my puppy likes to eat underwear

[huck515]

Huck likes to eat underwear. Honestly, I don't know how he gets them. I try to be so vigilant, but I live with five girls so he occasionally finds them. The first time he ate a pair...he ate the whole thing. He was only three months old so off we went to the emergency vet, who made him throw them up. The second time he only ate a little bit, but I didn't know it until he threw it up. This time, he only ate a little bit, but this was over a week ago and he has not yet thrown it up. He is still eating/pooping normally, but I haven't noticed the piece of underwear pass. He gets walked by a dogwalker while I am at work so it could have passed on one of those walks, but I don't know. Could it be stuck, even though he is still going to the bathroom normally? Do I need to worry?

[lmtoth2]

Hi-

Unfortunately I have lots of experience with this (because of our doodle Dexter). My thought is as long as they're eating/pooping normally I would not worry. If it was a small piece, it could have come out w/o you knowing it. If you are really concerned you could take him to your normal vet for an x-ray. From my experience, if it was stuck you would observe him vomiting (or trying to) or having issues pooping. The other symptom I've observed is inability to get comfortable (sit/lay down, get up immediately, pace around, etc). Good luck!! If you come up w/a good way to get him to stop this please share it with me...

[anny51]

Had to drop everything to reply to this...Charlie is just the same! Usually I manage to retrieve the stolen article (yes, usually knickers out of the washing basket...anyone know where to get a lockable laundry basket? ) but 3 days ago my daughter swears he completely swallowed a pair of hers....i've seen nothing come out, and he seems to be fine at both ends, so he might just have dropped them somewhere and we've not noticed...but at the moment I've got the vet's phone number displayed prominently (aaahhh...he does have THE most awful SBD's at the moment, he's lying under my feet....look out for news report of "woman overcome by fumes from puppy in NZ" )

Ann and a smelly Charlie (good job we love 'em!)

My friends' dog eats underwear all the time. Apparently the underwear smell like us and that is why they are so attracted to them. Anyway just keep an eye on him but he should be fine.

[Linn]

I just have to chime in because Chance is exactly the same way. His clothing of choice is underwear, clean or dirty, so I have to be super careful about keeping laundry out of reach. A few nights ago he swallowed a whole glove in one bite. I wouldn't have known except that I noticed the glove missing and there was no other possible explanation. I gave him hydrogen peroxide and, sure enough, he threw up the glove in one piece! It's funny now that he's okay, but it also scares me b/c I just think about what would've happened had I not noticed the missing glove...

[MaxandMe]

Max who's 2.5yrs old now started showing his "lab side last winter after 1.5yrs old
I have NEVER KNOWN to-date when he has swallowed usually "clean laundry" items OR i'd be worried to death about it
like like 3 socks, 1 pair of good panties and 1 kitchen dish towel
(and 2 days ago caught Peanut giving MAX a freshly cleaned washcloth...Max had a 1/3 of it down when i said drop it)

he takes them during middle of night when i am asleep? and now have to make sure laundry is put away asap
or i wrap a small blanket over it.

5am is the USUAL time for Max to give back the item at the end of my bed though since i put a dogbed in my bedroom
he leaves the iten there now. He is usually sore or moves slowly for a while after bringing such mentioned items up.

YES i am very lucky as the dish towel could have killed him it's approx 13in by 18in big....he's a "star" at the vets
Max knows DROP IT and is good during the day if ever caught with "items" and/or now i tell him to bring it to the person
who it belongs to and he does sadly. soooooo why he every fewmonths gets up in midddle of night???

I do not take this lightly even tho i can laugh now
LIKE Leslie said watch for symptoms and an XRAY at vets can confirm swallowed items.

[CharlieBear's Mom]

Hi All -- my labradoodle Charlie loves to swallow things.....he is such a love bug that if he isn't right next to me snuggling, I know he is up to no good. He has swallowed a t-shirt and one of my slips (both were thrown up -- disgusting!)....and then a few other items which made it thru his system intact -- a few socks -- underware -- my hair scrunchies -- the red one almost gave my hubby a heart attack! I honestly don't know how (or why for that matter) he could/would swallow some of these things. He's never been a destructive chewer......I just find the swallowing thing odd. He has been to the vet many times to be examined for the latest ingested item....the worst was the blue sharpie marker -- that one took a few days and a quite a bit of cash to resolve but he's worth it We try to keep the house babyproofed for him.

