Pulling Washing Off The Line

[Chaddy's Mummy]

Hi there,

I have a border collie that is kept in a medium sized yard. He is 2 yrs old, and gets walked every day, sometimes twice. I always have food and water for him (I know some people recommend leaving food out for 20mins). He has plenty of toys and blankets that are constantly replenished.

He has one annoying habit = ripping the washing off the line!!

Can anyone please suggest ways to stop this before I go insane!

Someone suggested to me putting plastic shopping bags full of water on the line, so when he pulls them off, theyll wet him. I think this sounds pretty unsafe.

He also likes chasing the birds, but that is something myself and the birds can deal with.

I'd really rather not tie him up all day, i'd like him to be free to wander around the yard when Im not home.

Thanks,

Liz.

[Silvawilow]

Don't you just love what dogs do

I had the same problem with my aussie boy. I found that hanging stockings, that were coated in some wicked hot sauce, on the line helped.

I also gave him more stuff to chew on in the yard, like big frozen blocks of chicken stock (stuff I had left from my soup making attempt!) and kongs, frozen bones, etc.

Either what I did worked or else he just grew out of it

His latest trick is now pulling the bedding out of the kennels (even though i bolted them to the floor and the walls of the kennels)

[Chaddy's Mummy]

Hi

Yeh my dog pulled the lining out of his kennel, so I let him go a couple of days n night without a blanket (mean, I know - he sleeps at the end of my bed at night). So when i eventually replaced it, its stayed there!

What hot sauce is ok for a dog?

[Isabel964]

Man thats a tough one.

I'd just use a dryer LOL

[Chaddy's Mummy]

Thats hilarious, Sky.

Not sure its that eco-friendly though!

I suggest to my partner getting another dog to entertain our current one, but then we'll have 2 dogs swinging off the clothes on the line.

Chad (the naughty one) pulls off everyone's clothes, but he only rips up mine.

Grrr.

[Silvawilow]

Hi

Yeh my dog pulled the lining out of his kennel, so I let him go a couple of days n night without a blanket (mean, I know - he sleeps at the end of my bed at night). So when i eventually replaced it, its stayed there!

What hot sauce is ok for a dog?

This will probably sound really bad (cause I'm not sure if it's safe but didn't want to try the bags of water stuff. my friend tried that with her visuzla who thought it was the greatest game ever invented) but I made up my own mixture of chilli's, halapenos (i know spelt wrong) i just brushed the inside of the stocking with it. He sniffed it, squinted his eyes at it and that was that. He's silly, naughty but not stupid.

This bedding thing's been going on now, off and on, for a couple of months now. Just when I think he's over it the turkey pulls em out. I left the kennels without bedding a few times (me mean too) but the message isn't getting through, plus it means my 2 grils have to go cold as well. At the moment (well for last 2 weeks anyway) beddings stayed in, I've put my old car floor mats on top of the bedding in the kennel. I don't know what it is about them but it seems to be working.

[Erny]

Hi there,

I have a border collie that is kept in a medium sized yard. He is 2 yrs old, and gets walked every day, sometimes twice.

Hi Liz.

What do you do inside that 'exercise time' and for what time frame is each exercise period?

Do you train as well?

Any other activities?

When does he try to grab the clothes off the line? (eg. When you're home or when you're not - or both.)

When did the behaviour begin?

What have you already tried to remedy the situation?

What type of 'toys' does he have?

Is he selective about which or whose clothes he pulls off the line (ie is there a preference)? ETA: Sorry - just re-read. Seems to have a preference for your clothes.

Edited July 28, 2007 by Erny

[Bonniebank]

Another method is blow up a balloon, hide it inside something on the line and when the dog bites it it bursts and gives them a fright.....might work

[Chaddy's Mummy]

Hi,

Myself n hubby adopted him from the lost dogs home about 14 months ago. When we first adopted him, I was home on holidays for a few weeks. After I went back to work, he started pulling my clothes off the line. Someone told me its because he blames me for me not being home???

He only pulls off the washing when no one is home.

He regularly gets exercise, but I dont do it at set points during the day. Is that the problem?

I just take him when I get home from work/finished chores/etc.

Each time I play ball with him is about 30 min sessions, and his walk is about an hour each time. He gets a ball game and walk once each per day.

He is really fit and agile, we have a family farm that he runs non stop until he collapses nearly every Sunday when we go there (he chases the farm's ducks).

[Chaddy's Mummy]

Another method is blow up a balloon, hide it inside something on the line and when the dog bites it it bursts and gives them a fright.....might work

Thanks, thats a good idea (Might be a good idea to set up a video camera and tape it for laughs). I know, Im cruel.

[Chaddy's Mummy]

Sorry Erny, I didnt answer all your questions.

