AimeeM Posted November 27, 2014 Share Posted November 27, 2014 I just found (another) whole sock in our GSD pup's stool. This isn't the first one. I have no clue when he jips them, and he has no qualms about pulling them right out of a toddler's hands (or off their feet). He's slightly obsessed with eating/chewing socks. He doesn't chew anything else, really, just socks and shirts. He will pick up our shoes, but he just likes to hide them; he doesn't eat them. I can't decide whether to laugh or cry. The boys go through about two packs of socks, each, every month or so, lol. He doesn't eat all of them; most of the time he just hides them and chews holes in them, but occasionally... What do your puppies enjoy chewing on? My aunt's dog ate rocks... literally ate them. It eventually caused serious damage; they tried training, behaviorists, etc... nothing helped. I'm hoping we (with the help of our trainer) can get Obi over his clothing obsession, lol :p Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gingersmom Posted November 27, 2014 Share Posted November 27, 2014 My dog had a $2000 surgery after eating socks. I would be very careful. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hornblower Posted November 27, 2014 Share Posted November 27, 2014 I wouldn't be laughing or crying, I'd be keeping that pup tethered to me on a waist leash all day long except for safe nap times in a crate. Letting the dog rehearse this bhvr is going to make it harder & harder to extinguish. No laundry on any floors, doors locked & toddlers and dog supervised at all times.I would treat this as seriously as a dog stealing pill bottles.make sure it's not being reinforced by turning into a fun game of chase or even just plain attn that the dog receives when caught with the item...I'd also be considering:-providing more exercise -more brain works (clicker training, tracking, nosework, tricks)-way more suitable & desirable chewing opportunities: big bones are usually much more desirable than socks.(console yourself with this though - I know someone whose pup was obsessed with underwear, & would steal her panties from hampers etc. Imagine having company & have the pup appear with your undies & parade through the living room with them.... LOL ) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AimeeM Posted November 27, 2014 Author Share Posted November 27, 2014 I promise that it's well in hand. They are as supervised as they possibly can be. I'm not going to tether him to me, nor does his trainer recommend it :) He gets plenty of exercise (we just had the backyard cleared so that he could play ball more easily without them being lost in the bushes constantly, lol), has plenty of toys (although he keeps ripping apart the "super strong" rope toys (super strong my butt), and plenty of yummy chewy bones. I'm not sure why socks are so appealing to him. What's more odd? It's only the boys' socks; not ours, not DD's - just the boys'. I take my responsibility seriously. We employ a private trainer specifically because I am well aware of my own limitations - I like to have somebody else looking over my shoulder and helping me to teach/guide/train my more stubborn pups :) As serious as his chewing situation can be (and I do not think that he intentionally swallows the socks, since that has only happened a few times, but more frequently he just chews ON them), we have bigger fish to fry with him. He comes from a very inconsistent rescue situation, where he had already been in three homes by 12 weeks old; this (I believe) has led to serious separation anxiety - we are working with his trainer on helping him stay safely in his crate when we leave the house (he's fine it if we're here) - he is able to somehow bust out of his crate (we've gone through a couple now) and we are worried that he will break a foot or hurt himself in the process. I've heard of it happening, and it's his trainer's (and ours) first priority right now. I do believe that once his separation problems settle down, so will some of the behaviors that are stress linked. We're going to try their rec of freezing a meaty or PB filled Kong and only giving it to him when we leave the house - making it "good" when we leave. I'll admit I'm a bit concerned that part of the chewing/eating odd things is because he is missing something in his diet. We were advised to take him off his puppy food because he was growing far too quickly, and it was causing him pain/problems... but I worry that the adult food doesn't have the things he needs so he may be "seeking it" elsewhere. Since we are now with another vet, I'm going to bring it up to her. We had a dog (a maltese) growing up who had a similar fascination with underwear. It was MORTIFYING when she could out of the laundry room in the middle of a party with a pair of my underwear. I seriously thought I was going to die. She always did it when we had company :p ETA: I am anxious/excited to start scent training with him, as we had started with our late GSD, Luke. It was Luke's favorite "game", and since the children were able to participate, it was great fun all around. I wouldn't be laughing or crying, I'd be keeping that pup tethered to me on a waist leash all day long except for safe nap times in a crate. Letting the dog rehearse this bhvr is going to make it harder & harder to extinguish. No laundry on any floors, doors locked & toddlers and dog supervised at all times.I would treat this as seriously as a dog stealing pill bottles.make sure it's not being reinforced by turning into a fun game of chase or even just plain attn that the dog receives when caught with the item...I'd also be considering:-providing more exercise -more brain works (clicker training, tracking, nosework, tricks)-way more suitable & desirable chewing opportunities: big bones are usually much more desirable than socks.(console yourself with this though - I know someone whose pup was obsessed with underwear, & would steal her panties from hampers etc. Imagine having company & have the pup appear with your undies & parade through the living room with them.... LOL ) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AimeeM Posted November 27, 2014 Author Share Posted November 27, 2014 My dog had a $2000 surgery after eating socks. I would be very careful. We are. Currently I've made a "no socks without shoes on" rule for the boys. Obi isn't the least bit interested in our adult socks (ours, DD's) - only the boys' for whatever odd reason. More pretty? More smelly? :P He has another vet appointment coming up, and I'm going to have her do an x-ray... just in case. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hornblower Posted November 27, 2014 Share Posted November 27, 2014 I can well believe the crate thing. My Bear is a rescue and comes from "water or tiny plane access only" First Nations village up the coast. He was flown down in a small plane, and bust out of his airline approved crate. He apparently calmed down once closer to some people and fortunately didn't end up in the pilot's lap, and the pilot was calm enough to just keep flying. Bear broke a canine busting out of that crate so he looked a bit freaky with blood all over his mouth... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AimeeM Posted November 27, 2014 Author Share Posted November 27, 2014 I can well believe the crate thing. My Bear is a rescue and comes from "water or tiny plane access only" First Nations village up the coast. He was flown down in a small plane, and bust out of his airline approved crate. He apparently calmed down once closer to some people and fortunately didn't end up in the pilot's lap, and the pilot was calm enough to just keep flying. Bear broke a canine busting out of that crate so he looked a bit freaky with blood all over his mouth... Ow! That's exactly what I'm afraid of! We have his current crate tethered to keep it closed, but yesterday when I was gone for longer than normal (when I took Bella to the vet), he even busted out of that! He was out when my husband came home from the office. Our eventual goal is that the crate will only serve as a safe place when he *wants* it. Oddly enough, he loves his crate when we're home, and goes in it frequently. PS... I added to my previous reply to you. If you know anything about the sock/clothing chewing/eating being related to the advice we received to take him off puppy food, please let me know! I'm bringing it up to his new vet, but in the mean time... I'm concerned that he's seeking these odd things out because he isn't getting enough from the adult food. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flowing Brook Posted November 27, 2014 Share Posted November 27, 2014 My dog loves wash clothes and underwear. All mine now have holes in them. I know a lady that had a Irish wolf hound. He was ten years old and getting very ill. The vet did exploratory surgery and they found 40 socks in his stomach. No wonder he wasn't feeling well! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AimeeM Posted November 27, 2014 Author Share Posted November 27, 2014 My dog loves wash clothes and underwear. All mine now have holes in them. I know a lady that had a Irish wolf hound. He was ten years old and getting very ill. The vet did exploratory surgery and they found 40 socks in his stomach. No wonder he wasn't feeling well! Yikes! The more I read here, the more I believe I'm going to ask his vet to do an x-ray of his stomach every exam... just in case :P Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pawz4me Posted November 27, 2014 Share Posted November 27, 2014 My Brittany, who is currently 14.5 years old, ate almost an entire six foot leather leash when he was a young 'un. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AimeeM Posted November 27, 2014 Author Share Posted November 27, 2014 My Brittany, who is currently 14.5 years old, ate almost an entire six foot leather leash when he was a young 'un. Wowzers! We have to keep Obi's leash far out of sight - he knows how to scale the counters (we just interrupted him with a turkey leg he jipped), because he's already been mouthing it, lol. I can imagine he would do the same. How did they remove the leash (and do I want to know)? Surgery? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
