Is he cured ? We'll see

Teddy , more than any others, has always been my knicker, but , especially, sock thief. 'Drop it' just does not work with socks and grabbing could mean a nip (he's my problem dog), so socks have to be exchanged for a treat. So he doesn't take thieving as a rewarding incident, I don't always give a treat, but ask if he wants one and that works. However, the little devil is crafty and sometimes grabs a sock and looks at me with a mischievous gleam in his eye. 'Any treats, going, Mum?' and runs off.

Well yesterday, I did a grand clear out of all the male socks in the house(son's and husband's), throwing out any which are still singletons and pairs showing wear. (So many dark socks look almost but not quite alike enough and even ones bought with a special design, eg coloured heels, still manage to lose a partner in the wash).

As I sorted the rejects, I tossed them onto the floor and a bewildered looking Teddy sat in the middle of them, doing nothing at all. he didn't grab a single sock. I wonder if the 'losing value' theory has worked (I have seen tv programmes where dogs, with ball obsession, have been 'cured' by throwing dozens of balls round them).

This morning, he didn't jump on the chair, in the hope that I'd put my socks there and latter picked up a pair I'd put for my son to collect, brought it to me and dropped it ! That had to be treated.

Is he going to be a good boy? ---I doubt it.

The sock monster

That's the cutest sock monster I've ever seen

Barbara Nixon said:

So he doesn't take thieving as a rewarding incident, I don't always give a treat, but ask if he wants one and that works. However, the little devil is crafty and sometimes grabs a sock and looks at me with a mischievous gleam in his eye. 'Any treats, going, Mum?'

Click to expand...

With my teething Beau, we are going through the chewy stage too. First up, I try not to leave things laying about as I'd rather avoid the problem in the first place than rather deal with it after it occurs.

However, I am known to be untidy on occasions & I'll hear the crunching noise of my shoes being chewed on. We use an exchange type system too, but not a reward system, as I don't want Beau thinking he is getting rewarded for chewing up my things. Our exchange system is called "Teddy Attack". When Beau gets noticed chewing on something, plush toy Teddy dive bombs him, attacking him all over. Of course Beau must now defend himself & attacks Teddy back. Quite mysteriously whatever was being chewed on just vanishes during the Teddy attack, and then hopefully is forgotten & not associated with a reward.

I guess you couldn't call your assault Teddy Attack but then, maybe you could!

Alfies birthday the other week my mum and dad sent him his own pair of socks,but he still likes the dirty ones best.

He can steal my socks any day! Maybe you're right though...and abundance of them makes them lose their value. Too bad this doesn't work on the wood chips for Jake

It is short lived with Teddy, too. He grabbed another pair this afternoon, when they fell from a pile of clean washing.

Oh Teddy!

OT
His coat does look a little thin on his legs poor boy,

The photo was taken last summer, when his leg licking was at its worst. The feathering isn't back but the short hair is fine, now. The vets said that the steroids could delay regrowth.

He is a mighty delicious sock thief, I could just kiss those little pink lips.

I love Caraline's Teddy attack exchange system, what an imagination, a dive bombing attacking teddy to fight off, makes the stolen item sound very boring.

What a cute dog! When my boyfriend gets home from work, he goes to take off his stinky socks, and Bailey runs to him and waits for them to come off hah. One time he actually pulled a sock off of my boyfriend's foot and ran off with it. In the end, after advice from some friends, we gave him his own sock tied in a knot, and I think because it has his scent on it, he doesn't seem AS interested in other socks. My only concern with it ever is I am afraid he might eat part of it.

But who couldn't love that sock monster face? He is SO cute.

I can tell you from experience, it is much better that he at least will trade for a treat. We also have a black lab who SWALLOWS socks. Treats are way cheaper than surgery!!

Teddy, your sock monster is precious!