Need Advice--X-mas Trees and dogs

[snowball22]

This will be our first year with our Christmas Tree and our Yellow lab together. We got him at the end of February. Do you think he will attack the tree or decide that it is a good place to go potty? How do your dogs act around your trees? Will my ornaments, tinsel and lights be safe?? Any advice would be great.

 

[Dax]

I would put any fragile ornamnets up higher, and try to secure them to the tree as good as possible.

Also NO TINSEL!!!! It is very dangerous for pets...I had a cat who ate it, luckily it came out the other end OK...be it in one long "piece"..(DH had to pull it out of the cats butt )

Otherwise, I found my animals OK with the tree. If it real, keep a CLOSE watch on the water, as my cats tended to drink it..LOL..and the dogs though it was a toy to run circles around...so keep an eye on them for a while.

 

[Pebblszzz]

I just started a new thread addressing keeping your tree upright...doggone it, I should've scrolled down first.

Trick is using dental floss (see thread) to keep the tree from being knocked over.

Careful what you put in the water, animals tend to want to drink it (but if you use a tree skirt, you can usually cover up the opening anyway).

LOSE THE TINSEL. Tinsel can be fatal to our 4-legged friends.

And I agree with Dax, breakables go up high (that tail-wagging will knock them off).

Also, when I had my lab and her first Christmas tree, we got the tree and put it up for 24 hours before decorating so she could get used to it. I made sure she was part of the action so it wouldn't freak her out when it was all finished. By the time I was done, she was pretty used to it and didn't pay it much attention.

Watch all the light cords if your dog's in the chewing phase. Keep them covered by the tree skirt.

 

[Val]

We have four children (oldest is almost 16, youngest is 6), two large labs, 6 cats, and well, the guinea pigs don't count.....there was many a year that the tree was in a playpen (from Goodwill- it was for the tree, not the kids). Finally, the tree is out, but "boxed in" a corner by furniture. We have no breakable decorations below tail level (used to be hand level, too, but I am hoping our youngest is beyond that now!).....so far, so good. In 18 years of marriage we haven't "lost" a tree yet- a few expendable ornaments and a few tipping incidents (usually surrounding kittens), but so far, so good (knock on superstitious wood here).

Don't sweat it too much. We have grown to dearly love our "child/dog/cat friendly" tree. Went to the "Festival of Trees" here in town (a local fundraiser), and admired all the designer trees. When I think about it, I wouldn't trade my homemade by chubby hands ornaments or lopsided tree for the world. When all are grown and gone, maybe I will have that "Disney" tree....until then, we just try and keep it upright!!!!

 

[airhead]

...what "leave it" means. Its really easy and you can use it for everything!

 

[doxdogy]

Since our dachshunds seem to think that no doesn't apply to them, I came up with this trick to keep them away from the tree. I set up the exercise pen. Wrap a cheap Christmas tablecloth around it and tape it dow with duct tape on the inside. Wrap a ribbon around it. When I am finished it looks like the tree is sitting inside a giant Christmas package.