# How do you overcome the delight of eating socks and undies etc??!!



## Mattie.egg (Sep 11, 2019)

Well... we too have an 18 m V who prizes socks and undies... eats them in a jiffy... we’ve done well with training over all with a few notable exceptions. She wants to EAT the things that smell like her people, mainly kid items though we are careful to restrict access and have a stair gate that keeps her downstairs away from bedrooms and laundry room. Things still find their way into her belly...
We taught her to do ‘good give’ when she has contraband items in exchange for a treat... this most often works but she races to get certain items swallowed before we can even notice. She will also counter surf or table surf when we leave the room. Again, we are careful but as you can imagine with four kids, she gets stuff of the counter or food off the table periodically.
She has good recall even off leash for about 90% of circumstances, which is nice but not good enough to be safe. We also cannot rely on her staying with us in our front yard if a tempting soggy or neighbor comes into view... she will go happily greet them, then come... roadways are crossed... not good.
We are in serious need of a way to make the experience of eating contraband items/food negative!! The delight of the smell or taste is winning over our training rewards etc. We also want to really clinch that off leash recall and yard boundaries, for the obvious safety reasons! What do you do??!! She trains like a dream in the ring and knows what to do, but is very situational with her obedience. Do we go the E-collar route? 
Can you make the adverse stimuli for contraband eating with the e-collar and also use it for the outside boundaries and recall without stressing an otherwise amazing dog?
Are there other ways to train her out of eating socks/undies, ballet shoes or other tasty smelly items? I’ve read quite a bit and tried lots of positive reinforcement techniques but we aren’t winning this battle and I fear it’s only getting more entrenched...thanks so much for you time and thoughts!!


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## Ffion (Jun 5, 2020)

I'm assuming you know that mischievous look on your vizsla's face as they come prancing into the room with a contraband item in their mouth 😉 Our puppy (7 months old) shares similar habits of chewing and stealing! However, we managed to come up with something that usually stops her, and it's not an e-collar. You may have tried this already, but here's what we do:

When she comes into the room with the item, _ignore her_. Act as if nothing has happened, and don't give her any attention (which hopefully isn't too hard, depending on what she's got in her mouth). Calmly go and get a dog treat, without looking at her at all. Then, still ignoring her, come back into the room with a treat and make a big fuss over it - like a big deal, gasping and admiring the treat in your best 'praising puppy' voice. Remember, you are still ignoring her through all this!

When we do this our puppy, seeing that we aren't going to give her any attention for her behavior, comes to investigate. Hopefully your dog has the same response... if she does come over to look at what you're doing, give her the treat immediately and pat and praise her. While she is distracted somebody else from the household can rescue your belonging. 

Vizslas seem to especially like doing everything you do, so when you ignore her she probably won't like it! Hopefully over time she will see that she isn't getting any more fun out of this game she was playing, and that treats are much better than consuming socks and other household items! 

I don't have much to say on your question about the recalling, but remember to _always _give her a treat when she comes to you obediently. I used to let our puppy out the front door, let her go a little way away, then call her in, give her a treat, and repeat the process. Now she comes whenever I call. 

Anyway, hope this helps and I'm sure your vizsla will catch on quickly. They're smart dogs!


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## Mattie.egg (Sep 11, 2019)

Thanks for your response. Yes, enthusiasm from her people elicits immediate responses. Unfortunately she takes pains to gulp down certain items as rapidly as possible.... the ‘ignore’ game works for many things but not for socks and undies etc. 
she’s got good recall overall, we used the same methods. She doesn’t even run out the front door etc. but when already out with us, I can’t rely on her not going to greet someone she sees in the next yard...crossing the street to do so. She’ll come when called after that’s taken care of :-/ She’s an awesome dog and at 18 months, doing well with training overall. My concern is whether those two areas are going to get more entrenched over time if not addressed sufficiently now...


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## Ffion (Jun 5, 2020)

I see 🙂 I'm sorry I couldn't be of more help. Well, most doggy issues get better over time... and she sounds like a very sweet dog 😊 Oh, yes, our puppy does that too sometimes - you can almost see them thinking 'but I do come back when they call me! Just not right away...' 😄


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## Mattie.egg (Sep 11, 2019)

Thanks for taking the time to respond camaraderie is priceless. For now I think we will keep doing what we are doing and add in some consults with a trainer... get some fresh perspective and expertise 
I don’t want to add in adverse consequences in a counter productive way. She’s done so well and is a gem of a girl


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