Dog owner finds ingenious way to keep puppy away from Christmas tree

A dog owner has found an ingenious way to keep her puppy away from the Christmas tree - by making the hoover part of the decorations.

Little Hugo, a cockapoo, has always been scared of the vacuum cleaner so owners, Georgia Kiernan and Jordan Howarth, both 25, decided to put it by the Christmas tree to stop him destroying the decorations.

Now their hoover sits in front of the tree, with tinsel and a white bow on, and keeps cheeky Hugo at bay.

Georgia, an occupational therapist, from Derby, Derbyshire, said: "We put the tree up early so we could see how he would react.

"He was pulling down all the decorations but when Jordan got the hoover out, he started barking at it and we remembered how scared he was off it.

"Now the hoover has become part of the Christmas decorations and stops Hugo from grabbing the baubles."

Ever since Georgia and Jordan, an engineer, got Hugo in September 2021 he has been wary of the hoover.

"Even if it's not on he hates it," Georgia said.

"So, it's the perfect thing to deter him from the tree.

"He tries to go round the side of the sofa to get to the tree but as soon as he sees the hoover again, he backs away."

For Hugo's first Christmas the couple have got him his own homemade advent calendar full of treats.

"He is going to be very spoilt," Georgia said.

The cheeky chap has just graduated from puppy school but is still mischievous and will tear up wrapping paper and pick up his owner's cloths and underwear.

"He'll run in so we can see he has them and then run off again," Georgia.

"He knows when he's wrong, but he still does it."

The couple hope the hoover trick will work for years to come.

You can follow Hugo @hugo.theredcockapoo