So I caved this Christmas and agreed to put up the tree. Last year I won the argument, saying that the dog would be all over it, but we saw some neighbors use a fire grate around it to keep the dog back. So this year I put it up to see what would happen, prepared to go shopping for a fire grate soon after.
Wouldn't you know it? She-Ra could care less about that tree with all the shiny stuff on it (shatterproof ornaments), and pretty much just treats it like another piece of furniture she's not interested in. Our cat on the other hand… :mad:
We have an arts festival here in AZ every holiday season so we thought it'd be fun to take the dog along. Lots of people really interested in our dog, some who had heard about Basenjis and others who had never seen them before. One person was REALLY knowledgeable about the breed, and said she had good confirmation, which made me feel good.
Best part: One group of people, when I was explaining "barkless" and the "yodel" to them, said "Make her yodel!" and all I could do was give them a look and say "You don't 'make' these dogs do anything!" 
Extra bonus: She slept like a rock after her big morning out. "A tired Basenji is a good Basenji."
I never had a problem with a live tree in the house. The dogs always respected it.
Not a dog problem, but one year we cut a pretty little tree that still had it's pine cones. After 3-4 days, every time I saw the dogs near the tree, they were all burred up on the back. I soon realized that like 'Lassie style' they were warning me. The crackle and popping sounds the tree emitted were audible only from a close proximity, but the two dogs could hear it.
I was convinced my pretty little tree (actually over 10' tall) was about to crash over taking out all the ornaments and perhaps the dogs!! In a panic I tied string from the tree to the curtain rods, and propped a broom between the tree and the bay window. That calmed me some, but the sound continued. I waited vigilantly all evening for JR (dh) to come home and fix the tree and the tree stand.
Turns out (as JR often reminds me:o ) it was just the pine cones popping open as the fresh water from the tree stand worked it's way up the trunk!
here a few ornaments get knocked off the tree from the malinois' tail, otherwise the basenjis don't seem to bother it. My first basenji HAD to have a place to nap under the tree. I'd leave a place for her, point it out to her and she'd never bother anything. If I didn't she'd just rearrange things so she had a nap spot under the tree. Sometimes an ornament would get knocked off as she crept under there; a package might get moved if someone unthinkingly had moved it into her nap spot. It's really one of the things I miss most about her/this season.
I did have a foster dog from that KS City bust, Inka. Little tiny black basenji with a very small amount of white. She never bothered the tree, but that year DH decided we needed a train under the tree. My did Inka like that toy! She'd either play Godzilla or grab a train car and run. I sorta miss that too. DH didn't put the train down this year.
Otherwise, I know of several basenji owners who have trees that live inside the xpen.
I think it's wonderful owners try to outsmart b's with the tree guards.
Laugh
I wish Piper didn't bother the tree like all of yours but she thought we got the tree as a toy just for her. She loves all the ornaments on it and would love nothing more than to be able to knock them all off and play with them, she also likes chewing on the tree’s branches. So our tree has a safe home inside an xpen, at least for now.:D
My little tree had to be put on top of a book case so Beegin would leave it alone. It really isn't the tree so much, probably because it is fake, but I have these ornaments that are glass birds with real feathers for tails…yeah apparently feathers still smell like birds even after they've been glued to a glass bird butt and kept in storage for a full year. I think I will be changing my ornament theme next year to "anything not made of previously alive prey items"...I am thinking snowflakes or something...:D
I wish Piper didn't bother the tree like all of yours but she thought we got the tree as a toy just for her. She loves all the ornaments on it and would love nothing more than to be able to knock them all off and play with them, she also likes chewing on the tree’s branches. So our tree has a safe home inside an xpen, at least for now.:D
Haha.. thanks for sharing that pic! Couldn't stop laughing when I first saw it! I hope the xpen works 
Well, Sahara tries every year to steal at least one ornament, I think she just wants me to chase her. I go after her with a water bottle, and that's it. Most of the time she will drop anything she has, it usually only happens once. But to be safe when I am gone and she is home alone I close the door to the living room where the tree is. Once I had a small dog bone on the tree, my son who is now 25 made it into the cutiest dog face ornament with felt ears, eyes, and a red felt tongue. Sahara's first Christmas she got that ornament and tore all the felt off. Needless to say she didn't eat the dog bone, he made it in kindergarten, so it was probably 20 yrs. old. YUCK!!!! I did save all the felt and made another one to hang on the tree, up high, hehe!!!!!!
I never had any problems with my live trees or the ornaments with my first two basenjis (Luny is still adjusting here so don't know what he'll do when I finally get the tree up). I did have to keep the ornaments off the lowest branches - because they'd get knocked off (not eaten) and last year EL D seemed to take a liking to the plug from the lights so that had to go up higher as well.
We have never had a problem either with a live tree… only thing is that I do not decorate it all the way down, as the kids used to like to do the B 500 around it... and the ornaments would fall off... Once in a while they thought about drinking from it... but that was pretty short lived.....
HA! I don 't know, Shannon- Jack chases snowflakes outside like they are prey….lol
Oh yeah - I forgot about the drinking from the tree bowl part. Ick yuck elgh!
