Okay, Dave, I like asking stupid questions ... right??

I went looking and I can't find anything definitive, but I can't picture a dog swallowing something while it's running / playing. *I think* the dogs anatomy is going to require it to stand relatively still while it swallows. Thinking of pictures of wolves swallowing, even they have to grab, back off and stand to swallow.

What I'm suggesting ... and this is just a suggestion, mind you ... is it possible that she "saw a sock" when what she was actually looking at was a pink tongue??

If Mylo had swallowed a sock, even a pedi sock, I'd think that you'd have seen some evidence of it by now....

@Al, I'm going to let Dave answer your question, however, when I was younger, my Malamute was still very young, maybe 1 or 2, and he did virtually the same thing (only it wasn't play, he was running from my mom) with my moms underwear ) he swallowed them while he was running from her. I honestly don't remember how he passed them though, I may have blocked the image from my memory, lol.

Denali swallows crap on the fly too.

So, I've had experience with a blockage, and quite frankly we didn't pick up on it right away with Shadow. That had a lot to do with the fact that we hadn't realized she'd eaten anything (lately, anyway. She ate a lot of stuff as some of you will remember), and part of the issue on why she didn't pass the bit of rope was that it was nylon and not cotton.

Watch to see if he gets gassy with maybe a bit of loose stool. That's how it started with Shadow, and she did throw up once a couple days before she got really sick. It wasn't a sudden "wow, the dog is really lethargic and sick" and even when she did get sick we thought it was a few other things mostly related to her neuro issues and meds. The gas thing was huge though, and we honestly thought it was hilarious and didn't give it second thought. I picked her up from daycare 2 days before she got really sick, and instead of "Shadow pooped out a squeaker/toy/bit of sock/etc", it was "Shadow let a 30 second fart today, no joke". That was really odd, but again (since my mind is kind of in the gutter anyway) I thought it was funny and laughed it off.

I really don't want to scare you, but blockages are no joke and I wanted to let you know what we saw leading up to Shadow's surgery.

(It's still a little hard for me to talk about this stuff too)

Well you see the sock was on the floor in the table area and he did stop but on the other side of the table and she was waiting for him to come around but then after a few seconds he finally came up to her and he was just finishing up gobbling it up... So yes it was a sock and we never found it. What if it stays in there?

He's been pooping normal and eating as usual and acting as he always does.

I'm glad you did Meridith, I was actually hoping you would post that. I don't want to scare Dave, but I thought of Shadow when I first read this thread and how sudden it all went down, and I don't want to see that ever again.

Thanks all for the comments - I wasn't sure whether they could anatomically swallow while running and honestly I can't remember ever having a dog that did, hence my comment.

Meredith, in particular, thanks for your experience, like Jimmy I've had shades of Shadow in mind since David bought this up and there's a fine line between making him aware that this can be a very serious problem and scaring the blazes out of him. You did that well, thanks.

David, I wasn't trying to be really dumb but sometimes you have to ask the dumb questions just to rule stuff out. As Merediith has suggested, if it stays in you've got a major problem. Eventually it has to come out, one way or another. Better that she passes it then to have to have a vet go in and get it ....

@Artic_wind
Wow really a underwear? That's insane haha
And he passed it?! It's hard for me to comprehend how Mylo will be able to poop out that sock..

@blueeyedghost
Sighhhh blockage is our biggest fear...
Now were thinking about going to our vet for a X-ray just to see where this thing is at. I'm sure it will be much cheaper than the e-vet.
He hasn't had any gas or anything out of the ordinary.

He's already had surgery in to his abdomen since that's where they found his other testicle that never came out.

I have a question, might be stupid, but I thought I'd ask anyways in case it could somehow help...here goes, will the sock come out in one piece? Or will it be broken down? If it's the latter, could Dave bring in a stool sample to the vet to help determine if it is actually being passed already?

ETA...I had a husky who ate carpet, I never saw the carpet in his poop until the poop had dried...I remember being outside and wondering how little schnibbles of carpet got out there and realized it was in some poop that had...evaporated, that's why I asked about bringing in the stool sample, maybe Dave can't see the sock in the poop but it's there.

