get into mischief

Puppies, for instance, are more likely to get into mischief because they are biologically programmed to spend more of their time in activities like exploring and teething.

He told the tracker, “When I was little, I didn’t have much time to play. I never had a chance to get into mischief, like Dennis the Menace. So that’s what I was doing with the rocks. The cars were going so fast.”

“The good lady next door says he is studying too hard and needs young society, amusement, and exercise. I suspect she is right, and that I’ve been coddling the fellow as if I’d been his grandmother. Let him do what he likes, as long as he is happy. He can’t get into mischief in that little nunnery over there, and Mrs. March is doing more for him than we can.”

“The nasty little beast will only get into mischief if he goes out of the garden,” Aunt Spiker had said.

“What it all comes down to is that dogs want to have fun, and no matter how well you plan, pups get into mischief,” he writes.