dog vs washing.. how do i win??

[~Lashes~]

ok, summer is here again, and i would like to HANG my washing OUTSIDE to dry instead of having to drape it over clothes horses and use the dryer!
but i have a problem, DF's dog is a chronic washing eater! she jumps up and pulles the clothes/towles whatever is haning off the line and "plays" with it.
ive already been sugested double the towles over and hang them length ways, then she cant reach.... dont work!
Milo, is a neopolitan mastiff cross, stands taller then me when she raises herself on her back legs, im 160cm, so even higher if she jumps!! at our previouse house i would put the clothes line up as far as it would go, but she would still get to it. its not a bordom thing, she has toys gets attention gose for walks ect, i have tried to give her a "distraction" thinking if she has our old rag clothes, she would be happy and leave the line alone, but didnt work!
her mum use to do this aswell, she dosent now, mainly as she is largely overweight, overfed by MIL, not an option at all, we like our dogs healthy with no health risks!

ANY sugestions greatly appreciated! TIA

[helle]

How old is she?

Our dog used to do that. We tied a rubbish bag full if water (can't remember if dh put something in it that smelled like vinegar..) on the line, when he went to eat it it burst and covered him in water and he never did it again - and he's a waterholic so I'm surprised it did work at all.

[Taurean]

Put tennis balls in stockings (knee high ones) and tie them elsewhere in the yard so she can jump and pull at them instead. Also invest in a Kong - or several of them! Fill them with peanut butter and treats and hopefully she'll be busy for hours!

[STARRYSKY]

I was going to say what Helle suggested, same kinda thing but we were told to fill up balloons with water and tie on the line.

[Sammiejane]

Our dog used to do that. We tied a rubbish bag full if water (can't remember if dh put something in it that smelled like vinegar..) on the line, when he went to eat it it burst and covered him in water and he never did it again - and he's a waterholic so I'm surprised it did work at all.

:yeahthat:
This is what i was going to post - you can do the same thing for digging dogs, just bury the balloon. Citrus is meant to be a deterrent too, so you could add a citrus smell in the water
Good luck!

[~Lashes~]

thanks. ill give that a go, just have to wait untill df takes our inside dog for a walk (she gose crazy at the sight and smell of balloons!)
she will be 3 in jan.

[ss_storm]

our dog went through a stage of doing this, probably when he was around 12 months? I just tied him up for a while whenever I put washing out and only let him off if I was outside with him, until the washing was brought inside again. One day he just suddenly stopped.

Hopefully the balloon trick works!

[Kazbah]

Or you could try tying him up for a bit. Or sectioning off the backyard?

[AnyDream]

If that were me I would remove the dog from the washing equation, by fencing off a dog-friendly run (down the side of the house, or whatever) so there's an extra spot to put the dog. Ok so puppy won't want to stay in there all day every day, but the clothes dry pretty quickly in summer so it'll only be an hour or two at a time.