Why did the chicken cross the road? Whatever the chicken’s answer, it’s probably better than Kayleigh Rooney’s reasoning for putting her Christmas tree on the ceiling.

Rooney says the pine chandelier was necessary to keep her bulldog from demolishing the tree and its decorations. I say she did it for effect. She succeeded in getting a response, but when it comes to defying gravity, I’d rather watch Fred Astaire do it in Royal Wedding than look upward to admire Rooney’s Christmas tree. Lionel Ritchie’s 1986 music video also gets much higher ceiling marks, from me.

Kayleigh Rooney, 35, from Leicester, got her playful 11-month-old bulldog puppies, Rolo and Minnie, earlier this year. With their first Christmas around the corner, the stay-at-home mum was worried about how they would react to a tree and wanted to think of a way to keep her pets and her decorations safe.

See, this woman didn’t even know for a fact that her dogs would molest the tree. They don’t have a history of doing it. She’s not one of those pet owners who moan, “I tried everything else . . . ” Rooney didn’t try anything else. In fact, she solved a problem before even figuring out whether it existed or not. Many people own dogs, cats and other pets who leave the tree alone or, whose interest in destroying it wanes after the first day or two.

Let’s backtrack. Rooney has two human kids. When Rooney became pregnant did she put the tree on the roof of the house to keep it out of her toddlers’? Am I too harsh? After all, Fred Astaire was also an overachiever. He danced on the ceiling to declare his love for a woman. Tom Cruise jumped on a sofa to achieve the same result. Sofa’s are much less taxing.

No matter how loopy her logic, Rooney researched before executing her evergreen plans: “At first, I just intended to hang the decorations on their own from the ceiling so I took to Pinterest for ideas,” Kayleigh told Jam Press

“They were all very abstract and posh and I wanted something more cosy and rustic.” A tree on the ceiling is cozy and rustic? I mean, having the tree 12 feet away from the family, rather defeats any warm and cuddly feeling one gets from its presence. Having a tree on the ceiling, instead of in front of your hearth, is like having a dog charm on your keychain, instead of a real one in your arms.

To that point, does that actually look like a Christmas tree on the ceiling or is it more of a wreath? I mean, how is that a tree, rather than just giant mistletoe?

Rooney said, “I was literally in bed trying to get to sleep with my brain working overtime as you do and it just came to me…. what about putting the branches off the Christmas tree up, spreading out from the light and hanging the decorations from there.”

Kayleigh then pinned the branches to the ceiling as she found it was the neatest way. She found that simply placing the baubles on carefully did the trick. She said: “I can say with complete surprise that so far nothing has fallen off! Hopefully, I’ve not just jinxed it.”

Kayleigh, who is mum to Oscar, eight, and Hunter, three, says her children’s presents always go in big Santa sacks so it won’t change their routine on Christmas morning. She said: “We also don’t put them out until first thing Christmas morning before the kids come down.”

After Kayleigh shared the idea on Facebook, her post gathered hundreds of comments. One person wrote: “It’s like the upside-down of Christmas.”

“Very ingenious, well done,” another user wrote.

Another said: “I thought it was a centerpiece lol”

“That is AMAZING!! I love it,” another person added.

Rooney’s resolution is not a hack, so much as it is a hoot. Some social media watchers actually shared real remedies for meddlesome pets. “I’ve ordered dry orange peel decorations from Etsy. Cats and dogs cannot stand the smell and stay clear of the tree,” someone said.

Someone else added: “I used to tie my tree to the wall so my dogs wouldn’t pull it over”

And what did Rooney’s dogs think? I believe I heard them discussing the situation:

Rolo: What is she on about?

Minnie: I have no idea. I wasn’t even thinking about that tree.

Rolo: Why would I go after the tree when we’ve got perfectly good bones, here?”