Dog eats socks

What a sad life for that poor pup. It's wonderful that you're trying to make it better.

The easiest way to prevent a dog from eating socks is to keep the socks somewhere the dog can't get them. It might be inconvenient (can't just toss your dirty clothes randomly on the floor), it's by far simpler than trying to train the dog. At some point, if the dog is never permitted to take anything not hers and has her toys as the only play options, she may give up sock eating. Still, even that isn't guaranteed.

Yeah, that's heartbreaking to hear! Thank you for trying to make her life better!

Like Cookieface said - it would be a lot easier to pick up the socks rather than train her not to go into them.

I would introduce a positive interrupter noise and proof it with her and you could use that if you see her go towards a sock and then when you have her attention after the PI noise, you can redirect her with a toy and praise her for playing with that toy.

My boy Shadow used to try to hump my other boy Brutus every 5 minutes it seemed and this is the only thing that worked for me. Once in a very blue moon he will look like he is about to do it and I do the PI noise to redirect his attention away from it. Works smoothly every time!

Here is a link to the video (kikopup) I love her - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TBvPaqMZyo8

It might also help her if she were given more mental exercise too.

Teach the 3 cup game, walk the plank, buy a hula hoop at the dollar store and teach her to go through, "find it" game, etc.

You can scroll through the videos and see what you can find there, she has plenty of awesome videos!

Again - thank you for trying to help this poor girl!

I wish you the best of luck with her and don't hesitate to post any wuestions you might have!

P.S. You mentioned that night time she was cold and scratching at the door - does she not have appropriate shelter at least?

SusanLynn said:

Poor dog. I'm wondering, too, if she has adequate shelter outside. Maybe you could at least get a crate and bring her inside at night. Here's a thread on crate-training:

http://www.dogforum.com/training-behavior-stickies/crate-training-faq-3974/

Note that you can't just throw a dog into a crate. It does involve a little bit of training, but sleeping inside would be a far better alternative than leaving her out in the cold.

To be honest, all I know about your girlfriend is that she neglects her dog. The problem is NOT that the poor dog has eaten a sock, but that your girlfriend seems to care so little about the dog's welfare. I hope for your sake that she has some redeeming qualities and that she'd take better care of a child should you two decide to become parents. You seem like a really caring person. Good luck to you.

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I agree! I would suggest you, your girlfriend & her sister have a blitz on the house, make sure there's nothing around (especially socks) for pup to eat. However, I think it's more a case of your girlfriend maybe not actually wanting the dog anymore, could this be the case? If I'm wrong then I apologise. I also think maybe the dog is bored, which is why he chews socks etc.. so would suggest more excersise, again, your girlfriend has to be willing to do this. Could you build/buy a waterproof kennel if the dog must stay outside? you could make it cosy & comfortable. In all honesty though, I feel this poor neglected pup should be rehomed, it has no life worth living at present & that breaks my Heart too . Thanks for caring though :huddle:

Poor pup! You could try training "leave it", and keeping socks away from the dog. The other suggestions are great, too! It's not fair to punish the dog because they had to have en expensive surgery. I commend you for wanting to help the dog and train it to not eat socks so it can come back inside. You have a great heart!
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I have a theory about why dogs eat socks, chew on shoes, pee on beds etc.... What smells more like us than our socks or shoes? Really they have quite a bit of our scent on them. So for a dog that is really needing and missing companionship, it could be very comforting to chew on something that smells like us (kind of like sucking on a blanky). I am also concerned that there seems to be no awareness of the basic needs for companionship, shelter and exercise for this poor dog. I hope you can find a way to re-integrate the dog back into the household where it belongs.

We've found giving our new dog some of our old socks to chew on and sniff keeps him company in his crate while we are trying to crate train him. He doesn't eat them, but he does chew holes in them.