diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index e63e261..b71c73e 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -3,6 +3,10 @@ CHANGELOG
 
 [//]: # (comment: Don't forget to update src/DogStatsd.php:DogStatsd::version when releasing a new version)
 
+# 1.6.1 / 2023-06-22
+* Added message counter
+* Close socket after `$maxCountMessagesOnSocketSession` number of messages sent
+
 # 1.6.0 / 2023-05-1
 * Lazy creation of sockets
 * Resend on socket errors. Default max attempts is 2. Can be configured with `max_attempts_to_send` option.
diff --git a/src/BatchedDogStatsd.php b/src/BatchedDogStatsd.php
index 4da6673..a59c940 100644
--- a/src/BatchedDogStatsd.php
+++ b/src/BatchedDogStatsd.php
@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@
  */
 class BatchedDogStatsd extends DogStatsd
 {
+    public static $maxCountMessagesOnSocketSession = 0;
     public static $maxBufferLength = 50;
     private static $buffer = [];
     private static $bufferLength = 0;
diff --git a/src/DogStatsd.php b/src/DogStatsd.php
index fda6af4..9f7acaf 100644
--- a/src/DogStatsd.php
+++ b/src/DogStatsd.php
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@ class DogStatsd
 
     const DEFAULT_MAX_ATTEMPTS_TO_SEND = 1;
     // phpcs:enable
-    public static $version = '1.6.0';
+    public static $version = '1.6.1';
     private static $eventUrl = '/api/v1/events';
     /**
      * @var bool|resource|\Socket
@@ -87,6 +87,9 @@ class DogStatsd
     // Used for the telemetry tags
     private $packets_dropped;
 
+    private $countSentMessages = 0;
+    public static $maxCountMessagesOnSocketSession = 50;
+
     /**
      * DogStatsd constructor, takes a configuration array. The configuration can take any of the following values:
      * host,
@@ -508,6 +511,9 @@ protected function sendMessage($message, $attempt = 0)
                     return $this->sendMessage($message, ++$attempt);
                 }
             }
+        } elseif (++$this->countSentMessages > static::$maxCountMessagesOnSocketSession) {
+            $this->closeSocket();
+            $this->countSentMessages = 0;
         }
 
         return $res;
diff --git a/tests/UnitTests/BatchedDogStatsdTest.php b/tests/UnitTests/BatchedDogStatsdTest.php
index 66c30a8..a96570c 100644
--- a/tests/UnitTests/BatchedDogStatsdTest.php
+++ b/tests/UnitTests/BatchedDogStatsdTest.php
@@ -38,12 +38,12 @@ public function testReportSendsOnceBufferIsFilled()
         $batchedDog->gauge($udpMessage . '2', 21);
 
         $spy = $this->getSocketSpy();
+
         $this->assertSame(
             0,
             count($spy->argsFromSocketSendtoCalls),
             'Should not have sent any message until the buffer is full'
         );
-
         $batchedDog->gauge($udpMessage . '3', 21);
 
         $this->assertSame(
@@ -51,6 +51,11 @@ public function testReportSendsOnceBufferIsFilled()
             count($spy->argsFromSocketSendtoCalls),
             'Should send all buffered UDP messages once buffer is filled'
         );
+        $this->assertSame(
+            1,
+            count($spy->argsFromSocketCloseCalls),
+            'Socket was not closed'
+        );
 
         $this->assertSameTelemetry(
             $expectedUdpMessageOnceSent,
diff --git a/tests/UnitTests/DogStatsd/CountSentMessagesTest.php b/tests/UnitTests/DogStatsd/CountSentMessagesTest.php
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..bdbce22
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/UnitTests/DogStatsd/CountSentMessagesTest.php
@@ -0,0 +1,72 @@
+<?php
+
+namespace DataDog\UnitTests\DogStatsd;
+
+use DataDog\DogStatsd;
+use DataDog\TestHelpers\SocketSpyTestCase;
+
+class CountSentMessagesTest extends SocketSpyTestCase
+{
+    public function testReportDoesNotSendIfBufferNotFilled()
+    {
+        $batchedDog = new DogStatsd();
+
+        $batchedDog->report('some fake UDP message');
+
+        $spy = $this->getSocketSpy();
+
+        $this->assertSame(
+            1,
+            count($spy->argsFromSocketSendtoCalls),
+            'Should sent UDP message'
+        );
+
+        $this->assertSame(
+            0,
+            count($spy->argsFromSocketCloseCalls),
+            'Socket should be not closed'
+        );
+    }
+
+    public function testReportSendsOnceBufferIsFilled()
+    {
+        $batchedDog = new DogStatsd();
+
+        $batchedDog::$maxCountMessagesOnSocketSession = 2;
+
+        $udpMessage = 'some fake UDP message';
+
+        $spy = $this->getSocketSpy();
+
+        $batchedDog->gauge($udpMessage . '1', 21);
+        $batchedDog->gauge($udpMessage . '2', 21);
+        $batchedDog->gauge($udpMessage . '3', 21);
+
+        $this->assertSame(
+            3,
+            count($spy->argsFromSocketSendtoCalls),
+            'Should send all UDP messages'
+        );
+        $this->assertSame(
+            1,
+            count($spy->argsFromSocketCloseCalls),
+            'Socket was not closed'
+        );
+
+        $this->assertSame(
+            "some fake UDP message1:21|g\n",
+            $spy->argsFromSocketSendtoCalls[0][1],
+            'Should concatenate UDP messages with newlines'
+        );
+        $this->assertSame(
+            "some fake UDP message2:21|g\n",
+            $spy->argsFromSocketSendtoCalls[1][1],
+            'Should concatenate UDP messages with newlines'
+        );
+        $this->assertSame(
+            "some fake UDP message3:21|g\n",
+            $spy->argsFromSocketSendtoCalls[2][1],
+            'Should concatenate UDP messages with newlines'
+        );
+    }
+}