from the mouths of dogs

Daisy and Mudge love to chew things to shreds. I know, I know, what dog doesn't? But seriously...how long does this chewing stage last anyways??? I am getting a little tired of coming home and finding something chewed up and spat out all over the house or chasing one or the other or both when I catch them in the act. It's really quite comical too, to watch me grab at one of the dogs and give pursuit only to nab him or her and then miss out on fishing out of the coveted object because they pass it back and forth to each other. I look like a damn fool.

I can never predict what it is they will chew up either. They are random and ruthless in their selection of chewable material. I do my best to make sure anything precious is out of reach but with these two fruitcakes, out of reach would mean over state lines. Thankfully they haven't chewed anything too irreplaceable but I just don't get why they'd want to chew some of the things they chew up. Here's just a sampling of some of the things I've wrangled out of their mouths or picked the leftover bits and pieces up from the floor.

several hairbows
numerous small roll of tums
mint life savers (wrappers and all)
the kid's fluoride pills (Daisy is the culprit here, she's figured out I put the pills on the counter in the morning and when I realized that and began hiding them under my notebook, she figured that out too...smart ass little pup!)
dirty tissues from the bathroom trash
actually, anything from the bathroom trash
box of floss (which was twisted and tangled from one end of the house to the other)
two balls of yarn (see above note)
a couple of webkinz stuffed animals
little monkey made from pom poms and pipe cleaners
more beer cans than I can count
a bouquet of flowers
a bottle of sand (one of the kid's projects)
lots and lots of crayons
paper
a mouse (still alive mind you but that's a story for another day)
the remains of three rolls of red, white and blue crepe paper
red, white and blue garland
two red, white and blue fake floral bouquets
a couple of small American flags (they worked on these items on the 4th of July...we came home from a cookout and it looked like a parade exploded in my playroom)
an entire roll of paper towels
the little vials Teresa's nebulizer meds come in
plastic play food
the cat (Benjamin is so passive. He just lets them nibble on him and he lays there with a look of suffering on his fluffy little face)
a baseball glove
white board markers
a number of specimens from Sam's stick collection
periwinkle shells
beach buckets
sippy cups
swim goggles
juice boxes

And the list could go on and on and on. Keep in mind this list only encompasses the last couple weeks. I really and truly think they are part billy goat.