Jimmy, perhaps Meredith will chime back in, from my understanding through my vet in Florida, cotton and other natural fibers breakdown, so to speak, in that the stomach acid will break it up, this is not to say cotton or natural fibers is digestible, they are not, it can not be absorb or used as nutrients. Nylon and man made fibers will not/can not break down and it sits unless something in the tummy pushes it out. A great way he showed us was taking a cotton string and a nylon string, you can break off cotton fairly easily, nylon not so much. I do not buy man made items for cats or dogs to play with, and if they are not man made 100% supervision always. We have one tuggy in the house made of cotton, her other tuggy toys are outside for when we play and she is always supervised. My assumption Jimmy, your dog did one of two things, the carpet was a natural fiber, or your dog nibbled it before swallowing so there were already pieces. My vet also made us very aware, with a cat a piece of string ate must be less than one inch in order for it to pass through with out problems, so in a dog I assume that piece can be somewhat larger, since their digestive track is considerably larger than a cats. Another way to visualize why Meredith mentioned cotton vs nylon is items left outside, the elements can breakdown natural fibers way faster than nylon or polyester. Some natural fibers include cotton, jute, sisal, hemp. I also have to think how dogs can eat and digest bones, and trees(lol had to include), it takes some time for small fragments of bone to completely leave the digestive tract but it will. This is only info relayed to me by my old vet, and mho. To be honest when Miya was 5 months old she ate a baby duck, 100 percent beak, feathers, feet and all, and about 3 days later her tummy digested the good parts and she pooped out the bad, not a pretty picture, but I watched her poop for days, until ducky feet came out. I would guess in Dave's situation I would probably go to regular vet by day 3, if hasn't passed the sock, it may be sitting in Mylo's tummy.

I hope this resolves soon Dave, I feel for you. Poor Mylo and your girl.

@Artic_wind
I usually like to pick up stools from the front of the house after a few days. I remember one time when I was picking up all the poops I noticed of the "logs" was now just a bunch of napkins and I was like woah there's the napkins! But then again napkins are way different from a sock. But maybe I should inspect the stools that have been dropped so far..even though personally I can't see the sock being broken apart but who knows.

@aljones
Yeah I understand the reasoning for those questions haha
So I'm definitely gonna be taking Mylo to the vet tomorrow for an X-ray.
My girlfriend is feeling really sad about this but I'm telling her to see this as a learning experience and this stuff happens and now that it happened we have to work it out and learn.

I'm not typing fast enough to keep up with all you guys so if it seems like I'm responding out of order please bear with me haha. Thanks to all you for joining the thread and going thru this situation with me..this is what forums are for and why I love this forum.

@miyasmomma
A whole baby duck!? Wow..
So tomorrow will be the third day..should I still just go for a X-ray tomorrow morning or wait it out and see how the day pans out?
It's a mystery, the materials if the sock are not known she just noticed it was thin and not hers, it was her smaller nieces sock.

Personally I would go in and discuss this with your vet, since you have the appointment. Your vet may decide with you it is best for the x-ray. and yes a whole baby duck, I was not pleased at all, haha, and that is the reason we taught drop it and leave it. She at first ate just the good stuff, but every time we went to grab a beak, or feet, or feathers she ate more. We will not go over why she had and ate a baby duck, just know she has no desire to eat ducks any more, I assume the passing of the feet was rather difficult for her, hence the aversion to ducks now, lol. Btw Dave, I will also not go into the fact that she ate a lot of construction, we were building our house shortly after getting her, and I mean staples, dry wall mud, etc. So yes this is a learning experience for sure.

I agree with still visiting the vet...I know it's money that you probly can't spend right now but, should this get worse, you are looking at a whole other kind of bill. It's why I also mentioned the stool sample, it's very inexpensive to have that checked and then you might have had a better idea of where the sock is. But the X-ray is the best tool for that. Gotta say though, when I visualized a sock, I visualized a standard sock, then you said it was one of those sport/ankle socks and I felt a little better, now it's down to a younger/smaller nieces sock and I feel even more a lil better, however the material it's made from can make all the difference so I'm not gonna feel too good about it yet. Dude, just get the X-ray, money well spent for hopefully dome peace of mind and like you said, a learning experience as well!!! Btw, if you can still inspect the logs already dropped, why not! A lil sock that's gone thru the body, could probly crinkle itself up to a lil thing, you may actually find it!! That'd be awesome!!!

