Years ago, YA came home with the first of the Lamb Chop chew toys for Guinevere.  Guinevere was the Queen of Destruction when it came to stuffy toys.  She could disable and disembowel a squeaky toy in a matter of minutes and once it didn’t squeak, it was just a useless clump of foam to her.  I was extremely queasy about letting her have a Lamb Chop toy; it meant nothing to YA but I remember Shari Lewis and Lamb Chop from my childhood with affection. 

Seeing Lamb Chop murdered before my eyes was not something I was looking forward to.  To everyone’s surprise, Guinevere treated Lamb Chop almost with reverence, gently nibbing on it.  No ripping it’s guts out, no chewing it’s head off.  It was weirdly wonderful.  When the Lamb Chop toys went on sale, we bought ten of them.  Every Solstice she got a fresh one and when she passed, there were at least six of them still in service.

Freya has inherited all the Lamb Chops and so far, four of them have met their maker.  She is rabid about getting to the squeaker, but unlike Guinevere who would just disable the squeaker, Freya wants to eat the squeaker!  (Add this to a long list of things that Freya thinks she needs to chew/eat.)  So in addition to the awful mess that an expiring Lamb Chop makes, I am now the Official Director of “Watch-Freya-To-Make-Sure-She-Doesn’t-Eat-The-Squeaker”.  This means when she gets close (when she can get her whole snoot inside the toy), I have to take the toy and get the squeaker out myself.  So now I am the one pulling out the innards of a beloved childhood character.  From murder watch to pre-emptive murder itself.

Any childhood characters you think would make a good dog toy?  Or that you would prefer NOT to see chewed on?