A Cairn's First Christmas!

[MikeC]

Well, this is Duffy's first Christmas and he and the Christmas tree did not get along well at all. First there was the stalking and barking as the tree was put on the table (I knew that a floor tree would not do at all, so we got a 4 foot one for a small table in the living room). Finally the verbal assault stopped, then once the tree was decorated he was attempting to get to it by climbing onto the sofa and chairs. When he realized that was not going to work he finally calmed down. I still worry though that at some point he is going to get on sofa closest to the tree and make a mad leap into it. Just wondering if any of you whose pups are experiencing their first Christmas have done the same thing?

MikeC

[bradl]

We haven't got a tree yet; in the past we've had to resort once or twice to a little low fence around the tree. We don't treat the water, as our boy seems to love to drink from the stand Our current pup is quite a climber so I share your fear we may find her perched mid-tree some day.

[Guest Rachel]

We got Agatha last December and she had a hard time with the christmas tree too. she keep trying to walk through it and eat the presents underneath it. We are getting ready to put up our tree and hope she was so young that she forgot about her issues with it last year. it is a good thing they are so cute huh

[Eliz222]

Scout never bothered the tree and it doesn't look like Finch will either. We have two trees up and maybe it's because they are artificial? Now, the presents under the tree will be another matter! Last year I was able to put out some decorations on the floor. I'm not even going to try with Finch (this is her first Christmas too). She still doesn't know what is toy and what isn't...like my fuzzy slippers! LOL!

[hallswel]

We have an artifical tree and Rebel pays no attention to it. Of course there are very few ornaments at the bottom of the tree, the only problem is when the ball escapes under the tree.

[derecskey]

I had Bella to my parents house last night for some Tgiving leftovers. My mom has an artificial tree up, and Bella didn't give it too much notice. She did enjoy laying under it though, and chomping on my mom's catnip-filled cat toy. Anybody know if catnip makes dogs loopy too or was it just my imagination?

[wheezie23]

Neither one of my boys seemed too interested in the tree so far, except to take a nap underneath it. Now, the dancing Santa that I have on the low table next to it is another story! I keep telling them they better straighten up where the jolly guy is concerned or they'll find lumps of coal in their stockings on Christmas day!

Thela

[kayharley]

Last year Madison was more interested in the beautifully wrapped presents with the sparkley bows than the tree. I can't remember how many gifts I had to re-wrap, how many bows she destroyed and how many yards of ribbon were strewn around the house.

I cannot for the life of me imagine Christmas with the 3 of them this year.....and then add company!!! Elliott is a 6 lb terror (reminds me of the tazmanian devil ) so I will definately be putting only unbreakable and safe ornaments on the lower half of the tree. No tinsel and I'm extremely leary of those metal ornament hooks that somehow end up on the floor no matter how careful the tree trimmers are.

Wow....this was a great topic. I can't believe Christmas is so close.

[toomanypaws]

We've had real and artificial trees. Kiara has never seemed to care about the tree after it was up. Her first response is always alot of barking as if a foreign object is intruding on her domain. Abbey was very young last year so I'm sure she's going to totally lose it at first. I'm not sure how Hannah will react. She seems more laid back, not much of a barker. My problem here is the cat loves to lay under the tree which will make the cairns want to chase after the cat.

[Guest posting as: stephandy]

We just put our tree up but we had to put it in the Dining Room where our Pepper will not be able to get there at all. I mean AT ALL. I dont even want to give him a chance to think about what he would like to do at all...

[Guest Guest]

Well now you all have me worried about this year ! Last year Scully was six months old and the only problem we had was she wanted to get to that one little section where the skirt didn't cover the base and she wanted to drink the water.

Now at 18 months - oh geez, I don't even want to imagine. We always have about a 7 foot real tree. I can see her banished from the living room until January.

[CallisMom]

This will be Calli's first Christmas as well. But we are going to Chicago and she is not invited! She is going to have to stay in a kennel for a week. And since we are going away - no tree to get used to (probably a good thing!! )

To make it up to her I got her a very nice bed for Christmas! DH doesn't want Calli on the sofa but she needs a slightly elevated place to chew her bully stick!

But I am going to miss her terribly! Imagine - her first Christmas and she will be in a kennel! I will get over it.

[Eliz222]

Calli will, most likely, have the time of her life! But I know what you mean about missing her.

Finch scared the &%&* out of me today. I was putting the ornaments on the family room tree and she picked up a dropped hanger and was chewing on it. I grabbed it from her and didn't think anything more about it. About 1/2 hour later she was downstairs with me. She started whining and so I picked her up and rubbed her tummy. She layed in my lap, very relaxed...too relaxed! I got scared, all of a sudden, and grabbed her and pulled her in front of me. She gave me that "what the heck...I was enjoying myself" look. Whew! I think I just let my imagination get to me. She's running around the house barking at the cable guy right now.

[toomanypaws]

I put an arfiticial tree up last night. I couldn't put a real one up being we'll be gone for 8 days during Christmas. Both Kiara and Abbey barked when I first started dragging in sections (big tree). I left those two in the kitchen to chill out. Hannah just sat in the recliner watching me and finally just fell asleep. Of course that darn cat was curled up under it before I even got the tree skirt around. Tonight I'll finish stringing the lights and then let my dd hang the ornaments. I love this time of year.

[Scully'sMom]

Scully was barking at the village I have with the things that are animated and that lasted about five minutes and then she got bored. Then I put the animated Mr. and Mrs. Claus in the front window and she got up on my recliner and was whining and barking at them. Once she figured they're not going to bother with her, she hopped down and that's been the end of the Christmas decoration barking. I'll be cringing when it's tree time.

[LORI]

We don't have the tree up yet, heck we don't even have snow. But this year we do have ten month old Riley.

He is just the most precious but devilish boy ever. He can rip a wreath apart in two minutes I hope Santa isn't watching. I was decorationg the backyard tonight and he found the bag of bows and ran off with one. Little scamp. Rileys' Mom

[CarCarDawn]

Hi! Riley doesn't bother with the tree much but he does love his stocking!! It has a little santa claus on it that he is determined to chew off!!! oh yeah - - that and the one ornament that he wants to play with all the time!!!