German Shepherds Forum banner

Does Your Dog Have a Sock Fetish?

10K views 14 replies 14 participants last post by  Minnieski  
#1 ·
Somtimes I think Elsa was brought to me by a higher being to help remind DH to put away his clean clothes. Ever since we brought her home, she has had a sock fetish. Clean. Dirty. New. Old. It doesn't matter. She sees a sock and she's drawn to it. Not to chew up. Just to collect. She brings them to her bed or her crate and just piles them up. Lost sock under the bed? She'll find. Bringing up a pile of laundry to fold on the couch? She's zoomed in on the socks before it even hits the couch. DH's nicely folded clean clothes that sit in the basket for 5 days? She'll pick out the socks and slober all over them.

Her sock radar truly amazed me yesterday. We went backpacking this weekend, I had packed a day pack to leave in the car with a bunch of extras I might need before or after the hike. Included in the pack were an extra sock liner, hiking socks, and a couple pairs of cotton socks. They were in the water bladder section of the backpack, at the bottom, and the pack was closed save about a 5" opening. Sometime yesterday, she opened the pack all the way, nosed through the water bladder pocket, and got all the socks out! I can home from work, and they were all piled up on her bed.

It's so weird!!!! I'm fascinated by this obsession of her's!
 
#2 ·
LOL - that's cute. I don't know what it is about dogs and socks. It has to be that our scent is stronger on them than anything else, and they're drawn to that??
Image


Gunner hasn't picked one up since he was a baby. Mr. Priss would be mortified at the thought of picking something up that doesn't belong to him.

Riley, on the other hand.... I call him my little sock monkey. We have to be VERY careful about making sure that everything is put away and out of his reach, at all times. He swooped right in and stole a sock one day, and in the course of trying to get it away from him, he swallowed the thing whole. Had to rush him to the vet and have them induce vomitting. Scared the daylights out of me!
 
#4 ·
Otto loved to play pull off my socks when he was a little pup. Half my socks look like a vampire missed!

My friend has a HUGE rottie who loves socks. It's his favorite thing. Ewww, I love that dog but bring me a ball not that slimy old sock. Yuck!

Riley's experience scares me, that's one more reason socks must be picked up. LOL, my 4 1/2 y/o son has a terrible habit of leaving his socks in the den. Sometimes he hides them in the corner next to the radiator - Tommy's out of socks again? Okay, where'd you hide them?
 
#5 ·
Not any of current dogs, but I have a male Blk&Wht cat who definitely
has a sock fetish, of the worst kind!

If left where he can find them, he will assault them and the noises he makes while doing so will wake up the whole house. He prefers the ones I've worn, but will do the mombo with my wife's too, if he is in the mood.

Sort of embarrassing when we had a house sitter taking care of the brood, had to forewarn her if his quirk! He's fixed too, but in the last few years, (now 10) this perversion of his has become an on again, off again thing, with no rhyme or reason...though I have never taken care to mark it against moon cycles! It may be he is simply lunatic!
 
#9 ·
Kaylee steals socks but she doesn't chew on them. She'll pick one up delicately by the toe end and walk by whichever one of us is on the couch. If we notice and take it from her she gladly gives it up and has a very clear "What's next?! Let's play!" look. If no one notices, then she lays down with one of those terrific sighs and stares at us with the sock resting under her snout. I find it a much nicer way of initiating play than the shark phase was.
Image
 
#11 ·
A sock fetish would be an improvement. Halo has a toilet paper fetish.
Image
Someday we'll be able to put it back on the roll.....
 
#13 ·
Originally Posted By: aubieAnna loves to carry around socks, but her favorite thing is my bras. I have no idea why but I have to make sure they're out of reach or she'll come trotting through with one.
Image
Image
Wolfie does that too. As my MIL put it, "your dog has a bra fetish". Funnily enough, Wolfie won't go after my socks, only DH's. And unlike the OP's DH, mine hasn't learnt to put his away. He'll buy these expensive ones for running and every single one of them has a hole. New, old, clean, dirty, doesn't matter.

Now when it comes to bras, Wolfie will take anybody's. How embarrassing for the guests
Image
 
#14 ·
These stories are so funny! I've never had a dog with a sock fetish but when I first adopted Basu he had a thing for my slipper. Every day when I'd leave for work he'd get my slipper and take it onto his bed with him. He never chewed it or anything, just used it to keep him company.
Image


Now I cat who had a SERIOUS sock, mitten, hat and even sweater fetish. She especially liked to steal things from guests. We couldn't figure out where they were going until one day we found a stash under my parents' bed.
Image
 
#15 ·
This is too funny, dh and I were just talking about this last night. Glad to know we're not alone! When Minnie was a baby she'd grab a sock and run, trying to get you to chase her. Then for the longest time she could care less about them. Well, we went on vacation for 5 days and left her with some friends, and ever since we got back she's been a total thief. Especially for the dirty ones (ewe!). If I'm gone, she steals mine, if DH is gone, she steals his. She doesn't try to eat them, though, she just moves them into her crate. Sometimes she'll toss them about a bit, but she hasn't done any damage aside from driving us crazy when we can't find the mate. She's especially interested in DH's soccer socks.