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I have this horrible feeling that Bob is going to pee on my tree the first chance he gets. I know he has before because when I went to take it down it smelled and my ribbon was yellow. This year I have all new tree decor and am really excited about it. The last thing I want is for him to ruin it. He has this awful habbit of breaking into my house whenever he darn well pleases. This is an old house with lots of doors. Try as I may to keep them tightly shut, the little booger always manages to get in.
So what can I do about him peeing on the tree? I wonder if that No Boundries stuff would be ok to spray on the tree? Anyone ever tried to use that stuff before? |
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First of all, everyone knows that trees are there for us male dogs to pee on. Ergo, if you bring one into your house, you're inviting us to lift our leg. If you don't want us peeing on your tree, Kristine says you can get a low baby gate, decorate that (looks good with lights and garland!) and place it artfully in front of/around your tree. But you may just be giving Bob something else to aim for (fences are also for us boy dogs to pee on) so your tree will be safe, but you still have a rather gross situation going on. So if that fails - or if you don't want to have to live with a fence in the house - and you did NOT hear this from me, you can get him a boy diaper.
She got one for me (please don't tell the ladies - it's embarrassing  ) because I seemed to think leg-lifting was OK when I first came to the house. Now all she has to do it bring it out and wave it in front of my face and I forget all about marking.
I HATE it.  And to make matters worse, my sisters laugh at me when I wear it. Such is life when you live in a household full of heartless females. 
There are some creative ways to get out of wearing it though. Bob - if you're reading this and I just condemned you to a doggie diaper, PM me and I'll explain the fine art of diaper disposal. Just keep in mind that they attach with velcro, which can be unpredictable and cause the &^%$ thing to get stuck in even more inconvenient places. Such as you head. You should see what my evil sisters had to say about that one!
That's OK. I wait till they walk by me when I'm whizzing outside and then it's ready, set , FIRE, and voila! sissie needs a bath. 
Che - Male Dogs Unite! |
Sometimes I am not sure if Kristine is even in the pecking order in that house. I always have visions of her tied to a chair with the sheepies RULING the house.  Her dogs are the craftiest (translated smartest) sheepies I have ever heard about.
Poor Che - try to hang in there with all those girls. |
SheepieMommy wrote:
Sometimes I am not sure if Kristine is even in the pecking order in that house. I always have visions of her tied to a chair with the sheepies RULING the house. Her dogs are the craftiest (translated smartest) sheepies I have ever heard about.
Poor Che - try to hang in there with all those girls. |
I had normal sheepdogs until Mad Dog... Really should be careful what you name a dog And if you breed for high-drive, you suffer the consequences if you can't keep them busy enough.
I just had an interesting exchange with my mom this a.m.
MOM: "So are you coming home for a visit next month?"
ME: "No, I'm still trying to get caught up from moving and the national and all that. How about next spring? Maybe the puppies will be civilized by then."
MOM:"What do you mean????"
I tell her.
MOM: "Maybe I'm not so disappointed you're not visiting after all..."
I'm not tied to a chair yet. And mostly I remain The Alpha Bitch. But Belle and I have discussed sharing a padded cell if it comes to that...
I was just thinking through the tree questions myself as it happens. Not sure if it's worth the risk. Though visions of Sybil trussed to the top of the tree dance through my head...
Maybe Che's too
Kristine & Mad Dog & Sybil & Che - and Belle & Macy, the mostly normal sheepdogs |
Read this one to LeAnne while she was driving home from work. She thanks you both Kristine and Erica for the entertainment.
I had a similar tree situation - but it was saving the tree from the human twins - LeAnne and Lisa were 7 months old the 1st Christmas. I put the Christmas tree inside of a wooden playpen. Decorated the sides as suggested by Kristine.
Perhaps syran wrap inside the gating, with a pee-collecting devise at the bottom would work for Bob? You could change it as needed.
PS - Dino and Tazz the min pins have those dreaded pee bands - they send sympathy to Che. They are glad they don't have extra hair - no sticking to the tops of their heads!!! |
Mad Dog wrote:
Kristine says you can get a low baby gate, decorate that (looks good with lights and garland!) and place it artfully in front of/around your tree. Che - Male Dogs Unite! |
Actually, I would use a low x-pen for fence-effect. I must have gates on my mind given that I fell over one yesterday. As my Mom would say: "Way to go, grace!" 
Kristine  |
Mad Dog wrote:
As my Mom would say: "Way to go, grace!"
Kristine |
Wow, my mom says that too......... and I think I do too. |
You two clods! I am grace unless my husband trips me on stage. I still wonder if that was intentional. 
Dawn - great idea with the saran wrap! |
| its okay girls, my husbands nickname for me is private pyle |
^^^^^^
Shame on Brian..... |
If the tree is artificial I doubt there will be a problem. It won't smell like a tree.....Just look like one..
I am more nervous about the dogs racing around the house and knocking it over..... ....Or them just snacking on the icicles....
We put ours up in a room where the whole room is baricaded away from the munchkins unless we are there to supervise.... |
Depending on the height of your tree and your ceilings, you could do what we do and put the tree up on a table.
we've never (thank god! ) had a peeing issue, but last X-mas we did have to be concerned about young Bert deciding that the ornaments were toys...or worse yet, cookies!
Various incidents over the years:
My old Dane/lab mix feeling that ANYTHING round MUST be a ball...
