Sock, I Shall Smite You!

Theo has a new Theo-ism. When Theo is bored the usual game of fetch will not suffice. The antler chew does not entice.

(I was a poet and I didn't know it!)

Usually when Theo gets in this mood it means he wants to jump on my head and bite my ears, or he wants me to chase him around the house. When he's bored, he lives to be chased around the house. Seriously, he'd do it until his legs fell off if I didn't lose interest way before that point was reached.

But sometimes I'm just not in the mood to crawl around on the floor and have a dog jump all over me. Sometimes I'm tired and don't want to run around the house. Sometimes while he's bored, I'm sitting on the couch, doing my own thing. That's when, in recent weeks, he's begun starting in on my feet.

Yes, my feet.

Not Husband's feet. Only mine.

I actually have an aversion to my feet being touched. When Husband and I are snuggling in bed, I will smack him if his feet brush mine. (Ok, actually I resort to whining rather than phsyical abuse, but smacking just sounded better there.) They're extremely ticklish, you see. And they prefer just to be left alone. So naturally, Theo now wants everything to do with them. And being my adorable furkid, I can't but help to give him whatever he wants. So I let him play with my feet.

Gasp!

And here's the thing. You'd think dogs, teeth, sharp, sensitive feet...all bad things would result. But no! Theo, being Theo, wants only to play, not to harm. He knows that his teeth are sharp, so he bites my feet ever so gently. Eep! But he's so gentle that it tickles! I writhe around in agony because it is just about the worst feeling ever, having my feet tickled! But he just wants to play, so I don't discourage him. I grate my teeth and try to think about not being ticklish. But Theo being Theo, he knows I'm hating it, and he only wants to play, not to harm!

So recently he's started going after my sock, rather than the whole foot. Are Corgis smart or what?! It is hilarious! He knows that there is a very thin layer of sock covering the foot, so he attempts to bite the sock and separate it from my foot with his front teeth. Can you imagine? It's too funny! Once he has a first grip on the sock, It. Is. On. A game of tug like you have never imagined starts. He grunts, he growls, and he tugs tugs tugs! I tug back, and we continue this way until the sock comes off. Then he kind of sighs at the anti-climax of his victory. Then he starts on my other sock. lol! It's so cute that sometimes I put my socks back on so we can do it again.

But he won't do it with Husband's socks. Only mine are offensive. Does that mean my feet smell and he's trying to air them out for me? Hmmm...

There is a bit of a downside to this new game. While Theo has every intention of being good and gentle, sometimes when he's gingerly pulling the sock away from my foot, he gets skin. Imagine tiny doggy teeth latching onto the very top of your skin and pulling. Yeah...OUCH! But I don't get mad because he obviously doesn't mean to. When I say "ouch!" he stops, backs away, looks sorry, and then goes back to try again. Hehe. Who would have thought dogs could be sweet and thoughtful? This one is!



Does anyone else have a dog who finds socks particularly offensive? Not sure why my socks started to offend two years later, but that's a dog for you, right? Sometimes things just develop. But people are that way too, I suppose.