Help!!  I have a 16 week old lab pup named Alfie and this morning he decided that he would eat my sock!  By the time id realised it was nearly all in his mouth and despite my best efforts at bribing him with a biscuit he swallowed it whole! I have spoken to the vet who advised to carry on as normal and he should pass it.  I have to say Im worried, he is only a little pup with a little tummy and it seems impossible to me that he will just pass it.  Has anyone else had similar experiences or suggestions of anything I can give him to get it moving?  I suppose Im just after some peace of mind as the vet said he may have to have an operation if it doesnt come out of its own accord and thats the last thing I want.

Most socks and teatowels reappear at some point - intact. 

If you examine his poo on a regular basis you will probably find all sorts of things that have passed though

Teatowels? I guess you are speaking from experience lol ;)

In our previous house our neighbours had a Labrador who would eat their socks and teatowels and other assorted clothing and come and "deposit" them in our garden - we did not have dogs then so did not have to be dog-proof and I used to get quite annoyed about it, after a while I just deposited them back over the fence :)

Here's a related thread with some useful information.

http://www.champdogsforum.co.uk/cgi-bin/board/topic_show.pl?pid=292265

Many years ago i had a gsd dog and he ate a stocking, i worried and rung the vet, he laughed and told me it would probably re-appear.
It did,,,,,,,,,,He went to the loo and was ages, the stocking was filled like a sausage.
Poor love, ive experienced dummy teats, bottle tops and odds and ends the children left laying about.
Have learned now with my new pup to be more vigilant at picking everything up and moving what i think can be swollowed.mind you thats a dog wre talking about the kids have had there fair share of having us worried sick, beads up noses+in ears, crayon chewing and ink skin dying,
sam

I have spoken to a couple of people today and they have said that it will pass.  A friend at work was saying her dog ate half a tea towel and it passed, although she did need to help a little!  I think it was just the initial panick of realising he'd swallowed it whole and being only a puppy I just wasnt expecting it.  He has picked them up before but never shown any signs of wanting to actually eat them! 

Think it will be ok,but i would worry too! if hes eating ok-& not bringing anything up, and his poohs are regular, then dont worry. if he stops eating/being sick/not poohing go straight to vet!
my "puppy" is a year now, but you could always tell which were his poohs because of all the brightly colored bits of his toys hed eaten!

My lab has so far eaten (in total of course not all of once)..6 socks and  2 pairs of knickers. I must admit I panicked like mad first time but I was assured by my vet that if he was holding food down and was well, then he would pass them.  You don't know whether they are going to come up or go down so keep an eye out!  Just be very careful because although I have been lucky with mine, a few posts on here have not been so lucky.  Keep a close eye on him and happy poking through his poo!  oh and don't be surprised if they don't appear for a couple of weeks!

I was temporary mum for rescue Dobe, he ate a sponge - round blue kiddies one - 1st I knew about it was when he was running around garden squatting, trying to get it out, which he did with a bit of help from yours truly, couldn't believe the size of it, but all was well.

Angela
I agree that vigilance is all thats needed at the moment.

My lab Hector ate a whole sock when he was 12 weeks. He didn't pass it, but after most of a day spent bringing up his food soon after eating it, and just when we thought we would have to take him to the vet's, he did bring up the sock too! He suffered no ill effects either while it was inside or after he brought it up...

one of my dogs ate a fifty pound note once....!!!!.
all i had left was a little bit of it that was chewed up
i kept checking through all of there poo for over a week but never found it ... i still never knew which dog it was

Have you noticed it's usually lab owners that post about socks!!  mine has eaten little things like earrings too and you can see them sparkling in the garden ha ha

This thread is a joke right???? :D :D
I`ve had 2 with MAJOR emergency surgery after swallowing sock & small bit of plastic, wasn`t funny then & still isn`t now, last wk anothor posters friend lost her dog thru peritonitis caused by swallowing a sock & everyones having a laugh saying don`t worry it`ll come up one way or the other, yea right if it doesn`t kill em first eh???? ;) :D hilarious, I`m laughing me socks off, take the pun any way you want to!
*Have you noticed it's usually lab owners that post about socks!!  mine has eaten little things like earrings too and you can see them sparkling in the garden ha ha*

I can assure you all whatever breed you have that NONE of you will be ha ha ha..ing if any of those things your dogs have swallowed don`t come back out & if they do they it`s without causing any damage

Christine, Spain.

