We live in a house filled with books, and we have a dog who loves to eat paper.

We have baby gates in front of all the bookcases. These baby gates are held in place by chairs or small tables so Ivan doesn’t push them aside, pull a book from the shelf, and demolish it. We’ve become quite knowledgeable about the inside of book bindings because we’ve seen the internal components shredded and strewn multiple times. This is not a mere tearing of the cover of a paperback; this is general annihilation of the hardback binding, the pages, the entire physical item. 

We try to be ever vigilant about paper, but he still manages to lay waste to magazines and other exposed material. Magazines have a short life in our home.  We try to promptly read and recycle. However, Ivan is always watching for the momentarily accessible paper product. This is usually a magazine on a counter or table we were sure he couldn’t reach.

He has also shown that Basenji fondness for toilet paper, gleefully unspooling entire rolls and indulging in riotous shredding and redecorating. Our toilet paper dispensers have notes with arrows pointing to nearby cabinets where the toilet paper must reside.

Our babysitter is a well-trained treasure who’s under-standing about Ivan’s quirks. One day when Eric and I were both away for most of the day, she came by to give the Munchkins lunch and back yard time. We called her after we returned to let her know we were home and the Munchkins would not miss dinner.  She asked if we found her book or pieces thereof.  We raced into the living room, expecting paper carnage. The little paperback was in a corner at the back of an end table, apparently unnoticed by our puppy boy. When we reported the book’s undamaged state, the babysitter said, “It was there for several hours and he didn’t eat it. He did good, didn’t he!” For Ivan, that was very good indeed.