HELP!! How do I stop this behavior?

Ok, so Marta very well behaved in almost every way with one notable exception- she chews library books!! :mad: She will leave books that we own completely alone and can find a library book amongst a pile of our books.

I just paid off an $80 library fine that she created by chewing up a few books, and just found another one chewed. I am livid...I don't leave books lying around on the floor or anything- this one was just sitting on my night stand. I try to be conscious of her terrible habit and put any library books far out of her reach, but I am considering just banning her from our bedroom all together (which would really depress her since she sleeps with us and spends a lot of time in there), unless someone has a good solution.

Should I just ban her from the bedroom, or is there something else I can try? I have never actually caught her chewing a book and punishing her after the fact is worthless, so I'm not sure what to do...

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Originally Posted by Pembroke_Corgi

I have never actually caught her chewing a book

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So how do you know it is Marta? She's been FRAMED!! Call da PT Lawyer, Groucho!

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She will leave books that we own completely alone and can find a library book amongst a pile of our books.

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This is interesting. What is the library doing, storing kibble in with the books?

I can't think of anything to help, sorry.

I would suggest to keep the library books in a drawer or cabinet where she definitely would not be able to get to them.
I'm guessing the library books have so many smells on them, that is what is attracting her to them.

I'm with Taz-Zoee... can you put them in a drawer or in your closet where she won't be able to get to them? Dear sweet Marta, please don't chew on books, please please. :love:

Yes, make a habit of keeping all library books in an enclosed space - a box, or a drawer, something you can close. Even a flat tupperware container would do, anything to mask the smell. Often library books are reinforced or glued with extra stuff, or covered with extra plastic - something is making it Marta tempting!

Paul's childhood dog was even more picky - she preferred to chew up "Make Way for Ducklings," - she would pick that one book out of a shelf of other books, and proceed to chew it up every time. And of course Paul, who grew up not only here in the Boston area, but next to the river where lots of mallards lived, loved that book so his parents ended up buying several copies.

Maybe the librarian used to be a butcher and still has the meat scented hands with he/she uses to touch the books, ok out of the joking part, I think that maybe the books got some scent on it that he likes and so he chews on them. Get a library book and try scenting it and see his reaction, should be different as I think. I agree with Karen and with Taz_Zoee. Keep the books on high places or in closed places.

I, too, would put the book(s) in a case or drawer, away from danger.

This advice is coming from a person who is taking her Electrolux vacuum to the repair shop to have the cord replaced, as one furry friend named Prue, chewed the end off the cord, yesterday. My fault for leaving the vacuum out in full sight.

How old is the dog? Still a puppy? Prue is only 10 months old.

Good luck!:eek:

Thanks for the advice- I think I'm going to get a locked container to put by the bedside for library books, since I often forget to put them up (I read for an hour or so every night before bed and don't remember the book is still there when I get up in the morning).

Marta is going to be 8 years old in January, and she's been sleeping on our bed since she was just a puppy, so banning her would be cruel...though I was pretty mad yesterday and thought about it!