The owner of ‘Britain’s Naughtiest Dog’ says another hound has taken the crown – his own great-nephew.
Boxer Cooper, nine, was once so destructive he caused owner Jill Kirkham, 58, £8.7k worth of damage to her home – trashing sofas, dining room tables and doors.
But he’s “mellowed out” in his old age…..paving the way for his great-nephew, boxer Harry, four.
Harry was born deaf, so Jill has been left to train him using hand signals.
But he takes after his older relative – and despite having an irresistible “puppy face and wagging tail” he’s destroyed endless amounts of furniture.
Harry has already broken a kettle, chewed three holes in walls, ripped up her laminate flooring and dragged an entire pot of stew into bed with him.
Jill estimates he’s done £2k’s worth of damage already – and shows no sign of stopping.
Jill, a cleaning supervisor from Ellesmere Port, Cheshire, said: “Harry is very destructive – it must be something in his genes.
“He’s not far off from taking Cooper’s crown as ‘Britain’s Naughtiest Dog.’
“I’d say he’s caused about £2k worth in damage – I haven’t started paying for things to be replaced yet.
“I need him to get out of his chewing phase!”
After looking after Cooper for five years, Jill decided to adopt Harry in January 2021.
Her friend’s hound had given birth to a litter – and couldn’t keep Harry, because she already has seven Boxers.
He was the only deaf puppy in the pack, so Jill volunteered to give him a good home.
“My friend was looking after her poorly mum at the time,” she said.
“She would’ve kept Harry otherwise – but I took him home.”
Harry was 10 weeks old when Jill adopted him – but by four months old, he was already starting to trash the furniture.
The tall canine stretched himself onto the kitchen counter, and destroyed Jill’s kettle and toaster.
He loves to jump on his hind legs and reach for household items – often breaking them in the process.
“For my own sanity, I’m refusing to deal with replacing the furniture until he’s older,” she added.
“It was like, ‘here we go again.’
“At least it wasn’t my sofas, though – that’s the main difference between him and Cooper, he leaves my sofas alone.”
Cooper destroyed eight sofas as a younger dog, which Jill had to fork out £5.6k to replace.
But in his short life, Harry has attempted to top that – ripping up parts of Jill’s laminate flooring and dragging it out of the dining room, as well as chewing three holes in the wall.
Jill says the most disastrous incident was when she “mistakenly” left a giant pot of uncooked stew on the stove.
She said: “Harry has stolen numerous things from the worktops.
“I once left a massive pan of stew on there, ready to be cooked.
“I came back to it, and found the entire thing in Harry’s bed – it’d been eaten!”
Cooper is now almost 10 years old, and in his old age, has retired from causing chaos.
Jill said the hound likes to humour his great-nephew for a while, as Harry runs rings around him.
But ultimately, he can no longer keep up with Harry’s antics.
“Cooper’s nine-and-a-half, now,” Jill added.
“He’s absolutely fine – but he wants a peaceful life.
“It’s not really possible, with Harry around.
“He humours his great-nephew for a bit, whenever he wants to play, but he gets tired very easily.”
