Dog opening the washing machine door

yeahimhere

Hi all! Hopefully this is the right place to post for some advice.

We have a 10 month old German Shepard who has recently taken to opening the washing machine door. The second time he did it, he ate most of the rubber seal inside which now needs to be replaced but we don't want to do it till he stops opening the door.

His bed is in the utility room with the dryer also, but he doesn't seem to do it with the dryer. Neither are turned on when he's in the room, so don't think it's the noise that bothers / attracts him. He has plenty of exercise and mental simulation and has done very little damage to the rest of the house so don't think it's boredom.

We've tried putting stuff (Tabasco, mustard etc) on the handle but that doesn't seem to put him off - so assuming he's using his paw to open it.

Any ideas on how we can solve this behaviour or just ignore it till he gets bored and stops? Just new behaviour happening for two weeks now.

Stheno

Is there laundry in the machine when he opens it?

yeahimhere

Stheno wrote: »

Is there laundry in the machine when he opens it?

No, it's empty. Perhaps the first time he did there was I can't remember but never in the past two weeks since (we've had to bring our washing elsewhere to do since there's no rubber seal!)

Stheno

yeahimhere wrote: »

No, it's empty. Perhaps the first time he did there was I can't remember but never in the past two weeks since (we've had to bring our washing elsewhere to do since there's no rubber seal!)

If there was the first time he could have been wanting to be comforted by the smell of your clothes and it's a habit now.

Id a gsd who loved dirty laundry, I'd regularly come home and find him decked out in something, usually underwear on his head

Tape the door shut

johndoe99

you need to make him fearful of going near the washing machine. My cat use to open the dryer and sleep inside, so i bought a child's water pistol, and squirted him anytime he went near it, took only about 2 days for him to get the message.

Stheno

johndoe99 wrote: »

you need to make him fearful of going near the washing machine. My cat use to open the dryer and sleep inside, so i bought a child's water pistol, and squirted him anytime he went near it, took only about 2 days for him to get the message.

IP do not follow this advice imo

readytosnap

get a strap and use that. I mean to wrap around the machine not to use a strap on the dog!!!

yeahimhere

Stheno wrote: »

If there was the first time he could have been wanting to be comforted by the smell of your clothes and it's a habit now.

Id a gsd who loved dirty laundry, I'd regularly come home and find him decked out in something, usually underwear on his head

Tape the door shut

That may be it alright, we regularly find some piece of clothing we forgot to put away in his bed. Just thought 'cause the clothes were washed they wouldn't be attractive / there was nothing in there the past while it would have stopped.

Ugh, they have child locks for when it's turned on, but no dog locks for when it's off

Will try some tape but fear he may think it's a more exciting challenging 'game'! May have to fashion something else like a wooden box to cover the whole front. Love his intelligence most of the time but not now!

yeahimhere

johndoe99 wrote: »

you need to make him fearful of going near the washing machine. My cat use to open the dryer and sleep inside, so i bought a child's water pistol, and squirted him anytime he went near it, took only about 2 days for him to get the message.

Thanks for the input but I don't really want to make him fear things or us. Dislike because of the taste maybe but even with that I wasn't sure it was the right way to go. Especially if the reason he's opening it is to smell or feel close to us which is kind of sweet!

Alun

Could you just let him have a few items of old clothing that he could keep in his bed? That may be enough to discourage him from seeking out new ones.

Bells21

Alun wrote:

Could you just let him have a few items of old clothing that he could keep in his bed? That may be enough to discourage him from seeking out new ones.

OP I would try this we've a few old t-shirts that we've put in with ours and they love to curl up on them. Also one of our dogs began chewing the window ledges in our new house. In our old house the windows were higher but in the new house they were only a few inches from the ground and at his height. We used Vicks vaporub on the edges of them for a few weeks. The smell alone was enough to deter him and he hadn't touched them since. I'm not sure if others would agree with this method or not though.

yeahimhere

May try putting some old clothes beside his bed alright...possibly get the other half to wear something on a run so it's nice and sweaty! Seems to be his favourite.

So on a side note from my original post and the one above, what is the consensus about putting Vicks/vinegar/mustard etc on things you don't want your dog to go near? Is it ok or a no no?

Bells21

I used this years back when I was more clueless about dogs behaviours so that's why I now say that I'm not sure if that's a way to go or not. There's lots of other knowledgeable dog enthusiasts on here so maybe they could shed some light for us.

