My Dog Ate a Sock, What Should I Do?

If your dog has just swallowed a sock, don’t panic! Chances are, he’ll be OK.

I recommend you try to get him to throw up. More on that below.

I’m going to share with you my recent experience with my dog swallowing a sock, and of course if you’re not sure what to do it’s always best to consult with a vet.

My dog ate a sock, will he be OK?

A few weeks ago, my 3-year-old weimaraner Remy swallowed a sock right in front of me.

He has some possessiveness issues and tends to clamp down on items as hard as he can so I can’t get them … And sometimes he swallows those items.

Usually this is not a huge deal, and we manage it. He swallows small wrappers, napkins and small pieces of trash all the time. Not a huge deal.

But a sock?!

I saw he had the sock in his mouth, and I asked him to “drop it.” Looking back, I probably should’ve just ignored him and he would’ve set it down on his own. Or maybe I should’ve given him a hard bop to the nose.

Anyway … he looked at me and then proceeded to swallow the sock in one gulp. Whole.

Shit …

“Ha!” he said, a stupid grin on his face. “Drop what?!”

My initial thoughts were, “God damnit, you stupid dog! What the hell is wrong with you?”

Smart dogs can do dumb things.

I imagined the huge vet bill I might be facing and what it might be like to keep a young weimaraner calm for several weeks to recover from surgery. I was mad at myself for leaving the sock on the ground in the first place and pissed at my dog for ignoring my “drop” command for the millionth time.

Can a dog pass a sock?

After a frantic google search, I saw some people saying that their large dogs were able to pass a sock.

In our case, it was a thin, athletic sock, the kind that stops at the ankle. Almost like a kid’s sock. And our dog is 62 pounds.

“Do I just do nothing and hope for the best?” I wondered. “Will he be able to pass it?”

It was a Sunday evening of course so our vet was closed.

I was NOT going to call the emergency vet. No way. It’s great we have that option, but I have learned the hard way not to go that route unless it’s a true emergency ($$$$$!!).

So instead, my plan was to try to make Remy throw up using hydrogen peroxide and if that didn’t work, just wait it out and hope for the best. (Thank you, Maren, for your helpful advice!)

My dog ate a sock, should I make him throw up?

This is of course a question for your dog’s vet, but with my own dog I decided to make him throw up.

if your dog ate a sock, there are risks to making your dog throw up the sock. If the sock is large or if your dog is small, the sock could get stuck in his throat and become a choking hazard. I wasn’t worried about this with my 62-pound dog and a small sock. And our vet was closed, so I just decided to try it.

Does hydrogen peroxide work to make a dog throw up?

Yep.

Short version: Making my dog throw up the sock using hydrogen peroxide worked, eventually. My dog puked up the sock and he was fine. No trip to the vet. No money spent. Phew.

Long version: read on

Once we decided we were going to try to make Remy throw up using hydrogen peroxide, we kept him on a leash so we’d be able to grab him if he did throw up the sock.

We are blessed with a dog who gets possessive of his own puke (!!) and I knew he’d for sure try to re-grab the freaking sock.

First dose of hydrogen peroxide went down, no puke.

Second dose … he threw up a lot. But no sock.

We gave a third dose and decided this would be the final dose. I’m no vet, and I don’t know how much hydrogen peroxide is safe to give. (Turns out, a third dose is generally not recommended for safety but it didn’t seem to bother Remy.)

So on the third dose … he puked again. Still no sock!

This dog is seriously stubborn.

Some dogs will throw up socks on their own

So, I decided at that point I would just wait it out and hope for the best. I went to bed that night hoping he’d be able to pass the sock or that his body would naturally throw it up just as he throws up pieces of wood, grass and chunks of plastic. (Oh, the joys!)

I’ll give him this, his system is efficient!

So, I got up the next morning and greeted my pup out in the living room where he sleeps. And oh my God, there was the sock! He’d puked it up in the middle of the night!

Only, after seeing me, my idiot dog instantly made a beeline for the sock and quickly RESWALLOWED THE SOCK!

WTF?!

This time, I’m like, “OK, dog. You’re going to throw up this damn sock.”

So we began the hydrogen peroxide treatment again.

First dose:

My suborn dog refused to throw up. He threw up in his mouth and swallowed it.

Second dose: No puke.

Third dose:

I could tell he was feeling woozy. I had him on a leash so I could quickly get him away from his puke.

And then up it came, sock and all!

I had to practically tackle my dog to keep him away from re-eating the sock for a third time!

Wooooo! For the win!

I got the sock.

Phew!

So, long story short, keep your socks picked up and keep hydrogen peroxide on hand. It really does work.

Risks of making your dog throw up

Of course, it’s not always safe to give hydrogen peroxide. If your dog swallowed something sharp it might cause more damage to make him throw up.

Second, like I said, there’s always the risk of choking.

And third, certain liquid chemicals or medications don’t mix well with hydrogen peroxide and doing so can make things worse. Some things are not be safe if it mixes with hydrogen peroxide.

When in doubt, you should always ask a vet.

See our post on How to make your dog throw up using hydrogen peroxide.

Now I’d love to hear from you!

What’s the strangest thing YOUR dog has eaten?

Hopefully everything turned out OK.

Lindsay Stordahl is the founder of That Mutt. She writes about dog training and behavior, healthy raw dog food and running with dogs.