Dear Abby,

I just bought the most adorable puppy! His name is Milo and he is my new best friend! He is almost 4 months and we got the potty training thing down...kinda. Of course when he was younger, he had his accidents, but the last month or 2, he's been great! He cries by the door when he needs to go outside and he is rewarded with a treat, here's the dilemma...the Christmas tree has gone up...I think Milo thinks its ok to pee on it because he pees on trees outside!!! What can I do to stop him?

Potty Tree in Clintonville

Dear Potty Tree,

You know what?! I had the same problem with the puppy in my life.  When the Christmas tree went up last year (and last year was his first Christmas) he thought it was potty time.  It's hard to punish them because they are confused...they don't understand why all of a sudden a tree is growing in the middle of the living room.  I had to do what I did when potty training him.  If he had an accident, he got spanked and put outside.  It sounds cruel, but you can't have your puppy going pee pee on your tree for the whole holiday season. Make it clear that the Christmas tree is like the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil to dogs and it is off limits. I promise he'll learn.  The puppy in my life hasn't had an accident yet this holiday season, even though I'm sure whenever he looks at it, he's thinking that this is every dog's dream, but he needs to learn that it is only a fantasy.