I think, Christine, most of us were trying to stop Clara worrying too much and you're not helping!! :-) We all know it COULD be a problem and it's not a good idea to let pups eat stuff but sometimes it just happens...
Please tell us Clara, has Alfie seen any 'movement'?

And I am saying that there is/was cause for concern!

Christine, Spain

I'm with you Christine !
Ok, nine times out of ten there's no problem with this sort of thing & likely it will all work out fine at the end of the day.
But there is no harm in pointing out that sometimes things our dogs eat do not pass through them & can get stuck in which case you have a medical emergency on your hands !
I'm definitely not trying to be alarmist here & I'm sure Christine wasn't either, rather it is better to be aware of the signs of any "potential problems" & what to do if they occur (see the other post I linked to) rather than just assume things swallowed always just pass through....because they don't !

Yes we all know. it can be worse  But our own vets tell us not to panic just yet and wait so what can we do!! Of course there can be problems but the majority of the time they do come up or go down.  It's horrible panicking, Ive been there and done that with mine but until a dog shows signs of illness there is no point in alarming everyone saying it's an emergency quick get to the vet because the vet will just say wait!  Obviously you have had a bad experience Christine but I haven't and I am only saying what happened in my case and I can look back on it now and think my god he was lucky but he is ok they passed.

I am also quite sure that my vet would have sent me out if I had gone there saying he has eaten a tiny diamond earring!

When my old lab (as a 9-week pup) removed and swallowed my earring whilst saying good morning to me, the vet just said keep an eye out for it. It emerged after 2 days. I told Himself "She's your pup, you find it"! He did. And I wore it again.
:D

I ALSO HAVE AN ALFIE (ROTTWEILER) WHO AT ABOUT 8 MTHS SWALLOWED MY SOCK WHOLE.  AFTER TWO/THREE DAYS I CAME DOWNSTAIRS IN THE MORNING AND FOUND THAT HE'D VOMITED IT UP ON THE KITCHEN FLOOR.  DON'T WORRY I'M SURE IT WILL COME OUT IN SOME WAY :)  BUT IF YOUR ALFIE SHOWS SIGNS OF ILLNESS IE. VOMITING LETHARGY OR CANNOT PASS MOTIONS - GET HIM STRAIGHT UP THE VETS.

Owning to Lurchers the King of the bins am amazed what comes out th other end. All depends on the size of dog. Always check with a vet, but usually they come out in a day of two. If they don't then it's time to visit Mr Vet for a dose of radioation. I have extract pieces of shoe, money, plastic bags and some other things I either conuldn't recognise r would rather forget.... there like hoovers. I can feed them and they will still stop at the firt bin they find to have a route through.

Just keep an eye on him and if he looks listless or off in anyway get doen those vets.

As i have already said, i learned to be more vigilant with my new pup, from past experiences of them swallowing stuff, just like my second child, pick everything up you think can be harmful and dangerous, move things away that they can pick up and get to.
It is'nt a laughing matter as ther is a very serious side but in aggreement to another reply, sometimes it can be better to be jokingly about things than too direct.
Pick things up then
dont leave things about
make sure there are no socks etc laying around
be responcible
???

I have not said panic, what I said was I don`t think a dog swallowing things is something to take lightly nor find funny. I also think that many abdominal ops are due to dogs swallowing things & are quite common. Once a dog has swallowed something there is nothing to be done but wait & be very aware to see if it does come out either end without any problems. Of course there are also the cases were there appears to be no probs & dog is behaving normally without you knowing they have swallowed an object albeit a very small one, untill wks later & you notice your dog vomits a small amount of bile & after changing food over several wks & consultations with vet needs to go in for endoscopy & then opened up to find small object embedded in tum that has caused severe ulceration to surrounding tissue. Or the big objects that you couldn`t get to before they disappeared & again don`t come out either way. dogs fine for 4/5 days till starts vomiting late at night & within a few hrs goes downhill so fast by the time you get to vet at 6am he needs carrying in & stabalising before emergency surgery.
As I said at the begining don`t panic, watch, wait & be aware, but don`t treat it like it`s not serious & maybe lull the poster into a false sense of security, because it most certainly can be serious  ;)  :)

