Is My Dog Normal?: Used Tissue & Dirty Sock Fetish

So, we kind of lied when we told you last week that Athena's favorite thing in the world is her ChuckIt! Ultra Ball.  Her REAL favorite things are used tissues, paper towels and dirty socks.

Who me?!  A used tissue and dirty sock thief?!  You've got the wrong dog!

B and I learned our lesson pretty quickly after adopting Athena that garbage cans in the bathrooms and kitchen must not be left unattended-- or without a lid.  In the first few weeks of having Athena, there were a few instances when Athena came to find us as she was holding a used tissue or dirty sock in her mouth.  She would walk right up to us with her "off limits" item in her mouth and stare at us as if she were saying, "Hey guyssssss!  Look what I found!"  Because I was pretty clueless in the beginning, I would chase Athena around trying to pry the tissue or sock out of her mouth (I seriously thought she was going to eat it and then she might get sick and then we would have to take her to the vet and then and then and then....).  As I chased Athena around the house she would usually go into "crazy horse" mode (which is what we call it when she gets a toy or off-limits object in her mouth and then gallops through the house while whipping her head all around).  Clearly Athena is an evil genius because whenever she would get a sock or used tissue, she would get to play a fun game of keep away with me.  I will admit that I have experienced uncontrollable laughter (while at the same time being very frustrated at this behavior) during a few of these episodes, especially when Athena latches onto a sock and because her head whipping action is so intense, the sock will fly out of her mouth and right into my hand.  At this point she will stop and look at me like, "Awwwwwwww mannnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn!"

Blurry photo="crazy horse" head whipping action is taking place (notice the white streak in the middle)

I realize that I wrote the above in past tense...however this tissue and sock keep away game is something that Athena likes to play about every three days or so.  I just don't know what it is about USED paper products and dirty socks?!  We leave shoes out all over the house and all sorts of "off-limits" items that Athena could care less about touching.  There must just be something about the thrill of sticking her head into a garbage can or into the clothes hamper.

I realized the full extent of Athena's used paper product obsession the other day when my mom and I took her on a walk.  As we were crossing a busy street (at a designated crosswalk where 4 lanes of traffic had to stop for us to cross--which means people were watching us) a used tissue just happened to blow right past Athena's face.  You better believe it that Athena pulled me in the other direction to try and "catch" the tissue!  As this was a very unsafe situation, I used the "leave it" command over and over and pulled Athena back in the direction that we were walking.  Luckily she quickly forgot about the tissue.

So, I googled "my dog likes used tissues" and this is clearly a normal fetish for many dogs.  I saw from this search that many people's dogs actually eat the tissue...we have yet to have Athena ingest any paper products because we usually get them out of her mouth before she can destroy them.  We are pretty sure that she has come to associate getting a used tissue with us "trading" her for a very yummy treat (usually an unhealthy Milkbone-- her absolute favorite).

Next I googled, "my dog likes dirty socks" and this is an equally searched topic ("my dog smells like a dirty sock" was also represented in this search....gross).

I won't let my mom get one unblurry picture because I am just so excited to have this dirty sock in my mouth!

Because Athena is so attached to her humans (she rarely leaves our sight and will follow us all around the house) we can usually tell when she is on the prowl for a used tissue or dirty sock because she will be out of sight for about more than a minute (usually after she has gone for a drink of water).  This is when we usually get up to see what she is snooping around in.  Sometimes we don't catch her in time and therefore must play the tissue/sock keep away game.

As we work to remove all used tissue and dirty sock temptation from our house, we would like to know if your dogs have similar fetishes?  What have you done to get your dog to stop searching for these "off limits" items in your house?