There are often situations when a four-legged friend completely unexpectedly drags personal items of his owners into his bed - socks, underwear and even shoes. It is very interesting to find out whether she should be scolded for this.
Feeling bored or sad?
The most common reason why four-legged friends take your things or shoes into their bed, or simply gnaw them in the place where they took them, is the feeling of boredom, loneliness or strong longing for the owner. Most often, this behavior develops when the dog is left alone at home for a long time and is bored, or it is unusual for it, because before the owner was always nearby. The animal begins to look for the owner’s scent and the easiest way to smell it is from shoes, underwear and other personal belongings and items that are used most often. This is how the dog subconsciously calms itself down and gets rid of the feeling of loneliness by smelling a person.
If your four-legged friend has become simply bored (this can happen if you don’t purchase one), then by taking people’s things, he can simply occupy his free time in this way. As a rule, due to boredom, an animal not only carries a person’s things, but also begins to chew them. For this reason, it is important to start early in puppyhood to break the habit of always taking the owner's things while family members are away from home.
Another common reason why animals actively steal their owner’s things is unspent energy. Any dog is an active predator; it needs to move a lot so as not to experience discomfort or... If she often remains at home alone and does not have the opportunity to play properly, then she splashes out the accumulated strength only by “hunting” the owner’s shoes or personal belongings, and then deservedly gnaws on her prey or takes it to her personal corner in as a trophy.
How to stop a dog from picking up things
To prevent your pet from spoiling things or having to look for them around the apartment later, you need to not raise this issue. Before leaving your dog alone at home for a long time, give him a good walk with the opportunity to run, play and throw out pent-up energy. Then, left alone, she will most likely sleep soundly and regain strength. You should also always leave at least a little space for the animal to move around in the house - do not lock the dog in a small room. This does not put pressure on the animal’s psyche and does not make it feel disadvantaged and vulnerable, because because of this, many dogs also chew the owner’s shoes or socks - they simply relieve stress in this way.
If you notice that your dog is anxious and afraid to be left alone at home, you can try leaving the TV or radio on quietly. They create the effect of a person’s presence in the house and interrupt the silence that frightens the dog. Just make sure that the wires and antennas are not within the reach of the animal - it can chew them.
As for training, you only need to scold your pet at the moment when you directly catch him trying to take your things from their usual place. If you only see the moment when your shoes or socks are already in the dog’s bed, you need to demonstratively pick them up and take them to their place.
People love to have dogs as pets, especially for lonely individuals who want to communicate.
Young animals can quite often eat some obviously inedible item, which can bring many negative consequences for their digestive tract in particular and the body as a whole. Therefore, owners need to carefully monitor their dog at all times.
But very often it is impossible to keep track and the dog eats various, sometimes surprising, objects, such as socks.
Why might a dog eat socks?
Do not forget that any dog is a carrier of the genes of wild ancestors and their instinctive base. Dogs are representatives of predators; in nature they are constantly in search of food. They do the same thing in houses, but sometimes it turns out that they eat inedible objects that they mistake for edible, for example, because of their smell.
Socks, especially those that have been worn for a long time, make strong smell, which has a very irritating effect on the sensitive receptors of the dog’s olfactory system, and the hunter’s instinct is triggered and the animal can swallow them.
Danger of getting a sock inside the stomach
If it gets into the stomach, the sock can split into threads due to exposure to the aggressive environment of gastric juice, it can pass down the intestines (if it is small in size compared to the stomach), or it can get stuck in the stomach.
If the product gets stuck in the stomach, this can lead to indigestion of food and subsequently to peritonitis. Cotton socks are the most insidious when swallowed; such products will swell more and more from internal moisture, leading to rotting of food and bloating of the stomach. Without qualified assistance provided in a timely manner, the consequences for the animal in this case can be fatal.
What to do if the dog ate
If a dog ate a sock and it did not pass naturally in the stool, owners will need to take certain measures.
If the sock was recently swallowed, less than 6 hours ago, you can try to induce vomiting in the animal so that the sock comes out along with the vomit. Vomiting is caused in the following ways:
- With salt. Salt can be gently poured onto the root of the tongue, or you can make a saline solution and inject it inside the dog using a syringe.
