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Dogs and Christmas Trees — Brooklynian

Dogs and Christmas Trees

antigone
antigone
edited November -1 in Brooklyn Pets
This is Louie's first real Christmas. We got him last Dec. 26 as a tiny pup and now he's, well, a lot bigger! 75 lbs to be exact. Yeah, he's big for an English bulldog (very tall and leggy). Louie's a good-hearted boy without a mean bone in his body but he is, well, a trifle exuberant at times. I'd be interested in hearing the experience of other dog-owners WRT Christmas trees. We have 2 cats who have never bothered the tree, although Raoul likes to drink the water.

We usually get a real tree every year but this year I'm thinking we may have to forgo it on account of Lou. On the other hand, I'm thinking he might be scared of it and steer clear. Or he might lift his leg and take a tinky. I don't know what to expect.

What to do? We can shut off the living room so he will not be in there unsupervised but nevertheless I sense an impending disaster. (He's actually having a test run today at my son's girlfriend's house in NJ - hope he doesn't disgrace himself!)

Comments

  • modsquad
    modsquad
    If he fails today's test get him an early Christmas present.
    http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.wirelessdogfence-4less.com/simages/133_WRLSSFNCE_Main_MV-Virtual-Barrier.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.wirelessdogfence-4less.com/indoordogfence.aspx&usg=__YEPZ9Ibeo5lKUBnjqI_LQMKdHhI=&h=170&w=212&sz=11&hl=en&start=9&sig2=TllvO2X5ldtaVfHbLPVL9A&um=1&tbnid=VS45dd5hKzaYDM:&tbnh=85&tbnw=106&prev=/images?q=virtual+dog+fence&hl=en&safe=off&sa=N&um=1&ei=IPAbS8CHMo-xlAe22cDyCQ
  • antigone
    antigone
    Wow, that's a great idea, definitely worth checking out. Thanks!
  • rosweed
    rosweed
    We have a 75 pound Golden retriever who loves to pull things off the tree. My advice is to make sure you tie the tree securely to the wall. A piece of fishing line (invisible but strong) and a couple of hooks screwed into the wall should be enough. Waking up to find your tree lying on the floor is not pleasant. Hang your most indestructible ornaments and things lowest for obvious reasons. If you're lucky your dog will not be interested. But if Lou likes the tree you can still pull it off with a few precautions. We found that after a couple of days of telling Rosie "bad dog" and "no" she finally lost interest. Until the presents came out...
  • domino
    domino
    Most important of all - NO TINSEL!!!!! You indicated two cats so I am sure you are already aware of this but never hurts to remind folks about the dangers of tinsel to our pups and kittehs.

    I use the fishing line as well (75 lb. test which I loop through a few times) and the shatterproof ornaments. Not sure who is more destructive - the 85 lb. boxer, the 6 lb. cat or the 40 lb. grandson.
  • modsquad
    modsquad
    Domino wrote: Most important of all - NO TINSEL!!!!!
    SRSLY, Nothing like spending Christmas day pulling tinsel out of a cat's butt! I kid you not!
  • antigone
    antigone
    No, we don't use tinsel but thanks for the warning! We actually stopped using it because it's so messy and I never really thought about it in terms of our cats who are fairly sensible creatures and not fond of ingesting foreign substances (unlike certain bulldogs I could mention).

    I'm happy to report that Louie passed his first test yesterday - he did not go all bonkers and attack the tree. I'm keeping your suggestions in mind for when we get our tree.
  • antigone
    antigone
    modsquad wrote: [quote=Domino]Most important of all - NO TINSEL!!!!!
    SRSLY, Nothing like spending Christmas day pulling tinsel out of a cat's butt! I kid you not!

    Funny! It reminds me of my friends who had 10 (!) cats. They went away for a day and the cats wreaked havoc while they were gone. Casualties included a box of Dunkin Donuts and a package of blue napkins. There was blue poo all over the house for a couple of days.
  • dakotas way
    dakotas way

    Subject: dogs and Christmas trees

    In my many years of many different dogs, I've never had one do anything to the tree. The most that happens is the cats eat the tinsel (as has been mentioned before) and that needed removal (not the most fun thing to do.)

    Otherwise, if you're concerned about leaving him alone with the tree while you're at work, you can gate him off and let him in to the room when you're home.

    But since he passed yesterdays test, I'll bet he'll be fine.

    Good luck.
  • opossumqueen
    opossumqueen
    We had a dog that liked to eat peppermints (hard candies) so after she nabbed a couple of candy canes, we decided we didn't need them on the tree.

    That was the only problem we ever had with a dog+tree.

    I agree with dakotas on maybe closing that room off when you're not home.
  • snell
    snell
    ^but peppermint poop might be nicer than regular poop, no? ;-)
  • anastasia beaverhausen
    anastasia beaverhausen
    I'm not understanding why Louie isn't getting his very own tree. What's up with that??
  • opossumqueen
    opossumqueen
    Flexichick wrote: ^but peppermint poop might be nicer than regular poop, no? ;-)
    Well that was not in a big city so her poop never had to be picked up, it just stayed far far away from the house in some bushes where she left it. BUT, it did give her great breath which was nice in a dog that regularly ate dead and decomposing creatures.
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