Britain’s naughtiest dog, who has cost his owners £9,000 in damage, has been branded an ‘attention seeker’ by a canine expert.
Jill Kirkham, from Chester, has lost eight sofas and six mobile phones to her five-year-old Boxer dog Cooper, but says she doesn’t have it in her heart to get rid of her beloved pet.
Appearing on This Morning, she told that her pet is both ‘well exercised and loved’ and sought the help of expert trainer, Graeme Hall, to figure out why her dog is misbehaving so badly.
After speculating about his diet and lack of toys, Graeme quickly came to the conclusion that Cooper simply loves the attention he receives when he does something naughty.
Britain’s naughtiest dog (pictured), who has cost his owners £9,000 in damage, has been branded an ‘attention seeker’ by a canine expert
Five-year-old boxer Cooper has destroyed; eight sofas costing £700 each, two dining room tables at £300 each, and six mobile phones costing £300 each
When asked about her dog’s naughty behaviour, Jill said: ‘Our Cooper, where do I start? We’ve gone through eight couches because of the destruction .
‘It started when he was around six-months-old and I came home and he literally look my chair back to the frame work.’
In the five years Jill has owned Cooper, he has destroyed; eight sofas costing £700 each, two dining room tables at £300 each, ten remote controls costing £20 each, six mobile phones for £300 each, one set of oak tables costing £250 and one set of wooden doors for £300.
She explained that her two other boxer dogs, Ben and Holly, were ‘no trouble at all’, and that she has no idea why Cooper gets up to so much mischief.
Jill told the bad behaviour started when Cooper was around six-months-old and he had stripped her chair ‘back to the framework’
Cooper’s owner Jill Kirkham sought the help of expert trainer, Graeme Hall (pictured), on This Morning to figure out why her dog is misbehaving so badly
‘I think our Cooper is a bit of an attention seeker to be honest,’ said Jill. ‘It’s not as though he isn’t exercised or loved, he’s just a bit of an attention seeker I think.’
When asked whether she’d considered giving him up, Jill went on: ‘He’s my boy. Look at that little face, come on, there’s no way I could re-home him, what would happen to him?’
Upon first inspection, canine expert Graham assumed that despite his ‘butter wouldn’t melt’ expression, Cooper is being intentionally naughty because Jill is too relaxed.
‘I mean he’s funny isn’t he,’ said Graham. ‘He’s hilarious, he’s kind of giving it the old butter wouldn’t melt, but if he’s attention-seeking, think of your response when he’s doing it.
Jill Kirkham, from Chester, (pictured on This Morning with Cooper) says she doesn’t have it in her heart to get rid of her beloved pet
She explained to hosts Ruth Langsford and Eammon Holmes (both pictured) she thought her dog could be a bit of an ‘attention seeker’
‘I see you’ve taken pictures when he’s being cute. He might of picked up the wrong signal, like “Oh if you like this, I’ll give you more”.’
After speculating that it could be the dog’s diet or lack of mental stimulation causing the naughty behaviour, he soon came to the conclusion Cooper just loves the attention.
‘It is possible’, he said, ‘We haven’t met, but my guess would be you might be a bit too lovely to him when he’s done something naughty.
‘If you think he’s attention seeking your gut reaction is probably right, he probably is.’