Ok so I know it's only November and the tree won't be up for a while. But am I actually going to be able to have a tree? Will it just be wrecked every single day? Chewed? Knocked over? Do you have a tree in puppies first year? I'm guessing no presents or Christmas train underneath!!
I have a small portable one that I have in the room but if I leave for a while I take it out if the room . I don't trust Rory
The year we had our Labrador with his Tail - we put a small tree on top of a dressing-table stool on top of the coffee table. This kept the tree with its dangly ornaments out of the tail swiping zone. Not decided what to do this year...Coco doesn't have that Lab-tail, but he's forever with his front paws on the coffee table looking out of the window.
We have a tree every year and continued once we got Harley. We started by leaving it up with nothing on for a day, the next day we decorated it. She was 4 months old on her first Xmas and sniffed the tree then ignored it. She liked looking at it with the lights on. The second year a bauble fell off the tree and she sat staring at it then picked it up and gave it to me! Now she looks, sniffs and then leaves it.
We were quite worried about Ella and the tree last year (she was 8 months at Christmas) but it ended up being a complete non-event. She wasn't too fussed and only tried to play with it a couple of times in the evening when she was overtired. I think the 11 month old child this year might be a different story...
You might find it is a lot easier than you think. I worried about it our first Christmas with dog, but in fact Pongo was completely cool about it. We had him in the room with us while we were putting the tree up, and just kept it all quite calm (no kids here, so I know that makes that easier!). We allowed him to sniff at it but gave a (gentle) "no" if he got too exploratory. He was interested, but got bored quite quickly and then just accepted it as another weird thing in the room. BUT we do make sure that any fragile / glass decorations are above wagging-tail height! He is even laid-back about presents under the tree, which is quite amazing since he thinks of himself as Pongo-the-Great-Destroyer-Of-Cardboard-Boxes. But he just had a bit of a sniff, we gave him a gentle "no, Pongo..." and he decided they were boring. (Although we did make sure that there was nothing even vaguely food-related in there!). Here he is with the tree at his first Christmas. (And yes, there is a biscuit just out of shot.)
We never have a Christmas tree, because we're not home for Christmas Day and it just seems like a whole lot of faff (yes, I know, bah humbug!). That said, we have Christmas dinner with friends every year - I cook for 25-30 people generally. The first year, we had three litter mates there, four months of age. They completely ignored the tree. We crated them downstairs once everyone arrived because it was too difficult to keep an eye on them and everyone else at the same time, but they were fine. I'm spending Christmas in the UK this year, and I'm most concerned at the idea of Shadow peeing on the indoors tree!
I'm a Christmas freak,I do everyone's head in with it! So a tree was always going to happen .... Dexter was 15 months though so I can't pretend I had a puppy ,he just lay on the couch amongst the decorations while I put the tree up and there was a cursory sniff or 2 when it was up and the gifts beneath it. When Lisa passes by this thread,she has a slightly different story to tell about Simba's first Christmas Tree Just a note to say I always check with anyone that kindly brings gifts round just in case they pop a chocolate item under the tree....
We've never had trouble with the dogs and the Christmas tree, they don't take a great deal of notice once they've given it a sniff the first time they see it. On the other hand, the cats are a nightmare, batting baubles all over the place
Stanley touches my Christmas Tree and he's sleeping in the shed! He's definitely going to be a tree destroyer - he's into everything!
Rolo will be 5 months when we put our tree up, Its going up regardless. Ill try some click treat but I am having the full works with it being the first christmas in my firts home! Haha so he will learn or Ill tell santa hes been naughty.
Strangely enough, I never had a problem. My first boy, Duncan, was 8 months old for his first Christmas and didn't bother the tree at all. And because I cannot resist sharing, here's Duncan and the tree in years one and two:
My last two pups before Molly were each about 7- 8 months old at Christmas and we had trees with no problems. Molly was only 4 months old (and the naughtiest puppy I've had!) so at her first Christmas we had a small table-top tree. If you want a big tree I'd go for it, especially if you have children.
Loving the Christmas photos! Here's hoping that Molly will be chilled out pup around it then....Actually I'm pretty wary about leaving presents under the tree since the cat weeing incident
Me too, with the cats being worse. Ours didn't just bat the ornaments, they climbed the tree and drank the water the tree was in. The water was probably ok for them but we had to keep crawling under the tree to replenish the water. Oban was only 10 weeks old for his first Christmas and he was still in awe of everything in the house and closely supervised anyway.
Thank goodness I am not the only one concerned about a Christmas Tree. Not too worried about home as we can manage that, but every year we go to my mums for a big family Christmas and she goes all out - and I mean all out - decorations everywhere and the biggest tree possible all sparkly and absolutely gorgeous. I just worry that this will be a flashing beacon to Bailey saying "come and get me" or alternatively "please do cock your leg against me and let it flow" . He will be just over 10 months old at Christmas so I am hoping that with our tree at home and the one at the rugby club he will be used to them and ignore it - she says crossing fingers
I've now got "let it flow, let it flow, let it flow...." going round in my head to the tune of "Let it Snow". Thank you for that.
