Sock Stealing Dog: A Case Study

As we recently discussed, stock stealing can be serious issue - which at best is annoying for you, at worse can be fatal for the dog. 

Meet Luca (not their real name) who I recently helped support with a serious sock-stealing issue.

Luca - 6 month old Labrador

• 1 operation to remove sock
• 1 induced vomiting to remove sock
• Living in busy household with 5 children

While this Labrador could not have been loved more by his large family, he was finding life quite overwhelming. With 5 children in the household (ranging from 3 - 15) there were constantly people wanting to engage with him. He was therefore getting little rest.

As well as the sock stealing - that had escalated to guarding with growling - he would guard the dishwasher when it was open and filled with dirty plates.

He was being fed a high grain, poor quality diet. This was being exacerbated by the kids feeding him parts of their meals - such as sandwiches and crisps. 

While he would perform a few basic tricks such as sit, down, and paw, he would not drop a toy when asked. 

I witnessed his behaviour going from full concentration (on me as I had dried sprats) to completely obsessed when his guardian bought a sock into the room. He couldn’t focus and was whining to get at it.

What did we do?

As the dog had been vet checked recently and had no physical issues of concern, we first of all addressed a change in diet - as well as management of the children when they had food.

We taught a new “drop” cue - working initially by just saying the word and tossing a treat. By simply pairing food with this new word, it had a positive response created - as there was nothing to guard present.

We then had a ball on the floor, without him holding it, and repeated this. After that we encouraged some play with the ball and introduced the “drop” cue for giving the ball up. If he went to re-pick up the ball, the children were instructed not to pounce on top of it. This was the first time - with the right motivation and pressure removed - he’d happily dropped a toy for the household.

Utilising the same skills, I covered the ball with the sock - to see if he could now “drop” this on cue. Again his behaviour immediately changed and he guarded the ball under his body. However, once we all moved back and I threw sprats around the room, he moved away from the ball and I was able to retrieve it.

I then sprayed the sock covered ball with Linden Blossom Floral Water. I had already used this on my legs prior to my arrival at the house, as he was a little anxious of new people. This was a game changer. He’d now happily pick up the ball and “drop” it on cue. The use of scent, I’ve found, can be instrumental in behavioural changes when obsessive emotions are in play.

Following on from our sessions together, the family continued with:

• Working on doorway control around the opening and closing of the dishwasher, while giving him a special mat to sit on as an alternative job and providing lots of high value natural treats whenever he was on the mat.
• Spraying socks with the floral water and using them on large items to continue the “drop” practise. Slowly reducing the size of the item inside the sock as long as he was comfortable, until they could work with just a sock itself.
• Change of diet and introduction of “quiet times” where the dog was given a calm space and no-one was allowed to disturb him. Increase of sleep was really important to achieve.
• Stair gates were used to block access to the utility room and the stairs - so he couldn't get up to the kid’s bedrooms to steal items of clothing or toys.

Happy to report that 6 months on, there have been no more vet visits! 

Please note: this was an early behaviour, presented by a puppy with no other known physical issues - as assessed by the vet. If your dog is already presenting guarding behaviour or has escalated to biting, please do reach out for help at the earliest opportunity, as well as having your dog physically checked by your vet.