VonVix

Maybe try to use this to your advantage and train him to take out the washing and put it in a basket? :P

Obviously the rubber is rewarding, does he have any Kong toys he could chew, thinking it may be a similar texture to the rubber in the washing machine? Or is he given anything he is allowed to destroy, such as cardboard? I give my GSD cardboard to rip up from time to time, seems to make him quite happy that he is given something he is allowed to chew up. I think with some dogs, despite all the exercise and mental stimulation they get, sometimes it's just plain fun to shred something from time to time. Better it be something you allow than something important to you.

njs030

Dogs don't like the smell of tea tree oil, I rub a few drops anywhere they chew and it immediately stops them.
Might be worth a try?

yeahimhere

VonVix wrote: »

Maybe try to use this to your advantage and train him to take out the washing and put it in a basket? :P

Obviously the rubber is rewarding, does he have any Kong toys he could chew, thinking it may be a similar texture to the rubber in the washing machine? Or is he given anything he is allowed to destroy, such as cardboard? I give my GSD cardboard to rip up from time to time, seems to make him quite happy that he is given something he is allowed to chew up. I think with some dogs, despite all the exercise and mental stimulation they get, sometimes it's just plain fun to shred something from time to time. Better it be something you allow than something important to you.

That would be AMAZING! Especially if I could train him to put the washing in and turn it on too

Good point about the rubber, all his favourite toys are rubbery and would explain the appeal of the rubber inside. He does get to rip up boxes / cartons and plastic bottles quite regularly so that helps his need for destruction.

notjustsweet wrote: »

Dogs don't like the smell of tea tree oil, I rub a few drops anywhere they chew and it immediately stops them.
Might be worth a try?

He had it opened again this morning. I've taped up the washing machine and added a t-shirt and a pair of old socks to his bed. Will see what happens in a couple of hours when I get home.

Will try the tea tree oil if it's open again.

Ms Doubtfire1

if non of the over the counter repellents work, get some bitter paste from the vet. That stuff is so bitter it literally makes ya go ewwwwwwwwwww.When my boy got neutered, he managed to pretty much get out of every cone of shame with his sleek head and reach around to pull the stitches. Nothing worked. I had to takle a week off just to watch him. Vet gave me bitter paste. The face on him when he got the first taste was hilarious. Til today he's kind of having carefull sniff around his privates before cleaning himself...:D

cocker5

Im sorry OP i had to laugh at this post!

went through the exact same issue when my cocker was a pup! he used to twist his head, open the door, pull out all the washing, then drag it out the dog flap into the garden - eat cuffs and collars off all our renter shirts - never ours

He also ate the rubber seal.. only thing that worked for us was a new washing machine, one with a push button instead of a door handle!

otherwise try http://www.theequinewarehouse.ie/crib-halt-gel.ir this really helps stop dogs chewing / opening things they shouldn't.

Alun

Ms Doubtfire1 wrote: »

if non of the over the counter repellents work, get some bitter paste from the vet. That stuff is so bitter it literally makes ya go ewwwwwwwwwww.

I wonder is that based on the same ingredient that my parents used to stop me biting my nails back in the 60's? If I recall it was called 'bitter aloes', a brown liquid that you painted on the finger nails. I seem to remember them using it to stop our dog at the time from chewing his bed.

Ms Doubtfire1

hahahah i got that put on too. (didn't work lol) This is a clear paste. I did stick my tongue into it and I can tell ya one thing..if they had used that on my nails I'd never gone near them again.:-)

Camogie2016

Please dont forget he is just a pup. He will need to chew for at least another year! A kong is a great idea. Lots of treats you can put in them! What about a child safety lock....Like you can get for a fridge??? Maybe he is lonely in there!
I LOVE shepherds!! Best of luck with it!

yeahimhere

Camogie2016 wrote: »

Please dont forget he is just a pup. He will need to chew for at least another year! A kong is a great idea. Lots of treats you can put in them! What about a child safety lock....Like you can get for a fridge??? Maybe he is lonely in there!
I LOVE shepherds!! Best of luck with it!

Oh I know he's just a young one, we've had other bits chewed that we haven't fixed yet waiting for the phase to end....which may be another year yet! Just the washing machine was a nuisance!

The tape didn't work (he just worked out how to gentley get it off. Zero damage, just had fun figuring out how to peal it). But picked up some of that horse stuff mentioned earlier in the thread and so far working a charm! Three days and he hadn't opened it. May get to do some laundry soon