Christine, Spain

I totally agree with you christine, not all dogs pass foreign objects easily. Some of the posts on this thread make it sound as if its ok just to leave a pup/dog if its swallowed something it shouldn't, but all dogs are different. Any novice reading this might just do that! a vet should always be called so he knows what to expect should things take a turn for the worse. I don't think its a laughing matter either :)

I would also err on the caution side as there is always the possibilty that it could get stuck and especially the smaller they are perhaps the greater the risk. If it were my dog I would have made a visit to the vets to get the pup examined :)

Lucy

Just thought I would let everyone know that unfortunately there is still no sign of the sock.  I am keeping a close eye on Alfie and too be honest he is just being his usual self.  He is still eating and has had no problems goining to the toilet, he has not been sick so far.  I am still concerned as it is now 5 days since he ate it but I have spoken to the vet numerous times and he has basically said that as long as he is still eating etc just to keep an eye on him.  He soesn't want to put Alfie through the stress of an operation which may not be necessary.  I think poor Alfie is getting paranoid about me following hime around checking for progress all the time.  Just wanted to say thanks for all your comments, completly understand where everyone is coming from and it has put my mind at rest alot.

I really hope they appear soon.  Just be vigilant.  I waited for 2 weeks before mine threw them up. Let us know how you get on.

Hi Just thought Iwould let you know my bullmastiff chewed and eat a wine glass, I panic and phoned the vet he said do not worry if not bleeding and not being sick he should be ok. We kept an eye on him and sure enough he was fine. You do worry and when I tell people they think its funny ! But it all worked out in the end and I`m sure youre lab will be the same. If you are in any doubt take him straight to vet. Good luck.

can anyone help me just got a new pup the breeder said she had been wormed, got her home and 2 days later large worms appeared!!!
took her to the vet, not my usual one as couldnt get an appointment, and little Bo was prescribed Milbemax i was told that this would kill them within 24 hours, and in the faeces they would be dead.
48 hours later im still faced with an awful lot of large live worms!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
help

first time puppy owner

holly and Bo

If your pup did have worms, and if he did it sounds like he was loaded with them, they may be passing out of his system.   If they are alive in the feces I would take a sample to the vet for closer inspection.

stacey

Hi Clara,
I too have an Alfie, hes a 2 1/2 year old Wire Fox Terrier.  I posted on the health board just after Christmas because he had eaten 2 socks and I was really worried about him.
It was three weeks before he vomitted them up so please try and not worry too much.

I know there are some horror stories - arent there always, but just keep an eye on him, you will know if he doesnt seem right.

I hope they appear soon,

Sasha

Hi clara, just wondering if its reappeared yet? & if so are you going wash & use it again?

It is very worrying.
Rather than give you a story of my experiences I would suggst that you observe if it is passing its motions at the usual regularity, watch for vomiting, it might bring it back up that way but if it starts to vomit its food back up it could be a sign of trouble. If it starts to show signs of standing up and feeling uncomfortable about lying down, reduced water intake, maybe a bit of whimpering and especialy if starts to arch its back or stretching beyond its normal stretching frequency I would take it straight back to the vet without any hesitation, it could be starting to block, if that happens regard it as an immediate, life threatening, emergancy.

Although most dogs either pass it through or regurgiatete it after a few mins to several days the acid inthe stomach disolves it in some dogs BUT others start to block, the obove signs are symptomatic of blocking and if any of them show do not take any chances, its a life threatening emergancy.

Keep him under close observation for around 4 weks, if nothing by then its probably disolved, Oh, if he does suddenly vomit get it up instantly they can vomit and bend straightback down to swallow it again, sorry about spellin in a rush.

Good news - the sock reappeared yesterday.  Luckily Alfie vomitted it back up and I managed to get to it before he could think about eating it again.  I can honestly say I have never been so pleased to see sick in my life.  I don't think he could understand why I was so pleased with him!!  In total it was in his stomach for 8 days which I find incredible.  I was going to ring the vet yesterday to see if he could take a look and then out it came.  All that worry and panic is now over thank goodness.  Although I was careful with things before, this incident has taught me to be even more careful, its just a shame I dont have eyes in the back of my head!!  Thanks to all who posted, sharing experiences really does help. 

Hi Clara
Thats great news!! I bet you are so relieved. I am so careful now after reading so many horror stories!
lynn

Wow!!! Phew O bet you are so relieved! I know I was.  Glad everything is ok.