He has tennis balls, tug ropes, squeaky balls (he LOVES squeaky balls), tunnels, teddy bears (one is his sex toy it seems), bones, etc. He loves throwing the ball up in the air and catching it himself.

He likes to play by himself.

He particularly targets my 'lingerie' (LOL), however, now that I wind UP the washing line he can only reach pants and shirts and things. He seems to have a crush on my dressing gown, he always (without fail) rips it off and sleeps in it. It doesnt get put on the line anymore.

[brandybaby]

We have a rottweiler and when he was around 1 yrs old he started pulling the husbands pants of the line[i think he only pulled his off because they were the longest]anyway my husband washed his belt in his jeans one day and when the dog pulled them of the line the belt buckle must of hit him on his back[assuming as he had a mouth full of trouser legs]and with that he dropped them straight away .I am not saying huirting the dog is good,but certainly something that is on the clothes or in the clothes[balloon maybe}will probably do the trick.

[Erny]

Myself n hubby adopted him from the lost dogs home about 14 months ago.

for giving a dog in need a home.

When we first adopted him, I was home on holidays for a few weeks. After I went back to work, he started pulling my clothes off the line. Someone told me its because he blames me for me not being home???

Dogs are better than humans - they don't blame. The person who told you this was being anthropomorphic - in other words, assuming a human based emotion from the dog. No - he doesn't blame you but he is exhibiting a behaviour as a symptom of something he 'feels' when you are not there.

He only pulls off the washing when no one is home.

This could be indicative of :

• Boredom
  
• Anxiety at being left alone
  
• Anxiety in particular because he is separated from YOU
  
• Self-rewarding
  
• Learnt behaviour
  

The first quest is to work out the cause for the behaviour. This can be quite an exhaustive exercise and is far easier dealt with by having a behaviourist (one who knows) observe the dog and your relationship with it as well as by asking questions (the above, to which you've provided answers, are an example).

By the sounds of it he receives a good amount of stimulating exercise - at least I can only presume so based on your answer to "exercise".

Anxiety in particular because he is separated from YOU.

To check this one out you need to ascertain as to whether he would exhibit the pulling washing off the line behaviour when there are others around. You can one by one eliminate each member of the family by having one member of the family leave (beginning with you, seeing as he has a tendancy to favour YOUR clothing). Finally, have the whole family go out but have a friend (one who isn't a family member) stay with your dog. If the dog does not exhibit the behaviour throughout any of this 'testing' it would suggest that your dog is not behaving due to a strong connection with any one person of the family and would lend me to suspect that the behaviour relates more to an anxiety at being left home alone.

Learnt behaviour does not need to be an exclusive 'cause'. It can be a case where the behaviour began first as a result of anxiety; the behaviour was self-rewarding in that it helped reduced the anxiety; and therefore the behaviour has become 'learnt'.

By no means am I drawing to conclusion here - I refrain from making those in the absence of my own observations as mentioned above. But for the sake of this thread, let's assume that the behaviour is based in anxiety at being left alone -:

Firstly - ONLY setting up to correct or self-correct will not remove the cause. Doing so might prove to only increase anxiety and you could be left with a dog who manifests its symptomatic behaviour in other ways (and may not completely quit the pulling washing off the line either).

You first need to address the cause and to save me writing a book, I'll refer you to a discussion that is taking place in another thread in the "puppy problem" forum. The link to this discussion is HERE. Please note that it only provides 'tips' on what to do should the cause of the behaviour be anxiety based.

If you are not clear - and even if you are - it would not be unhelpful to arrange consultation with a behaviourist who has a broad base knowledge and experience in dealing with this style of behaviour and cause of behaviour.

Whilst you are working on a program to remedy the cause of the behaviour you also need to remove the Learnt behaviur element, otherwise even with the cause removed, the behaviour might still continue simply for the pure pleasure of it - in the absence of anxiety your dog could still view the washing on the line as a great fun toy to play with and be amused by. In the initial stages of behaviour modification I usually prescribe 'prevention'. The aim being to later progress to eventually being able to have the dog around the clothes on the line without any problems.

Of course clothes on a line are fun - they move around, flap in the wind etc. and this can engage many a dog's prey drive. I would suggest this is still a remaining possibility for 'cause' on its own. It might be that your dog has been 'caught in the act' by its previous owners and has simply learnt that he is not to do it when they are home but that he is allowed to do it when they are gone (they learn this by the mere fact that nothing tells the dog NOT to do it when there's no-one home). This is the occasion where you WOULD set the dog up to self-correct by creating bad taste etc. etc. as a punishment.