@Renee, thank you for explaining all that!!! I appreciate it

By no means do I assume everyone will go out and by cotton items for your dog to eat, lol. But, I know Al had mentioned something as well, and yes he is correct on what he said, but, I think I explained it on why cotton does make a difference over nylon, for example. I agree with Jimmy, be a poop inspector. haha, I can not tell you how many rounds of arguments I had with the hubs and what Miya ate from one day to the next. His belief if it goes in one way it will come back out the other, and I have said no way for most items. But you never know Dave, it may have gotten all smashed up and is out. Ugh, this can get gross in a hurry. Your vet may also do stomach palpitations and see how the tummy feels, if there is a blockage, or if he is forming a blockage I assume the vet would be able to feel it....?

Alright so just came back from the vet.
She felt his tummy and nothing felt weird and it didnt bother Mylo the way she was feeling there.
She sent us off with 6 cans of high fiber food to mix with his food so he can poop more and push it out.
I didn't bring up the X-ray thing unless she addressed it but she did say that she doesn't see the need for a X-ray unless things get bad.

Today is the third day since the sock happened and he's been his usual self.
I did check the stools that are still on the land and I didn't see any evidence of the sock but I did find napkins in some lol I still need to check the ones at my girlfriends house.

Dave, honestly if it still doesn't pass in a couple days, even if he's not showing signs, I personally would still get the xray. One, for peace of mind so you don't have this constant "will he or won't he"? Second, if he doesn't pass it but it stays in there not giving him any trouble, it increases the chance that the next time he eats something weird that will get stuck because he already has one foreign body in there taking up space.

Just my personal thoughts.

Did ya'll actually *see* him eat the sock or was it there one minute and gone the next?

I'm just curious because by now if he's still acting normal it doesn't seem like he ingested it or at least it's not causing any issues.

Ashleigh, I asked that question earlier. Sounds like his GF said he was running around with sock in mouth, then it was gone and was not found anywhere.

I think several have asked that same question in different fashions; his GF seems adamant that Mylo ate it ... so ...

I agree with Sara's comment, if she doesn't pass it (Dave doesn't see it) and Mylo swallows something else, it just gives that much more of a chance that they'll get tangled up and you have a blockage on your hands.
The problem I see with an X-Ray is that we're talking about a natural fiber - I'd be thinking that it might not be dense enough to show up ... would it??

Sorry, went to bed a little early and then have been crushed at work. The sock may or may not show up, but if it's causing problems it'll be obvious. We couldn't tell what was in Shadow, but her intestines looked almost like blown up balloons. That was after being sick for a couple days though, so it may not be as obvious.

I just inspected all the stools on my girlfriends land and all I found were some napkins.
I should've at least asked for a surgery estimate while I was at the vet..

He continues as his usual self today so far.
How many of you here honestly believe that the sock will be able to pass?

Most likely it will pass...it was a press sort of thing, right? There was a gentleman on here whose dog passed a pair of nylon panties, albeit I think he had to Bob be a little tug

Archer is forever eating paper towels that I wiped up oil or other coming messed and they come through packed in his stool. As long as mylo acts, eats, drinks normally, you should be all right. If he starts refusing food, has belly pain etc then you have an emergency and have to jump.

Best of luck.

amymeme wrote:

 There was a gentleman on here whose dog passed a pair of nylon panties, albeit I think he had to Bob be a little tug

Ughhhhh, Amy you coulda left that part out...maybe that's what happened with my Malamute and why the memory of it passing has been blocked from my mind!!! My mom was pretty determined to get her panties back though!!!

@amymeme
What do you mean by "press sort of thing"?
and oh my goodness two panties?!? I'm ready to pull that sock if I have to! My girlfriend too.

@artic_wind
I would block that from my kind too..