This is not a chew toy

Have a look at Penny's latest conquest:

From Keli's Korner Photo Album

I'd like to believe she thought she was helping me out . . . just the other day I was complaining about how much I hate to vacuum and dust, so maybe she thought if she broke the vacuum, then I wouldn't have to clean anymore.

Or maybe she didn't like it when I suggested the two Westies would make nice dust mops.

Lucky for Penny, Sears still sells replacement parts that fit my vacuum cleaner for a reasonable price:

The cost to replace the dusting brush is coming out of her toy budget this month!

In case anyone is wondering - No, she didn't eat the plastic pieces she chewed off. She just chewed them up in tiny bits and left a trail all over the house. She does the same thing with nylabones -- chews off tiny little sharp shavings and spits them out on the carpet for me to step on in my bare feet. Actually, that was why I was vacuuming last week -- and complaining about it.

This was not the first attack on the vacuum cleaner - when Keli was a puppy, she decided the rug attachment was a good target:

See the black tape on the wire? That's were she chewed and shredded the wires. Fortunately, it was unplugged at the time. At least, I think it was unplugged; but we still don't know how she got that spot on her tongue, so maybe she did get a little shock . . . anyway, lucky for her, there was enough wire to splice together so it still works and we didn't have to buy a new one. And she only did it once.

The strange thing is, neither Westie attacks the vacuum while it is running -- whenever I am cleaning, they usually retreat to another room and wait it out. They aren't fearful of it, they just don't seem to like the noise. When the beast machine was quietly minding it's own business, they decided to strike at it.

This is really only the first time Penny has chewed anything destructively. Most of the time she sticks to nylabones and other toys. And we have TONS of toys and balls and bones to choose from, and believe me, they DO get chewed ALOT! We learned a long time ago that puppies need to chew, and they need to learn what they are and are not allowed to chew. I guess Penny is still learning . . .

Keli was not very destructive as a puppy either -- well, except when she was teething and starting chewing the baseboard mouldings! But that phase didn't last long. She was fond of stealing socks, and one day she got a hold of one of my sandals:

See the teeth marks on the heel and sole? I still wear them occasionally and I always get a giggle when I see the grooves. I'll probably keep them forever, as a reminder of Keli's puppy days.

From Keli Angel's Album

I've saved a pair of shoes that were attacked by Wyndi, our first Westie puppy girl:

It's hard to see the teeth marks on the heel, even in real life. These are from about 1989 -- I remember being pretty annoyed at the time, but I still wore these shoes for a few years after they were chewed. I keep them because they remind me of Wyndi.

Wyndi chewed up lots of stuff when she was a puppy, from socks to underwear and even a TV remote control (another gadget repaired with black electrical tape and still in use). She was 3 years old before we could trust her alone in the house without being crated or supervised.

From Wyndi's Photo Album

So I guess I'll have a chewed up dusting brush keepsake to remind me of Penny.

Or maybe that's just the beginning of her "collection".

We'll see.