At our retail store, we regularly get customers looking for the most indestructible dog toy—one that will outlast even the most tenacious chewer.

That’s never been much of a problem in our household. None of our Boxers ever ripped apart their toys. But a few weeks ago, our friend had to go out of town, so we got to watch his little boy, Pip (short for Pipsqueak).

Pip is maybe 15 pounds, with hair going in every direction, as if his paw got stuck in an electrical socket, and a constant look of bewilderment. His eyes rarely stay fixed on any one thing, always scoping out what kind of trouble he can get into over here—or over there.

I brought Pip a pink plush rabbit from the store, and within about 15 minutes, he had chewed a hole straight through to the stuffing. Five minutes later, the living room was covered in white fluff. All that remained was the deflated pink shell.

I figured that was the end of that. The toy had given all it could give in less than an hour.

It turns out, however, that Pip continued playing with the pink carcass for the rest of the weekend. Throwing it. Thrashing it. Growling at it. When his dad came to pick him up, we threw it away with the satisfaction of knowing that little pink plush rabbit had given it its all.  More importantly, it had been a constant source of joy throughout Pip’s stay.

In hindsight, I learned a valuable lesson from Pip.

Yes, there are dogs out there that will destroy their toys. But in the process, they may be having the time of their lives. Sure, toys cost money. But for that little window of time, the pleasure they get from them can be priceless.

It made me think about how we find joy. We’ll sit in a movie theater for two hours, eat popcorn and candy, and usually spend more than the cost of a dog toy. How is that really any different from letting our little pooch tear into something for a couple of hours?

Granted, I’m not saying this should happen all the time, much like we don’t go to the movies every day. Nor should all of a dog’s toys be easily destroyed.

But perhaps every once in a while, we owe our little ones the opportunity to go hog wild.

After all, sometimes the measure of a good toy isn’t how long it lasts.

It’s how much joy it brings while it does.