition of the tissues, unless she is trying to cover/hide here stash from the other dogs.
Yes Starla, I am positive. First of all, she is the only one out of the three who transports food from one place to another. She has an interest in things - some disgusting like the tissue - that have my smell - hair brushes, she has destroyed about 20 purse size hair brushes, lip stick and lip balm, scrunchies (those pony tail things) underwear, socks, slippers - you ger the idea.
Also, the opening to my short Chelsea boots is narrow. She's the only one with a long thin snout who could get into the boot and later snack out of it, if she wanted to. I have to watch my purse because she's very interested in the contents. Right now I need a new wallet because she has chewed on it. She also likes cash that I have handled.
We bought her a little girls purse made of patent leather once. I slept with it so it would smell like me. I bought a cheap little hairbrush, and first I brushed my hair with it, a small chew toy, a few tiny dog biscuits and a scrunchy. She carried it around in her mouth and it was adorable for a while. Then she discovered she liked to chew on it and destroyed it.
She also sometimes has a little stash of things deep in the folds of the family room couch - we found kibble, hairbrushes, and two dum-dum lollipops. Both cherry flavor.
The boot thing is taking it a step "weirder" though. And I agree about the tissues. Ewww. My weird little wiener dog...
I am no expert but I just have to ask how old is Trixie and where did you adopt her from assuming you did adopt her not rescue.
Do you feed them all together where one of the other dogs could take her kibble when you are not looking and that be a reason why she is hiding it? She may be trying to hide what she can get to eat later when they are napping.
How long does she have to wait to eat again after being fed in the morning?
I think the tissues are to cover the scent of her stash from the other dogs.
I would wonder if this is her version of burying a bone...to hide something of value from other dogs who might want it and to save it for later enjoyment. Some dogs bury a treasured toy instead of a bone.
That's what I think too. Taking the kibble to the couch (ie away from other people and dogs) to eat is classic behaviour of what a dog perceives to be a high value item. Storing it for later is just an extension of that.
Yes Starla, I am positive. First of all, she is the only one out of the three who transports food from one place to another. She has an interest in things - some disgusting like the tissue - that have my smell - hair brushes, she has destroyed about 20 purse size hair brushes, lip stick and lip balm, scrunchies (those pony tail things) underwear, socks, slippers - you ger the idea.
Also, the opening to my short Chelsea boots is narrow. She's the only one with a long thin snout who could get into the boot and later snack out of it, if she wanted to. I have to watch my purse because she's very interested in the contents. Right now I need a new wallet because she has chewed on it. She also likes cash that I have handled.
We bought her a little girls purse made of patent leather once. I slept with it so it would smell like me. I bought a cheap little hairbrush, and first I brushed my hair with it, a small chew toy, a few tiny dog biscuits and a scrunchy. She carried it around in her mouth and it was adorable for a while. Then she discovered she liked to chew on it and destroyed it.
She also sometimes has a little stash of things deep in the folds of the family room couch - we found kibble, hairbrushes, and two dum-dum lollipops. Both cherry flavor.
The boot thing is taking it a step "weirder" though. And I agree about the tissues. Ewww. My weird little wiener dog...
Oh boy. Here's what I see, based upon your words.
The dog has "imprinted" to you. This dog, thinks of you as a "spouse." The dog, has shown signs of obsessiveness.
What you find as "cute" has only enabled the dog to graduate to more and more destructive behavior. While you may see the tissues as "Ewww" the dog senses the scent of you. You're lucky the dog hasn't began to chew on your leather shoes/handbags. (This, may be next.)
Anyway, it's high time for some corrective training for ALL your dogs. A simple "re-focusing" is usually, all that's needed.
Good luck, and keep your dogs occupied, mentally.
Many of my Maltese have carried their food to a soft surface and then eaten it. Maltese also have a paper addiction and will shred anything paper including tissues and toilet paper. One of mine will eat the tissues.
Yes Starla, I am positive. First of all, she is the only one out of the three who transports food from one place to another. She has an interest in things - some disgusting like the tissue - that have my smell - hair brushes, she has destroyed about 20 purse size hair brushes, lip stick and lip balm, scrunchies (those pony tail things) underwear, socks, slippers - you ger the idea.
Also, the opening to my short Chelsea boots is narrow. She's the only one with a long thin snout who could get into the boot and later snack out of it, if she wanted to. I have to watch my purse because she's very interested in the contents. Right now I need a new wallet because she has chewed on it. She also likes cash that I have handled.
We bought her a little girls purse made of patent leather once. I slept with it so it would smell like me. I bought a cheap little hairbrush, and first I brushed my hair with it, a small chew toy, a few tiny dog biscuits and a scrunchy. She carried it around in her mouth and it was adorable for a while. Then she discovered she liked to chew on it and destroyed it.
She also sometimes has a little stash of things deep in the folds of the family room couch - we found kibble, hairbrushes, and two dum-dum lollipops. Both cherry flavor.
The boot thing is taking it a step "weirder" though. And I agree about the tissues. Ewww. My weird little wiener dog...
Okay, then I would conclude that the tissues serve to hide her cache of food.
It sounds like she has an issue with food guarding. So, I recommend that you create a “safe space” for her to eat, away from everyone else in the household, then see if that improves her behavior.
On a different note, if you haven’t already, check out Wiener Dog Art by Gary Larson.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
What on EARTH? 