I talk to the trees Posted November 27, 2014 Share Posted November 27, 2014 My dog loves wash clothes and underwear. All mine now have holes in them. <------------------SO DOES HE! We have to do a sweep of the house before we go anywhere, just to be sure there is nothing of interest within his reach! About once a year, someone forgets and leaves a dishtowel on the counter, or leaves the clothes hamper within reach, and he gets into something. The good news is that he has no interest whatsoever in anything else (including whole loaves of bread left within easy reach on the counter.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AimeeM Posted November 27, 2014 Author Share Posted November 27, 2014 <------------------SO DOES HE! We have to do a sweep of the house before we go anywhere, just to be sure there is nothing of interest within his reach! About once a year, someone forgets and leaves a dishtowel on the counter, or leaves the clothes hamper within reach, and he gets into something. The good news is that he has no interest whatsoever in anything else (including whole loaves of bread left within easy reach on the counter.) But he looks so... innocent and cute! Obi has realized that he's tall enough to reach the counters. If I were more suspicious (*cough*) I would think that him and the 10 lb IG are in cahoots ("I'll get it down, you take the heat"). There are things the IG has managed to get 'hold of that simply aren't possible for her to reach. On my more frustrating days I've considered setting light weight pans (enough to make a ton of noise, but not enough to hurt him) on the edges of the counters :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pawz4me Posted November 28, 2014 Share Posted November 28, 2014 Wowzers! We have to keep Obi's leash far out of sight - he knows how to scale the counters (we just interrupted him with a turkey leg he jipped), because he's already been mouthing it, lol. I can imagine he would do the same. How did they remove the leash (and do I want to know)? Surgery? We got very (very!) lucky -- he vomited it all back up. And speaking of reaching counters - the same dog once grabbed a pound of hamburger out of a pan. I'd just put it on to brown and turned my back and he snatched it. Luckily he didn't burn himself. That dog has given me lots of gray hairs. ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laura Corin Posted November 28, 2014 Share Posted November 28, 2014 Our eight-year-old dog managed to find the blocks of tablet (similar to fudge) that I was planning on sending to Calvin. She only ate the paper wrapping. The tablet had tooth marks, but was intact. She eats tissues too (preferably used, but fresh are fine too) and anything that smells/tastes of us, including hearing aids and tooth braces. L Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IsabelC Posted November 28, 2014 Share Posted November 28, 2014 Our pup managed to get all the books off a table, and selected the dog training book to pull apart. Possibly he was trying to tell us something? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AimeeM Posted November 28, 2014 Author Share Posted November 28, 2014 Obi is currently pouting. He's in the crate until he can steer clear of the turkey. In the past 24 hours I've caught him trying to run through the house with a stolen turkey leg, a still wrapped deli sandwich, and several time showing how tall he is by stretching to the far ends of the counter to reach the leftover full turkey. Sadly for him, I can see the kitchen (where most of his mischief is happening) from the living room. Sadly for ME, he can clear any baby gate :p Now I'm online trying to find him a (very, very durable) 48" crate, since the one he's currently in is pretty destroyed :D Good thing he's cute. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lexi Posted November 29, 2014 Share Posted November 29, 2014 My childhood dog ate glasses frames and left the lenses. She also ate the tops of cowboy boots. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kerileanne99 Posted November 29, 2014 Share Posted November 29, 2014 The family shih tzu when I was growing up ate all of the bread rolls set out to rise one Thanksgiving. It was awful! His little stomach just kept expanding and bulging, and he was in so much pain:( Emergency surgery ensued and pup lived another 10 years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reflections Posted November 29, 2014 Share Posted November 29, 2014 Oh, boy. Well, first let me tell you that all the dogs in this story were not permanently harmed.... I on the other hand, gained a few more grey hairs and wrinkles... Our 16 week old puppies (small ponies really) ate a firelog right out of the fireplace. I had gone to do dishes leaving them happily chewing on some puppy