- With mustard. Mustard has irritating properties and applied to the root of the tongue, it can cause vomiting.
- Using hydrogen peroxide. Experienced dog breeders especially praise this method as extremely effective and efficient. Hydrogen peroxide and clean water are mixed in a ratio of one to one and then, using a syringe, they are poured into the dog’s larynx.
If the sock has been swallowed relatively recently, you can try to remove it using an endoscope, naturally not on your own, but with the help of a veterinarian.
Using Vaseline oil as a laxative will help if more than 12 hours have passed since the sock was swallowed and it has not come out naturally. Vaseline oil should be given to the dog every two hours until the desired effect occurs; the dog should not be fed.
Vaseline oil will not harm the dog’s body and will come out unchanged, since it is mineral and will not be absorbed by the body.
If the sock does not come out of the stomach, despite the measures taken, you will need to contact a qualified veterinarian to perform intracavitary surgery to remove the product from the animal’s stomach. After such an operation, mandatory compliance with the postoperative rehabilitation regime, wearing a special bandage, taking antibacterial drugs, vitamin therapy, dosed walks, and avoiding conflicts with other dogs will be required.
Measures to prevent socks from getting into your dog's stomach
The main measure to prevent the negative consequences of a dog eating socks is cleaning of all socks, especially cotton ones, out of the dog’s reach.
Constant and thorough cleaning of the home space from objects potentially dangerous to the dog will guarantee the peace of mind of the owners and the health of their pets.
It would be useful to periodically train the dog competently to form a negative attitude towards socks and items made of fabric.
Eating obviously inedible objects, in particular socks, can also be an indicator of the dog’s general nervousness and anxiety. Compliance with a regime of walks, a balanced diet, games - all this will reduce the dog’s anxiety level and lead to greater harmonization of the relationship between the dog and the person.
What actions should you not take if your dog ate a sock?
Under no circumstances should you yell at your dog if it has swallowed a sock, because it is already in a stressful state. If the body is in a stressful situation, the condition of the gastrointestinal tract may worsen, and spasms may occur.
If a dog swallows a sock in front of its owner, you should not try to pull it out on your own if it has already entered the esophagus from the mouth - this can lead to much greater trauma. You should not try to pull the sock out of the stomach on your own by massaging the abdominal area; this can also lead to a worsening of the situation.
After accurately stating the fact, you should remain calm and strictly follow the above steps.
It is very important to remember that Vaseline should be given as a laxative, and not vegetable or olive oil.
Unfortunately, some animals, most often, are attracted to inedible objects like a magnet, and the owner does not always have time to keep track of his frisky pet. If you notice that a sock is disappearing from your four-legged friend’s mouth, but you haven’t had time to take your item away, the first thing to do is try to induce vomiting. To do this, you can give the animal a strong solution of salt or sprinkle the same salt on the root of the tongue.
A large amount of water (from half a liter to three liters depending on the size of the animal) poured into will help achieve the desired result. Naturally, she will not want to voluntarily drink more than she needs, or consume salty liquids. You will have to draw water into a syringe without a needle (it is more convenient to use a large syringe) and pour the liquid into the animal’s mouth, holding it tightly and making sure that it does not choke. If you do everything correctly, the hosiery will soon come out along with the vomit.
It also makes sense to go to a veterinary clinic, where doctors, using special medications, will induce vomiting in the animal and remove the foreign object from it.
Sometimes inducing vomiting does not bring the desired result, or the dog swallowed the sock several hours ago, and this method is no longer useful. In this case, it is better to wait until the item of your wardrobe leaves the dog’s stomach naturally. If you wish, you can speed up the process by giving your dog a laxative. It can be vegetable oil. Just add a spoonful of oil to your animal’s usual food and wait for the result. During walks, carefully inspect the piles your pet leaves on the ground to make sure that the eaten sock has come out.
When to contact a veterinarian
For many animals, eating a sock passes without consequences, and soon the object leaves their body naturally. However, you may also encounter unexpected difficulties. A textile product can clog a dog's intestines, causing obstruction. In the most severe cases, this can be fatal.
Cotton socks are especially dangerous. This tissue is able to effectively absorb moisture and swell in the stomach, which makes it difficult for it to move through the digestive tract.
