Puppy chewing on my Christmas tree. Suggestions?

mom418

mom418

Cathlete
Our new puppy, in my avatar, is crewing on the branches and lights of the tree. If we can't get her to stop, we'll have to ban her from the living room for the next month. She's 8 weeks old, just brought her home this week.
Suggestions?


On a side note, she's biting funny things too. Certain fabrics like my wool sweater,tug of war while you're wearing your socks, just the laces of the shoe or anything with a string or rope, and once a thorny rose bush branch. The other stuff doesn't bother me really. We can teach her to not eat certain things like thorns and keep shoes that matter put away. Although, we did have to move the rug, she was digging it and creating strings to pull apart the rug.
But she's really such a happy intelligent puppy, and afraid of our rabbits and her own reflection lol. :eek:
 
Adam's flea spray...we spray our tree and presents with it....it smells sweet and the dog and cat both hate it.....you can find it at Wal-Mart
 
I use Grannick's Bitter Apple Taste Deterrent for Dogs. I am sure you can find it in most pet supply stores. Works like a charm. Enjoy your new puppy!! :D
 
Thanks! She is a husky. My DH has always wanted a dog, and he's had a name (Dakota) picked out and everything for this particular breed. Although, I think he planned on getting a boy, but got a girl instead. She was the only pup in the litter with eyes that stayed blue (they are born with blue eyes, but they turn brown). Her name is Shiva, in reference a character in the Final Fantasy series.
 
Last edited:
I treat puppies like I do infant children.... I puppy/child proof the house. I put our tree up on a table out of reach. Many dogs end up in the emergency room after eating Christmas ornaments. If you can't put the tree up, then prevent the puppy from entering that room.
My male mastiff is 18 months old and my female is 2.5 years old; this if the first year since I brought our girl home that our tree is on the floor.

Also, be careful of socks. I would teach the puppy socks are off limits. My vet has a video in his waiting room of a surgery to remove a sock from a dog's intestines. It's not uncommon for dogs to swallow socks.
Better safe than sorry.
 
Huge tree. Wouldn't even fit in a normal sized living room or ceiling.

She's so small right now, for a husky. It's really adorable. She looks just like an adult sized cat except for her face, and almost the same size as our adult rabbits. We're raising them to get along with each other, so it will be interesting.
 
Last edited:
We are experimenting with blocking the living room doorway area. She has already figured out how to jump over the barrier or crawl through the stair railing witch is next to the 'doorway' area. but last night I wasn't afraid of her eating the tree. The washer was very loud and she hid under the couch. I knew she wasn't coming out.

I don't have a babygate, and I'm not sure it would even be wide enough. It's about 2 clothes baskets wide.
 
Awwww, what a cutie! I would try one of the sprays that was mentioned and keep her crated if you're not home and where she can't get around the tree unless someone is watching her. You can also try putting water in a spray bottle and squirting her face for bad behavior. I used to do this w/ my Labs but being water dogs they soon got used to it and didn't mind it, but it worked for awhile when they were puppies. My girl Lab was a big chewer and very destructive. She didn't grow out of it until she was around 10 years old. She only chewed when we weren't home & figured out it was separation anxiety. But in your case, it just sounds like normal puppy teething and chewing. But like the pp's said, you don't want to take a chance on her ingesting something dangerous. Good luck and enjoy your new puppy!
 
I appreciate all the suggestions. It does help a lot that someone is almost always home. She seems to mess with the tree when she's trying to get our attention. that first day when we put it up, and then when we put ornaments on. so it sounds like that might be what it mostly was. she wanted attention. but obviously, we still have to be careful.
 
We had problems with our puppy Shiba Inu when we brought him home as well chewing furniture, shoes, socks, toothbrushes. Our breeder recommended a raw food diet, so after I read more on what he needed, I bought raw bones for him (mostly elk and bison and correctly sized). When he got his bones, he stopped chewing on other things in the house immediately without having to train him not to chew our stuff.

Huskies and shibas are very close DNA wise to wolves, I believe they need to chew. It is amazing when our dog gets his new bone for the week, he goes into a state of bliss!!!

I told a gal at work about this. She bought her lab some raw bones and she said he started to sleep really well and became super calm.

I know these are anecdotal, but I think bone chewing somehow calms dog's brains....
 
attilla the honey said:
I know these are anecdotal, but I think bone chewing somehow calms dog's brains....
Click to expand...

I agree. It is considered physical and mental exercise.
I would add that all dogs dna are -point- two percent different from a grey wolf. ;)

I feed raw myself. :) My mastiffs have a powerful urge to chew things, and my female is almost 3 years old.

Here are some excellent guidelines to feeding raw bones.
Myths About Raw: Are bones safe?

If you don't want to feed raw bones, an elk antler is a great option. I buy mine from amazon. They are pricey, but they last a long time.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Our Newsletter

Get awesome content delivered straight to your inbox.

Top