bones, when it got quiet...too quiet! EEP! They had pushed the fireplace screen out of the way and were happily munching away. After a quick call to the vet, then poison control and then the vet again...I learned about the very gross, yet effective use of peroxide in dogs. And then, they got into a case of beer that had been left on the porch. Sigh. One just punctured the can and decided it wasn't worth it....the other one drank and got drunk. Since it was only half the can and he was about 50lbs by then the vet said push water and watch for anything else.....He spent a half an hour randomly barking at the front door...."pant, pant, pant, baaaaaAAAAaaarck, pant, pant, pant, pant". And then there was a time, they ate our chocolate cake off the counter without disturbing the plate. Another call to the vet.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kerileanne99 Posted November 29, 2014 Share Posted November 29, 2014 My sister's lab ate a tube sock, unbeknownst to her. Flash forward to a huge backyard party they were having-- the dog meanders thru the crowd with the sock halfway hanging from his rear end... LOL:) Talk about airing your dirty laundry! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trulycrabby Posted November 29, 2014 Share Posted November 29, 2014 I wouldn't be laughing or crying, I'd be keeping that pup tethered to me on a waist leash all day long except for safe nap times in a crate. Letting the dog rehearse this bhvr is going to make it harder & harder to extinguish. No laundry on any floors, doors locked & toddlers and dog supervised at all times. I would treat this as seriously as a dog stealing pill bottles. make sure it's not being reinforced by turning into a fun game of chase or even just plain attn that the dog receives when caught with the item... I'd also be considering: -providing more exercise -more brain works (clicker training, tracking, nosework, tricks) -way more suitable & desirable chewing opportunities: big bones are usually much more desirable than socks. (console yourself with this though - I know someone whose pup was obsessed with underwear, & would steal her panties from hampers etc. Imagine having company & have the pup appear with your undies & parade through the living room with them.... LOL ) Oh, what a time to run out of likes! :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Just Kate Posted November 29, 2014 Share Posted November 29, 2014 My sister's lab ate a tube sock, unbeknownst to her. Flash forward to a huge backyard party they were having-- the dog meanders thru the crowd with the sock halfway hanging from his rear end... Oh my...I'm laughing so hard right now!! How awful (and hilarious!!!). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jean in Newcastle Posted November 29, 2014 Share Posted November 29, 2014 Our male Springer snatched a whole rack of ribs off of the grill. The neighbors were in stitches while I ran after him around the yard. I got the ribs, hacked off the end where he had grabbed it, and stuck it back on the grill. That meat was expensive! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AimeeM Posted November 29, 2014 Author Share Posted November 29, 2014 :lol: Y'all are great. I'm really glad that Obi has a vet appointment coming up. After reading the stories, I'm suddenly concerned what else he may have been able to snatch. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kwickimom Posted November 29, 2014 Share Posted November 29, 2014 My 6 year old lab who was a perfect puppy and never ate or chewed up anything- ate a giant hole in the wall last year (and actually ate the drywall and all the evidence) and just barfed up an adult size wool sock the other day. Mid-lie crisis?!?!?!!? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flowing Brook Posted November 29, 2014 Share Posted November 29, 2014 Speaking of dogs and the crazy things they eat. I have spent all morning looking for a check. No luck. A little while ago I found a fourth of my check. The other three fourths is in one of my dogs stomachs. Maybe he will cash it for me:/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bibiche Posted November 29, 2014 Share Posted November 29, 2014 One of mine ate four hundred dollar bills, part of a wooden staircase, a lovely little pink velvet chair that was stuffed with feathers (that was a fun cleanup), two pillow top mattresses (just enough to make a cozy niche to sleep in, not the whole mattress), and a $3000 tennis ball. The other ate my eyeglasses and one shoe out of three pairs of Clergerie shoes - he only ever ate French shoes, and only one of each pair. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carrie12345 Posted November 29, 2014 Share Posted November 29, 2014 For years, I have kept an open top tool bag on the floor. My 9yo dog has suddenly decided it's fun to swipe screw drivers from the bag and chew on the handles like a dog bone. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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