The good news is that this was a rental property, not my own home, and the damage had all been caused by a tenant. There was no dear little canine at fault.

As a rental property owner, I like to share horror stories like this with other landlords and we all moan and groan about the trouble some folks can cause. The only solution is to clean up and move on.

However, our cute, dear little dogs have been known to make messes along these lines, too. Dogs who are left alone in the house sometimes get into trouble chewing on shoes, couches, chair legs, even drywall! Kera had a penchant for stealing Kleenex from the garbage can to nibble on.

Now, if your dog has developed a behavior like this, there are things you can do to fix it. Try a bitter apple spray, correcting your dog if you catch him in the act of chewing items other than his toys, and if all else fails, crating him all day when you are not available to watch him.

Crating may sound like a real bore to you, but Ben and I consistently used crates to contain Kera when we were away from home (this was a rule for all the guide dog puppies-in-training) and she never had a problem with it. She would still happily trot into her kennel whenever we asked.

Dogs don't have the same sense of time that we do. Lying on the floor in the living room is not much different than lying in the crate, for them. In fact, your dog will be a lot happier in the long run if he stays out of mischief and doesn't have a scolding to look forward to when you come home and see whatever disasters he's instigated in the house while you were away. He will also be safer if he is not ingesting slivers of wood from your dining room chair, stuffing from your couch, or lead-based-paint from your walls!

So, if your dog is prone to destroying your home while you're gone, crate him without shame, realizing that you and your dog will be happier for it in the long run.

Now if only I could find a way to crate train my tenants...!

That's all for now,

Emily Cressey

P.S. Still working on getting your dog to behave when you're at home or work? Check out this very complete and well-explained dog training system.

Copyright 2005, Emily Cressey.

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