Jalapeno Peppers

I have several jalapeno pepper plants and they seem to be struggling and until today I couldn't figure out why. They continually looked like they were being eaten, but they had no bugs on them, they have been getting plenty water, have lots of blooms, but never any baby jalapeno peppers. Today I was outside checking my garden and was so excited because there was a baby pepper plant about 3/4 of an inch long. Two seconds later - literally - I hear this crunching sound and look over to see Riley eating my baby jalapeno! I scolded her, which I rarely do - hubby is the disciplinarian, and now I am off to Lowe's to get some fencing to go around my plants.