Actually, you can make this stuff up.

We know that because it’s the same excuse fabricated by countless high schoolers who forgot to finish last night’s homework: “My dog ate it.”

Only, this time, in the case of Jacob Sorenson of Troop 230 from Ames, Iowa, the statement is 100% trustworthy: “My dog ate the merit badge.”

This true tale of canine consumption, shared with me by Jacob’s dad, Kevin, gets even better when you realize which merit badge Molly munched down.

A meal with merit

Last month’s Troop 230 court of honor was a cause for celebration in the Sorenson household.

Jacob received the eight merit badges he had earned over the past six months. His brother Bryce received seven.

About a week later, those 15 merit badges were sitting in a pile waiting to be sewn onto Jacob and Bryce’s merit badge sashes.

Apparently, that pile of badges and pocket certificates looked like a tower of tasty treats to Molly, the Sorensons’ Australian shepherd puppy.

By the time Jacob noticed Molly’s find, it was too late. She had chewed up and swallowed one of Jacob’s merit badges.

“I told him he was just going to have to watch the next couple of days to make sure she passed it, and that would be the end of it,” Kevin says.

It gets better

But that wasn’t the end of it.

“There is a funny part to this,” Jacob told his dad.

“How is there a funny part?” Kevin asked his son.

“She ate the Dog Care merit badge,” Jacob said.

Could it be a total coincidence that Molly devoured Dog Care instead of one of the 14 other merit badges in front of her?

Yes.

But is it possible Molly knew exactly what she was doing?

Also yes.

A story for the scrapbook

The partially chewed blue card and pocket certificate for the Dog Care merit badge, which Jacob wrestled from Molly just in time, now has a permanent place in the Sorenson family scrapbook.

As for the badge itself, Kevin’s buying a replacement.

Jacob can wear the replacement proudly on his sash — a small emblem with a special, slobbery story.

In case you’re wondering: Jacob passed his Dog Care merit badge, and Molly passed hers.