Toy Hospital

[Heidi & Milton]

As of late, our Milt has taken to chewing his toys very enthusiastically.  He loves all of them an awful lot, but with the amount he chews, they are unlikely to survive past his first birthday.  He hasn't decimated any just yet, but I feel like we are playing with fire.  See the wounded toys below:

So sad

While in Louisiana a few weekends ago, by the urging of Jeff, Jeff's mother taught me how to sew.   I'm not doing any fancy cross stitching or embroidery, but just the simple, old one-two, in-and-out stitch.  So, the Milt put me to work on a few of his favorites. 

Sewing into the wee hours of the night

Every time I would finish one, I would drop it down to the Milt who was amazed that this lost toy surfaced again.

Our boy likes his football

Toys don't always give Milton the satisfaction he so desires.  He has moved on from mere child's play to bigger and better things:

Hanging by a thread

Jeff, the main tailor in our family, stitched this one back into working order.  For a little back story, on Saturday evening, when I was otherwise disposed, Jeff took the Milt on a man date to Starbucks.  My dear husband did not watch Milton closely enough and the chewed up leash incident occurred.  Jeff swears the Milt was super stealth, and the tear happened instantaneously, but I can easily concoct another version of the same story.

For now, he obviously needs a leash, but we will retire the plush toys unless we are actively supervising the Milt while he plays with them.  Too bad - I still love the sock monkey pair.

The icing on the cake, after my coffee machine broke this morning (which does not make for a very happy or productive start to the day), is Milton gnawed on Daddy's glasses.  If you want to know the honest to goodness truth, this is the second time this has occurred.  The first time I just thought it was an accident, but I now see a subtle pattern developing. 

When Milton snatches Jeff's glasses, they are obviously not on Jeff's face at the time, but we always have a heated disagreement over where they were left.  I insist they were irresponsibly lying on on the floor, while Jeff maintains that Milton grabs from low lying tables.  Regardless, the last time this pair was under warranty, hopefully this is still the case.  

The most shocking part of all this destruction is the Milt has yet to begun teething!  He is still holding on to each and every precious baby tooth.  I suppose we can wager that, "The best is yet to come."

To read more about the Milt, visit www.goldilocksandherdoodle.com

[Barbara B., Sasha & Oliver]

Oh God do I remember the "puppy chewing days".  Sasha chewed 2 pair of my glasses and tons of coutless other items in my house. Oliver was not as bad as Sasha was with the chewing !!!

[J and Riley (and Luna)]

Luna has an extensive toy hospital.  I recently bought her a stuffing-free toy and so far it's holding up!

[Lucy & AnnaBelle's Mom]

It might be time to introduce the Milt to "No Stuffing" toys!  We had to switch to those  with the girls as they wanted to destuff every toy we bought!

[Joanna, Zoe & Bender]

Zoe grabs dh's glasses from his night stand and has ruined 2 pairs already. He currently wears one with the smallest crack on the left bottom (luckily only at home). We always argue because I tell him to put it in the nightstand drawer but he forgets and leaves it on top. Men!

[Allyson, Peri & Taquito]

Haha love it.  Peri destroys every toy she comes into contact with. Still. At age 3.  Only thing she doesn't destroy is a rubber chicken - she sleeps on it and I think she thinks it's her baby or something. 

[Becka]

Looks like Milt might be ready to graduate to Kongs! I love the picture with the football. And Sadie, while not really a very destructive dog in general, did go through a phase where she destroyed three or four pairs of my reading glasses. I figured she wants me to pay attention to her, not a book!

[Ashley, Ronnie and Ruby]

Ruby is a chewer too. She destroys toys, which is why I no longer buy stuffy ones. As soon as I would sew them, she would think that it is a challenge for her to re-open them. She will eat all of the stuffing out which made for interesting poops. Now she sticks to bones and fluff free toys.