[Quesoart]

This evening Ron and I were pondering about when we should put the Christmas tree up this year, when Brie came racing into the room with one of Ron's sneakers. :nono5:

Now we are pondering whether or not we should even chance putting up the Christmas tree this year. She freaked out when I hung the Christmas wreath on the front door. She went out the door fine, she just refused to come back in and stood outside on the step and barked furiously at the wreath.

Any and all suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Lora&Tippi...and now Brie aka Grinch
"My little dog. A heartbeat at my feet."
Edith Wharton

 

[jassy]

Last year I was worried about the tree. Maggie steals everything and I was worried about the tree as well as my ornament collection. When we put the tree up the first time I only put ornaments from the top halfway down. She wasn't very interested in chewing on the tree because its artificial and the needles are very prickly. When she got used to the tree being there I gradually added ornaments all the way down. The only time she ever bothered one was when she accidently bumped one when she was playing. When it fell off she turned to get it but did stop when we told her "leave it". I did the same with packages, a few at a time way back under the tree, gradually put more out and she never touched them. This year she had a great time running around the room and stealing the tissue wrapping for the ornaments while we decorated but has left the tree alone. I was pretty surprised because Maggie usually steals whatever she can reach.

 

[Murphys Dad]

How about you take her with you to pick up the tree, let her sniff it until she is confortable with it, than just take it home.
After a few hours she should feel comfortable with it and you can take it inside, than while she is by you, put it up, during all, don't encourage her being scared... treat her when she responds positively about it.... just a suggestion :thumbup:

You can also try (with a vets consult) giving her a little back essence before hand to calm her down a little.

 

[angelaH]

We gave up on christmas trees, when our last beagle took to trying to eat the needles that fell off. We have since had a small artificial tree that goes on top of a chest of drawers. We don't pile presents up on the floor until Xmas morning and we are in the room. What we do do is put lights on an outside tree, which we can see from our lounge.

 

[Murphys Dad]

I had the same concerns with Jersey. She was a bit of a devil as a puppy so I thought for sure that I'd be losing ornaments that first year. To my surprise, she didn't even touch the tree. Like Brie, she was known for stealing shoes (and towels, pot holders, pens, laundry, dryer sheets...the list could go on for day!) and I wasn't sure I could trust her. Like Jassy, I just hung ornaments higher up until Jersey got used to the tree. Now this year she hasn't even paid the slightest bit of attention to the fact that the tree is up.

As far as getting her acclimated to the tree, I like Chloe's Mom's idea. Take Brie with you if you are getting a real tree so that she gets used to it away from the house. If it's artificial, maybe let her sniff at it and get used to it as you are putting it up. Just go slowly and let Brie accept it on her own terms.

 

[Spencer's Mum]

I had never put a tree up with the dogs and eve n this year, I have a little 3ft one on top of the fire place. When I had one up with the cats, we would put bells all around the bottom of the tree so you could hear if they were touching it. Good luck!!

 

[K & G]

My experience was like Jen's. Gage didn't bother the tree at all. He did, however, bother the bows on the presents. We were concerned about him getting ahold of one of the staples that hold the ribbons together, so we skip those now.

 

[Tammy]

My husband's ex wife was over at the house on Saturday and asked when we were putting up the tree. My stepdaughter who is 6 looked at her Mom and said "We aren't putting one up this year.......because of *The Children*" as she rolled her eyes.

I thought all of us were going to bust a gut at that.

 

[Quesoart]

Thanks for all the great suggestions! We decided to go safe this year. I have a small table tree that we used during our apartment days and since Brie freaked at the front door wreath, we put it on the table w/o ornaments to start off and so far she has shown very little interest in it. This weekend we put the ornaments on it, so I guess we will just have to cross our fingers that she doesn't go into a barking fit. /forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/laugh.gif