[MaxandMe]

OMG I know i shouldn't be laughing but since your doodle is safe/healthy well it does have it's humorous side!
Nice to meet you ......oh if you go to General Chat to Introductions area, MORE members will be able to say HI and formally greet you
and your cute doodle!

funny, Max wasn't a chewer at all and didn't start swallowing anything till he was 1.5yrs old
peanut's a chewer but doesn't swallow a thing

[lmtoth2]

Hi All -- my labradoodle Charlie loves to swallow things.....he is such a love bug that if he isn't right next to me snuggling, I know he is up to no good. He has swallowed a t-shirt and one of my slips (both were thrown up -- disgusting!)....and then a few other items which made it thru his system intact -- a few socks -- underware -- my hair scrunchies -- the red one almost gave my hubby a heart attack! I honestly don't know how (or why for that matter) he could/would swallow some of these things. He's never been a destructive chewer......I just find the swallowing thing odd. He has been to the vet many times to be examined for the latest ingested item....the worst was the blue sharpie marker -- that one took a few days and a quite a bit of cash to resolve but he's worth it We try to keep the house babyproofed for him.

Holy cow - Charlie is a bigger swallower than Dexter!! You're so lucky he gets rid of the items himself...I wish Dex were better at it. How did you get rid of the blue sharpie marker??

He is so adorable and I am cracking up at his costume!

[huck515]

Hi All: Thanks for your replies about Huck eating underwear. I'm glad to hear he is not the only doodle who likes to! Anyway, last night Huck had diarrhea twice in the middle of the night. He's seven months old and this is the first time he's ever had diarrhea so I was kind of freaked out. I was planning on going to the vet this morning, but when we woke up, he puked up the underwear I'd been waiting for. I'm still pretty concerned considering I think this underwear was in his tummy for a LONG time, but I'm not sure (honestly for all I know it could be a different pair). He seems totally fine now...his usual energetic self, but I'm still worried. Do you think we should still go to the vet? We have had one poop so far today, and it was pretty good.

[lmtoth2]

If he's pooping/eating normally now I personally would not go to the vet. But you have to do what makes you comfortable. If it would give you peace of mind, then take him.

I don't know I would be that worried it was in his stomach that long...it's just made of cloth and I don't think it would cause damage unless it got stuck. Now when Dex had the tennis ball piece in his belly the vet was concerned the chemicals from the ball could hurt him if it stayed in there too long.

Good luck!

[Labracadabra]

This seems to be a common habit among doodles.
My husband jokes that if the Obamas get a doodle they'd have to be prepared for a dog running through the white house with panties in its mouth....

[tuffystar]

Originally Posted by Labracadabra

This seems to be a common habit among doodles.
My husband jokes that if the Obamas get a doodle they'd have to be prepared for a dog running through the white house with panties in its mouth....

[Beardedlady]

Labracadabra wrote:This seems to be a common habit among doodles.
My husband jokes that if the Obamas get a doodle they'd have to be prepared for a dog running through the white house with panties in its mouth....

Better hide the launch codes and the state of the union address!!

[DoodleLeeDoo]

So funny. And, oh, this is so familiar. Bigsby loves underwear, socks, dish towels, napkins, potholders, sponges, flannel shirts, gloves, scarves, etc. The few times he has managed to swallow the whole thing, it has eventually reappeared from one end or the other. We still have to be so vigilant - when he's out of our sight for any length of time, we KNOW he's up to no good. He has gotten to where he usually will steal an item and just drop it on the floor for me to find later; however, if we catch him with it & demand it back, or, even worse, start to chase him to try to get him to drop it, that's when the whole thing goes quickly down the gullet. It's incredible how fast it will disappear. And there is no worse feeling than watching it happen right before your eyes! I find the best thing for me to do if I catch him with something is to run away from him and try to get him to chase me. Then usually he'll drop it - but I have to be quick to pick it up or he'll run faster than me back to it & grab it again. I'm sure it's a wonderful game for Bigsby, but exasperating (& exhausting) for me!!