Hi Valerie, and welcome. It's not uncommon for puppies to eat socks, and this does sometimes persist into adulthood. Sometimes swallowing items is caused by taking things off the dog - they then swallow to prevent you getting at them. The best solution once the dog has a habit of swallowing inedible stuff is to make sure the dog doesn't have access to them. Toys that replicate the feel of socks include the unstuffed ranges, but it's not impossible for dogs to swallow these. You can also buy unstuffed toys with knotted ropes inside, these are sturdier. Best of all is the kong wubba, the large one would be pretty hard to swallow, though it isn't as soft. Part of the appeal of socks is that they smell of you, even after going through the wash. And with dogs that swallow inappropriate items, the only safe solution really, is to supervise, deny access (using baby gates) to areas that you haven't tidied. And to keep areas that the dog has access to very tidy indeed.
Of course and obviously those are the safeguards. Puppies are so fast. Question was with labs more obsessed with socks than many breeds, why not have a toy that replicates the texture of socks. Same as having durable chew toys to minimize chewing non chew toy items
Probably because the appeal of socks is not just the texture, it's human scent. And because socks are not very chew resistant.
