Quality control

Maisie is obsessed with pine cones, collecting one whenever possible on a walk. We have one- , two-, or three- pine cone days. It is always a worry when she finds one early on a walk as she either wants to sit and guard it rather than carry it home (I wonder if her jaw gets tired) or she thinks we should just go straight home to deliver said prize to the deck. 
Once procured they undergo various exercises like throw and catch, chew and spit etc, depending on the properties of each one. This photo is of a new retrieval undergoing initial inspection. 
Previous finds (confiscated by me) are piled up ready for burning, and fortunately each new one seems better than the last in Maisie's estimation, so we don't have a huge collection inside!