It's that time of year!

Our plan this year, since we have a puppy who will eat ANYTHING, is to put our tree up on a table.  This means getting a shorter tree than usual and we'll have to decorate the table, but hopefully Finn won't be able to reach anything to steal off the tree.  Maybe raising the height of your tree would prevent him from marking on the tree?

 I have a dog a lot like that.  I just crated him or tethered him to me any time anything new was brought in.  I might have to do it with the tree again this year, just until it's been here long enough that it isn't so "new" anymore.... Sometimes that is enough, but even then I keep half an eye on him and tend to keep him away from there (recall) JUST IN CASE.  I don't trust him in that regard anywhere near as much as I do our other dog,who was much MUCH better house trained when she was a puppy and never marks indoors, even when she is in heat.... I have come to accept that it's just how he is and I have to supervise him or keep him out of the room.

Getting a smaller tree and putting it on a table is a great idea.  I've done that both for pups and small kids. Do you know anyone with a play pen they're not using?  You could put the tree inside and it would be pretty safe. I also use this stuff in a red, white and blue can called "Simple Solutions Indoor/Outdoor Dog & Cat Repellent" and spray the tree skirt (and some other things) with it. A couple of years ago a friend sent me this stuffed dog dressed like Elvis - when you push his foot he moves around and Elvis sings "Here Comes Santa Claus."  I spray that regularly because Max is pretty interested in watching Elvis dance and sing.  I've found it on the floor a couple of times where he has knocked it off the table, but he doesn't chew it because it smells bad to him.  The stuff works pretty well and it has no scent for humans. You can get it at any pet store.

Joyce

I only ever had the problem with my dogs marking our tree once.   The next day when we came home the tree was down across the floor laying and the dogs were hiding in the kitchen in fear.  I guess the sound of the tree falling and ornaments flying everywhere was enough to keep them away for awhile.  The year before last though they started to do something a little different than peeing.  They found out that the under side of the tree worked good for scratching their backs!  Since then we've had to use a fence system to go around the tree to keep them back.  I found the thing that worked best for us was those folding baby gates that people put between doorways of on top of stairs that folds outlike an accordian.  We draw two of them together and hook them and it works wonders!  Easy to fold up and put away when you get home or if you have company.

Not going to be doing the xmas tree thing this year so no worries for me now. 

Johnny & Tessy

How about a belly band for the "bad boy"?  I mean, geeze, you oughta be able to have a tree........

That said, I got a little lighted 4' fake tree since all my stuff is still in MI.  Sigh.

Oh gosh..... I never had a dog that did that........THANK GOD,  but I do think its kind of funny.....sorry, I'm just picturing it.

Oh never mind...... I think it would P.O. me...!

 We have always had a tree on the table, we have no floor space for a tree on the floor.

dyan

but I do think its kind of funny.....sorry, I'm just picturing it.

LMAO!  It is kinda funny to watch cause when I scold him he just gives me this look that says "But I pee on the trees outside and you don't yell"!  I just cannot believe he does it!  When Rocky was alive, I caught him lifting his legs to the tree and I crept up on him and clapped my hands really loud.  He jumped about a foot off the floor but he NEVER went near the tree again.  I tried that with Dipper and he just gives me this goober face and wags his tail/body!  I think I will try a belly band at first since that is the cheaper option.  I know he is gonna hate it but he will get over it and my tree will be "Pee-Free"!

dyan

  but I do think its kind of funny.....sorry, I'm just picturing it.

Agreed. Can you just picture what must be going on in the dog's head?  "Oh Yea!!! They finally got me indoor plumbing, right in time for the really crappy weather."

Joyce

Harry has zero interest in the tree, thank goodness.  I can't even get him anywhere near it.  Last year I tried to take a picture of him sitting in front of it, but he was having none of that.  He did the "stubborn donkey butt plant" and wouldn't budge, lol.

Sammy is a whole 'nuther story.  The tree's been up since Friday, and the dogs have both had the "whatever" attitude while we're home.  But, I went to BF's hockey game yesterday evening.  I was gone maybe 3 hours.  When I got home, Sammy had tried unwrapping my brother's present!  It was up under the tree pretty far, so he had to lay down and scoot to get to it.  Trust me, I know it was Sammy.  Luckily he only removed a few bits of paper, and didn't damage the box itself.  But it still worries me, especially the thought of him chewing on and swallowing bits of the bows on the gifts.  So this morning I put all the gifts on the dining room table before I left for work.  I sprayed the bottom few branches of the tree and the tree skirt with Bitter Apple spray, just in case.  This evening after work I'll be swinging by Petco to pick up an ex pen to put around the tree when we're not home.  The good news, though, is that BF actually ran home at lunchtime and he said nothing appeared to have been messed with yet.  But I'd feel better about having the ex pen up to block their access to the tree when we're not home.  Plus, an ex pen can come in handy in so many other circumstances, so it'll be a good purchase.

Heather, don't put any tennis ball size, green ornaments on your tree.  

The first year I had Joey, he was just getting over being deathly sick so didn't really take much interest in a tree after one round of destruction while I was away.  But I figured out the hard way that Joey was peeing on the second Christmas tree we had.  I was living with a roommate at the time and her boyfriend insisted on getting a tree for us.  So I decorated it sparingly - she has cats as well as her Lab - and put all my wrapped presents under it.  Days later, I started noticing a funny smell near the tree.  Upon investigation, the wrapping paper on many of my presents were crinkled and damp from Joey peeing on the tree.  Lesson learned.  Now I just have a smaller tree I put up on the dining room table.

JackieG

Heather, don't put any tennis ball size, green ornaments on your tree.  

LMAO!!  I don't have any of those, thank goodness.  But I did make sure no breakable ornaments are low on the tree, because Sammy tends to lose control of his tail and knock things around, lol.

 I'm NOT excited about that, with Jewel. I'm going to have to put panties on her. She's a horrible marker, and it is, after all, a tree.