You could, in the isolated instance of self-rewarding provide the dog with an alternative such as a *Home Alone Toy (google Aussie Dog). But it's not just about whacking that up and expecting the dog to understand that he CAN pull and tug on the Home Alone Toy but not on your washing - that's something you need to teach him. The method explained here is stimulation control and is similar/same as those people who have dogs who love to dig, so they provide an area such as a sand pit where the dog is allowed to dig. The dog is taught that he is not allowed to dig elsewhere.

You can probably already see how convoluted working out your dog's issue can become when one is trying to cover as many contingencies as possible. As I have said above, it is often far easier and more expedient and accurate to engage the services of a behaviourist.

Of course, the 'quick fix' to this is to simply not allow the dog access to the clothes line on wash days, or not hang the clothes outside at all. Don't laugh at this - sometimes it is easier for people to go the 'quick fix' path rather than to put in the hard yacka to fix the cause. But then, if the behaviour is anxiety based it is POSSIBLE (how possible I cannot guess - especially without seeing the dog) that its behaviour might manifest into other forms of unwanted behaviour such as barking; digging; destructive chewing etc. etc.

I don't know if these schools of thought and explanations are of any help to you - I hope they are (took me long enough to type them down !!!! ). I'm hoping, though, that it might give you an insight as to recognising the cause of the behaviour. Narrowing this down makes it far easier to reach a solution.

You could take 'pot luck' with application of a method - and it might work. But it also might serve to make the behaviour worse or even more difficult to resolve.

Edited July 28, 2007 by Erny

[Chaddy's Mummy]

Thanks Erny!

What you say is really interesting, turns out poor little Chad is very complicated!!

I think I might go with your idea of removing certain people from the house, and the home alone toy sounds good. I think Ill do this over the next couple of weeks (with no good clothes on the washing line of course), and see how I go.

I like the idea of getting a behaviourist in, but ill try the other two suggestions first (work up hubby for the price tag of the behaviourist!)

[Erny]

Thanks Erny!

What you say is really interesting, turns out poor little Chad is very complicated!!

It's always more complicated when you aren't familiar with this side of things. And of course, trying to cover everything (or at least most of the most likely things) in writing can make it seem more complicated than it really might be.

Just a reminder though - if you're going for the Home Alone Toy, there will be steps you need to take as and when you do re-introduce washing on the line where your dog has access. And I wouldn't have ANY clothes on the line in the interim (unless you put up a barrier to prevent his access) - you'll only teach him he can play with both the Home Alone Toy as well as the clothes on the line.

Yep - it does take money to get a behaviourist in, but it can be so much easier to go through and understand if you do.

Edited July 28, 2007 by Erny

[Tonymc]

Chaddy,I have to go along with alot of what Erny said.This Dog does need much more stimulation.Notice his behaviour when he gets to the Farm on the Weekend.

Chaddy undoubtedly this Dog comes from a line of working Border Collies and has high drive, hence chasing the Birds.A Working Dog with high drive that does not have an outlet for the drive in the Breeds usual occupation, will try to find other ways to satisfy the drive.This is what the bird chasing is all about.I am wondering also has he pulled the Clothes off the line everytime or only sometimes?

Chaddy, as mentioned above due to drive many working Dogs in surburbia need allowances made for their drive. I would also check your Leadership of this Dog. Tony

[Christina]

Had the same problem with a Doberman I used to have. She didn't do it all the time but still did it as an adult. I realised it was always on windy days when the line blew round a lot. The cure was to put a pair of stockings on the line with some pepper in the feet. Watched through the window. She grabbed them & let go so quickly. Ran out with water for her & felt so mean but she never touched the washing again. Think you need to find the Why & then take appropriate action,thats not too mean.

[Bonniebank]

Dear Erny,

Lovely of you to go to so much time and trouble to help.

[Chaddy's Mummy]

Thank you to everyone for taking the time to reply!

I am taking on board the wonderful advice, and will keep you updated in my progress.

Just one last question, could this reasoning of anxiety also be behind Chad sniffing the crotch of any female near him? Ive only seen him do it once or twice to a male.

I know im making him sound like a bit of a womaniser, but he is really very sweet and innocent....

(just a little naughty)

Thanks.

[Erny]

Just one last question, could this reasoning of anxiety also be behind Chad sniffing the crotch of any female near him? Ive only seen him do it once or twice to a male.

I presume you're talking of Chad's inclination to sniffing humans (as opposed to the species of dog)?

This is quite normal behaviour for a dog - it is the way they greet other dogs. But although it is normal for them, it generally isn't appreciated by people so dogs need guidance to show them it's not the way things are done in the human world.

I cannot answer your question as to why females and not (so much) males.

Perhaps he is more intimidated by males? IE Males can be naturally more assertive.

Perhaps the males he has met haven't, by coincidence, been in the same position to avail themselves to Chad's inquisitiveness in quite an "up close and personal" manner?

Edited July 29, 2007 by Erny