In frustratingly cute news, my Mom's Border Collie puppy is- as all puppies do- chewing up all kinds of things around the house. This is the kind of behavior that gets puppies scolded, and rightfully so.
However, we're finding it very hard to put the proper emphasis in our tone when we try to correct her because...well...it really ain't so bad in context.
Maddie is Mom's 6th BC, and each of the previous ones has managed to chew up some pricey stuff- a sofa, a windowsill, carpeting, shoes. Lil' Miss Pup, OTOH, has chewed up nothing more expensive than a cable box remote and a small hand carved olive wood Noah's Ark. All of Maddie's other targets have been paper, plastic or cardboard.
And there's her method, too: she actually tears open boxes and other containers, leaving the stuff inside alone. Mom thought Maddie's had gotten a pair of Clark's she had just bought when she found the box shredded in her closet...only to find the shoes intact, removed and placed several feet away. Ditto a brand new car charger for her iPad2. Box shredded, charger virtually unscathed.