.....My parents dog Peakers eating a dozen candy canes off of the tree (and then, poor guy, being forbidden to drink from the water bowel by my parent's ruling bitch of the time, Grendal )
....My old girl Heidi, a Norwegian Elkhound, deciding that she loved the sound of bells ringing and other tinkly noises from ornaments being banged around, and had a habit of rubbing up against the branches to make everything "chime" |
| Thank goodness we've never had this problem but we can't put Oakley's presents under the tree until Christmas morning. Learnt this the hard way when we discovered Oakley had opened all the presents under the tree "looking" for his! |
| We didn't have a peeing issue, but we had an eating-of-the-ornaments issue when Winston was a puppy. My husband made a little picket fence - of course, now you're risking that fence thing again - but regardless, picket panels hinged together so they could be formed in whatever pattern. It worked wonders for us - kept him away from the tree. He was trained by the next year and we didn't have a problem, but we brought it out again when the next baby was a crawler at Christmas time...kept him from eating the ornaments too. Ours was painted white and I trimmed it with garland and silk poinsettias. Not the prettiest thing in the world but it worked. |
got sheep wrote:
Mad Dog wrote:
As my Mom would say: "Way to go, grace!"
Kristine |
Wow, my mom says that too......... and I think I do too. |
Well, it must be something that's programmed into us.
When I let Mace and Che in this morning, Sybil and Mad were already playing tug in the den. The fastest way to them was across my (newly polished, why do I bother?) coffee table. So that's the route Mace took, sliding across on three legs because one slid out from under her. "OK, Grace!" I said. And then realized what I'd done and started laughing. Guess if you don't have human kids you have to transfer your "maternal" voice to the four-legged critters.
And, to further support Judi's notion that the inmates rule the roost here, Sybil normally roosts on that table. Mace likes to sleep on the grooming table. And one night I came down from my office to discover Belle and Che asleep together on my KITCHEN table. Still hadn't found my digital camera yet at that point, so before I woke them up and kicked their hairy behinds off the table, I took a picture with my cellphone. That now serves as the background on my phone. No non-dog person I've shown it to has ever been remotely amused.
Me? I just eat at my desk...Small wonder my mother is reluctant to visit us
Kristine |
Mad Dog wrote:
I took a picture with my cellphone. ..... No non-dog person I've shown it to has ever been remotely amused. |
Non-dog people are rarely amused but I shove my dog on them anyway. LOL |
| Lately, My tree has been elevated. I am not willing to risk it getting peed on, plus I really don't have that much space for it. So, the new tree I got is smaller, and sits on top of my flat topped steamer trunk. It works pretty well. Even the cat leaves it alone! |
Dawn - the elevated tree sounds like an excellent idea. The one and only time in the past decade I've even had a tree, that's what I did (always baby-sitting somebody's puppy at Christmas time, it seems. Or have my own.) Only problem with my current crew: were do I find an elevated surface that isn't already occupied by the very critters I'm trying to keep away from the tree?
Hm...Maybe hang the tree from the ceiling...??? Or would that just Sybil something indoors to practice her Tarzan immitation on?
Kristine  |
Here's an alternative.
When Todd was growing up, he was in the middle of 7 boys. (and a sister thrown in for good measure). Being rowdies, one year the tree got knocked over a few too many times. A frustrated mom from redecorating the tree over again, she said "Ev, nail that d@&+ tree to the floor." And he did. |
Mad Dog wrote:
Dawn - the elevated tree sounds like an excellent idea. The one and only time in the past decade I've even had a tree, that's what I did (always baby-sitting somebody's puppy at Christmas time, it seems. Or have my own.) Only problem with my current crew: were do I find an elevated surface that isn't already occupied by the very critters I'm trying to keep away from the tree?
Hm...Maybe hang the tree from the ceiling...??? Or would that just Sybil something indoors to practice her Tarzan immitation on?
Kristine |
Thanks everyone for all the laughs...and the memories! We have had an elevated tree and it worked wonderfully well. We were forced to do something when out then little Tip (the one with the flying nun ears in my pics) would literally climb up inside the tree on floor. No he was not part cat. We used a four foot tree on top of a round 30" tall table. With a Christmas skirt and all the decorations it didn't seam like a small tree.
I do have a friend who hangs her tree upside down from a ceiling fixture (not in use) and decorates it - very pretty. No critters there and no flying trapeze performances. It is safe for almost everyone. Her 6 foot plus husband had a little trouble though. |
| put it outside!!!! |
That's why I only put up the Festivus pole last year.
 |
I think we will go for the elevated tree, Rufus is not allowed in the front room unsupervised anyway. Will need to find a table to put it on. I'm sure he will try to eat the decorations, and I'm not sure how tall he will be by then, he gets taller every morning I'm a bit concerned he might try to climb it, he always clings to my leg and tries to shimmy up (no he's not humping-yet) so we will watch him closely. |
ButtersStotch wrote:
That's why I only put up the Festivus pole last year. |
I LOVE it!
Kristine |
ButtersStotch wrote:
That's why I only put up the Festivus pole last year.
|
I like the bone-shaped box under the tree...what is it? |
ravenmoonart wrote:
ButtersStotch wrote:
That's why I only put up the Festivus pole last year.
|
I like the bone-shaped box under the tree...what is it? |
It's one of their toy boxes.  |
Might I suggest hanging your Christmas tree upside down
http://www.hammacher.com/publish/74609.asp?promo=new_items
Since few boys can shoot up, it would frustrate them to no end. |
I have a fake flocked tree we just bought. I have it up already because we had to try out the lights. I won't decorate until the traditional day...but I have an x-pen around it now. Nigel at 5+ months may want to eat the fake snow or pinecones off the tree. I am hoping he will learn to ignore it before xmas, but if not we can always garland and light up the x-pen...good idea!!!
The cats always seem to think the tree is there for them to lie under...I could just see Nigel trying to get to them under the tree. |
