When Sophie was young, she used to carry small socks around with her toys. The vet tells us it relieves stress for her. Okey-doke. It was fine until someone she didn't trust walked into the room. Then—gulp! She'd swallow the sock to keep from losing it. We had twenty minutes to get that thing out of her before it might call for surgery, so off we went to the vet. This happened five times over a couple of years, at $100 per sock for the emergency vet. (No, they don't offer frequent visit discounts. I asked.)
She always trusted me, so I started praising her for bringing me the socks. Then I'd hide them out of reach. This has turned into a daily ritual that requires Sophie to find and bring me a sock or three with a toy every single morning.
Yesterday she couldn't find a sock. She raced around downstairs. She came upstairs and rooted through Ben's jeans on the floor, pawing them aside in her search. No socks could be found. That afternoon, I had four socks on the table before dinner. I think she found them in laundry baskets in the basement. (And those baskets are on a table.)
Last night I asked Ben to please leave his socks on the floor for her to find in the morning. Yep, two dirty socks were dropped in my lap this morning along with a chew toy. Good dog!
Order is restored.
8 comments:
That was very cheerful. Thank you for posting that.
Aw that's the cutest ritual. Georgie always tries to grab them when I put them on. Lately I've taken to giving him napkins to tear up. He loves that.
That is so sweet!! How amusing to ask your teenage son to please leave his dirty socks on the floor.
Funny and endearing. But the behavior is so very like religious ritual, it makes one wonder...
Dogs are so cute with their quirks. Until it costs you money at the vet! LOL!
Not sure I understand how this all works. If she needs the sock to relieve stress, then doesn't she freak when you take the sock away and don't return it to her? Does she only need the sock for a minute or two in the morning to relieve the stress? Confused.
i love puppy posts. they always make me happy.
jeep used to be more into finding his "babies" in the house, but now he just basically snoozes and waits for daddy richard to give him ear scratches.
To think of all the times I've gotten on to the boys for leaving their socks on the floor. I just had to make it a game. But keep the dirty socks off of the table!
Post a Comment