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Now you might ask yourself, “Why does my dog eat my pads?”
When you bring your new puppy home, you’ve got to be careful what you leave lying around because everything is new to a puppy.
Just like human babies, they are pretty clueless about what they put in their mouths.
Well, that’s just it, really – dogs generally eat dangerous, harmful, disgusting stuff if it’s within their reach.
Bringing a new dog into your life will certainly change things around your home.
It doesn’t matter whether it’s a puppy or a rescue dog.
It will be your responsibility to ensure you provide him with a safe, healthy environment.
Your Dog is Just Plain Disgusting
No matter what their dogs get up to, dog lovers still adore their pets.
However, dog lovers must realize that their four-legged friends can be gross.
In fact, a thing that your dog does is eat your pads.
Where did he get this disgusting but common habit from?
Dogs are naturally curious and explore everything through their noses and mouths.
They’re cleverer than you give them credit for.
Just by sniffing, they can learn about your diet, health, and menstrual cycle.
If your dog licks your period blood off your pad, it can signify curiosity and them wanting to know more about you.
Dogs eat a lot of strange things.
They won’t hesitate to consume all sorts of things from the garbage bin, including sanitary pads.
If you can afford it, invest in one of those robust, vandal-resistant sanitary disposal bins.
No dog can work out how to access it.
Better still, have it wall-mounted.
Your Dog is a Scavenger
Dogs are scavengers by nature.
Discarded pads are just like decay material.
Dogs are automatically lured to pungent odors associated with decay.
The scent of bodily fluids of any kind enters the nostrils of a dog.
It wants to get to the root of it.
Menstrual blood left to decay in a bin is like a protein meal to a dog.
This scent of decaying blood attracts a dog, and he wants to eat the entire pad.
It’s why it is so important to dispose of your sanitary napkins properly.
Never flush pads away in a toilet.
That will only block the toilet and give you new problems.
To solve the problem with your dog, always dispose of your pads in a vandal-resistant disposal bin indoors.
At the end of the day, remove all used pads and put them outside the municipal bin.
Your Dog is Stressed
Just like humans, animals experience stress, and dogs are no different.
When your dog is bored, stressed, or anxious, they find things to do that distract them.
You’ll find some dogs yawning, some dogs will lick themselves, while others become destructive.
Eating sanitary pads is a comfort behavior that dogs indulge in to calm themselves.
Sometimes your dog will appear not to be interested in eating your pads.
He may want to shred them, but they can be messy.
Make sure that all your trash cans in the bathroom and kitchen are types that have heavy lids.
You want to be sure your dog can’t lift the lid.
If your dog is an indoor pet, keep the door to the loo closed during this time.
Your Dog has a Medical Disorder
People do all kinds of odd things when they’re stressed.
Your dog could be in the same position too.
He might lick and eat your used sanitary pad because he has an obsessive-compulsive disorder.
Obsessive dog behaviors can become as harmful as human addictions.
It’s a zone in which your dog is blind to everything else but this odd behavior.
The point is a dog has to understand that there are limits to a particular behavior.
And you determine those limits.
Obsessive behavior can cause your dog to develop unusual, repetitive behaviors such as eating the wrong things.
Sometimes this behavior can be caused by anxiety and get totally out of control.
As a dog owner, the solution is to recognize the changing behavior of your pet.
The idea is to stop a particular behavior early before it escalates.
A change in routine can bring about changes in your pet’s behavior.
You can rope in the services of a professional dog expert, but this can be costly.
There are natural remedies that can work too.
Loneliness, lack of exercise, and mental stimulation can all contribute to obsessive-compulsive behaviors.
Many dogs develop weird behaviors out of sheer boredom, but these things can be avoided by simply having fun.
You can also talk to your vet about products to help calm your dog.
Your Dog has Pica
Pica is a tendency to crave and eat non-food substances.
According to this 2019 study, pica is one of the dogs’ most common behavioral problems.
Pica is highly significant in younger dogs than in senior and geriatric dogs.
It’s also higher in neutered dogs than in intact ones.
Fortunately, the same study found that the prevalence of pica would mostly decline with age.
Aside from menstrual pads, dogs could also consume pee pads.
Therefore, you must be wary of how you dispose of these items.
If your dog consumes any of these, your dog might suffer unwanted health consequences such as poisoning or suffocation.
Your Dog is Gleaning Knowledge
For dogs, intimate knowledge about you is gained by licking, tasting, and sniffing.
Dogs have a powerful sense of smell.
They use this scent to glean and transmit information.
Did you know that while humans have about five million scent receptors in their noses, some dogs have more than 100 million?
Dogs use smells to provide them with information, and this information is transmitted using their noses.
They also collect a lot of information from the scent we give off, and human odors are a means of communication for a dog.
Dogs lick menstrual blood as they’re attracted to its scent, detecting pheromones and needing to know more about you.
Therefore, don’t leave your pads or tampons lying around for your dog to get ahold of.
Pads are designed to absorb liquids.
If he swallows one, it can swell and put him at risk of intestinal blockage.
Dispose them immediately into a vandal-resistant sanitary bin where your dog can’t access them.
It’s Instinct – Even with Well-fed Dogs
You know your dog loves to lie close to you or on an item of your clothing.
To your dog, you have a unique aroma that is the best aroma there is.
Nothing bears your aroma better than bodily fluids.
Even domestic dogs have this desire to sniff and smell.
It’s been passed down from their wolf ancestors to track scents and lick and ingest anything available.
Even well-fed dogs will take a chance with a used pad out of instinct.
They’re opportunistic feeders, and it’s common for dogs to lick menstrual blood, semen, pee, and poop.
After all, they like body fluids and aren’t turned off by their decaying stench.
They’re ready to put things in their mouth to explore new things.
Dogs are predators and hunters.
Once the smell of bodily fluids or blood enters their nostrils, they will naturally want to pursue it.
Conclusion
There are so many reasons why your dog wants to eat your pads.
There are also simple things you can do to change this behavior.
So, why does your dog eat your pads?
It’s because of the way you behave.
Most times, the pet owners need to change their behavior, not the pet.
So, don’t leave your sanitary pads lying around.
It’s just common decency to get rid of them immediately.
And it’s unhygienic for you to leave them lying around, even dangerous for your dog.
It’s no point getting angry with your dog – he’s simply doing what dogs do.
Change your behavior, and your dog won’t be able to continue with this gross habit.
A passionate content creator on pet behavior, nutrition choices, and health, Mike is an experienced pet expert. He has been writing on multiple websites to compensate for his passion for cats. Mike grieves around plenty of pets in his parents’ house. At the start of his career, he had a sturdy intention to be a part of pet care by any means.
With his affiliation to Purrfect n’ Pawesome, he found a way to satiate his craving to participate in pet health, wellness, and behavior analysis. He has been a significant part of our team and a major contributor in equipping our site with useful, authentic, and research-backed articles.
“I love pets as much as I love to travel to explore multiple places and lifestyles. I have been attached to this pawsome platform for many years, and my experience regarding pets has enhanced significantly by using various devices to write articles. I believe in writing my thoughts and experiences, so I try to write down the experience and learnings for my readers no matter where I am and what my mood is.”
