G'morning Lisa - I've read several owners report easy breakage of limbs. So I took precaution on mine when they were newly planted & used folding garden fencing 'til their limbs thicken & strengthen ... so I thought! We had this past Winter one of the snowiest snowfall ... Snow Queen & Alice did fine but my heart sank when I found 3y/o Pee Wee split in half with the wt of the piled snow, in the center trunk no less!!!Â:(

To my amazement each half were still leafing out well, by the time I noticed the split. I pulled them back together with a jute tie, wrapped some wet sphagnum moss around & hope that they would mend back together. 2 other leafing smaller cane broke as I was mending ever so carefully.

Another gardener in IA posted that he kept whacking big limbs of his, by accident but his shrub kept growing & keeps giving him enough blooms.

You might use those fold up fencing to keep your dogs from running into them until they're big enough ... good luck!

The fence is a good idea. I've been trying to form a little bit of a privacy screen with the bushes, but if they keep breaking it's going to be years. They are healthy enough, except for one that hasn't grown since I planted it.
I don't know what's gotten into the dogs this year! Maybe just spring fever, but every day they are either laying in my gardens or chewing on something they shouldn't be, etc.

I planted a 1 gal baby 'Snow Queen Oakleaf' in '08 a neighborhood bunny ended up pruning a couple of stems. I had to replace the wire fencing w/ a chicken-wire cage. They never bothered the other 2 (Pee Wee & Alice) just a few feet from SQ. Don't know if it's just because she was a tender, younger plant & the other 2 were older w/ crustier canes.

So far so good this Spring the chicken wire cage got a bit confining & removed it last Fall ... no signs of limb losses & very light green leaves are starting to open!

Pee Wee as well, seems to be responding to the binding/sphagnum moss compress efforts ... w/ fingers crossed!