If the sock does not come out of your pet within one or two days, be sure to contact your veterinarian. The dog may require surgery, but your pet will be healthy again.
Everyone knows that dogs, especially at a young age, are very curious. They will definitely try to chew on everything that is out of place. While our dog was growing up, he spoiled so many things. The corners of the blanket were chewed, a bunch of children's toys had to be thrown away, shoes, chair legs. But it was the socks that suffered the most!
Fortunately, our habit of eating socks did not lead to fatal consequences, and everything went more or less smoothly. But this doesn't always happen. Often this strange love for socks (no matter whether clean or already worn) in four-legged pets leads to emergency surgery.
Not long ago, a Pekingese puppy named Bagel came to our clinic with signs of poisoning. Vomiting, refusal to eat, depression, painful stomach, signs of dehydration due to incessant vomiting. The owners did not deny that the animal could have picked up something on the street, and therefore we made a preliminary diagnosis: a foreign body in the gastrointestinal tract (we assumed a chicken bone). But the X-ray showed a stomach filled with something, but definitely not bones (possibly a plastic bag). An emergency operation was performed and FIVE socks of different colors and sizes were removed from the stomach. According to the owner, there were socks that had disappeared from the laundry basket more than two weeks ago. That is, for some time the puppy freely feasted on “fragrant delicacies” from the basket with dirty laundry, some came out naturally, some remained lying at the bottom of the stomach, and until the stomach was completely filled with socks, symptoms did not appear outwardly .
After the operation, the bagel was put on a strict diet, the owners promised to hide the socks away.
By the way, in the United States several years ago they performed surgery on a Great Dane. Experts removed 43 and a half pairs of socks from the dog’s stomach (that is, 87 pieces!!!). This case surprised even the most experienced doctors, and as one of the veterinarians who performed the operation said, such an incident with socks was the most unusual in the entire history of the hospital.
What to do if you notice that your dog has eaten a sock
1. If this happened before your eyes, then first of all you need to induce vomiting in the dog. To do this, you can give the animal a strong solution of salt or sprinkle the same salt on the root of the tongue. You can induce vomiting by simply pouring a large amount of water (from half a liter to three liters, depending on the size of the animal). Naturally, the animal will not voluntarily drink such an amount of water. You will have to draw water into a syringe without a needle (it is more convenient to use a large syringe) and pour the liquid into the animal’s mouth, holding it tightly and making sure that the dog does not choke. If you do everything correctly, the hosiery will soon come out along with the vomit.
2. If some time has passed after the sock disappeared or it did not come out with vomit, it is better to wait until the item of clothing comes out naturally. To speed up the process, laxatives can be given. The simplest is Vaseline oil, at the rate of 1 ml per 1 kg of animal weight. After giving a laxative, carefully inspect the piles left by your pet on the ground to make sure that the eaten sock came out.
If the sock does not come out of your pet within one or two days, be sure to contact your veterinarian. The dog may require surgery.
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Dogs of any size, including decorative ones, love to play with their owners' socks. This prank, in the opinion of most dog owners, is absolutely safe. That is, the sock, of course, can suffer. But not a dog. Breeders even advise the owners of the purchased puppy to give socks as toys.
But veterinarians strongly disagree with this approach to entertaining dogs. The fact is that every year they have to perform a huge number of surgical operations to save dogs that have swallowed socks and other items of clothing of their owners.
And if you think that a miniature dog is not capable of swallowing a sock, then you are very mistaken. Very capable indeed. Especially if the sock is for children. There are documented cases of entire socks being removed from small dogs such as toy poodles and French bulldogs.
A dog that swallows an item of clothing needs immediate veterinary attention. Often surgical. If this assistance is not provided in time, the animal will die.
Unfortunately, owners do not immediately notice that their pet’s “toy” is missing. And when they notice this, it often doesn’t even occur to them that the “toy” was swallowed.
Symptoms that your dog has swallowed a sock or other piece of clothing include:
- nausea and vomiting;
- loss of appetite;
- lethargy.
The maximum time after an item of clothing is ingested that a dog can be saved is 48 hours. The situation is further aggravated by the fact that tissue in a dog’s stomach and intestines cannot be detected using x-rays.
So, be very careful and let your little dogs play with your socks and other small items of clothing.
