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“My Name is Magnus and I’m a Shoe Monster”

By katie, on February 22nd, 2011

Just A quick post to beg some training advice.

"Shhh. . . Don't tell my Crazymomlady I got another shoe!"

Magnus is obsessed with shoes. I’m considering getting him professional help as he this obsession is now bordering on addiction.

No shoe is safe in our house. Several times a day he proudly prances in and presents me with a shoe dangling from his teeth by the shoe lace.

Want to kick off your shoes after work? Well he wants us to, so he can quickly grab one as his spoil. Want to leave your muddy shoe at the door on the mat to dry? Oh, he will be thrilled to drag that muddy shoe through the house trailing mud as he goes.

He has yet to ruin a shoe, he isn’t chewing them up, but rather thinks they are some kind of prey to sling around and shake to death by that convenient string laced through their neck.

So here is my question, can you train a dog to have his own shoe? Can I give him an old shoe, such as the one I have been watching him drag inside, outside and all around for the last hour, and let it be his? If I let one shoe be an acceptable toy am I setting myself up for a lifetime of shoe management and containment? Do all shoes have to be off limits, total shoe zen by default?

If it is possible to explain, “This ONE shoe is yours, but all the rest of the shoes are mine” how do I train that?

His joy over his shoe right now drives me to ask this crazy question and my faith in all of your expertise lets believe you will have an answer for me!

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  • http://littlesparklesdog.blogspot.com Beth

    Chispita never did this, so I never had to train her not to. When she was a puppy we all assumed that she would want to chew on shoes, so we put them all in a large cardboard box by the door whenever we were not wearing them. When she got older we put them back on the shoe tray, and she was never very interested in them.

    I think it would be possible to teach Magnus that one of the shoes is his and the others are not. It would be easier if the shoe was a lot different from the other shoes in the house. Just like dogs learn to play with their own stuffed animals and not the stuffed animals of their owners, he could learn to just play with his shoe. But if he broke his shoe and it had to be thrown away, he might take one of the other shoes as a replacement, so I don’t know how well that would work.

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_PDQUK4VJVSJ2BZLKMCGDGRDG7E Debra

    Zeus our Golden was like that. He LOVED retrieving shoes. I don’t see why you couldn’t teach him to have “his” shoe but the only idea I would have for doing it is redirecting him to it when he takes another one.

  • http://www.dogfostermom.com Dogfostermom

    Yep, dogs don’t generalize well, so he should easily be able to learn that one shoe is his and the rest are not. But like Beth said, it’d be easier if they don’t look or smell too similar. Then again, one reason some dogs like shoes is because they smell like their owners (or at least like their owners feet) so you may find he doesn’t like “his” shoe so much if its not being worn by a person on a regular basis. :-)

  • Marie

    Well, Dare doesn’t destroy shoes, but if we haven’t done anything and she’s desperate to get me moving, she has grabbed my shoes and brought them to me to make her point.

  • Priscilla

    It’s so strange and funny that dogs like shoes. Eva likes to play with slippers, she just plays with them like they are toys!

  • Priscilla

    It’s so strange and funny that dogs like shoes. Eva likes to play with slippers, she just plays with them like they are toys!

  • http://istillwantmorepuppies.blogspot.com Pup Fan

    It’s hard to break those shoe addictions!

  • http://bztraining.blogspot.com Kathleen

    I would put your shoes out of reach *faithfully* for a while, then find something she can chew on that looks nothing like a shoe, but has a texture she loves, and let her know how much you love her chewing on it.

    If it’s the scent of “you” she likes, then give it a good cuddle first!

    I’m with Pup Fan on the shoe addiction. No good can come of it!

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