I protect mine with chicken wire. Rabbits and squirrels are the culprits in my area.

Rhonda

My puppy dogs will prune smaller trees and shrubs. I often protect 'special' things with either a small fence cage, or even just a tomato cage. A small dogwood volunteer that I liked exactly where it had sprung up, has recently been severely pruned. It will be getting a fence cage in the near future and hopefully it will come out of the kinks.

Sue

I protect my pussy willow bush every winter with chicken wire due to rabbits eating the bark off, girding, the lower part of the bush. It has to be protected quite a ways up as they will eat anything above snow cover. Also protect other bushes, mock orange, hydrangea, elderberry, etc that get stem pruned by rabbits and deer. The chicken wire surrounds the small bush and clothes pins keep plastic netting over the top.