As you guys know I just started working full time again.However, everytime I get home Nibbler has something chewed up. Especially shoes! Since I'm not home when he does it I don't see how he can be diciplined. I've picked up all my shoes, but of course Adam and my brother who's recently moved in with us, leaves theirs all over the place. He only does this when he is home alone, I guess since he has gotten used to my being there all the time, he is stressed when I'm not there.

He used to be perfectly fine when we were at work all day. Do you think he just needs to readjust? or any other ideas?

When we first got Rocky, we tried leaving him out of his kennel when we left. Most days he was fine. The last day we left him out of his kennell when we were gone, he went nuts. We got home and he had chewed up a couple of books, torn the garbage apart, and had gotten on top of the dining room table where we had the left-over Easter candy. He had torn apart the box of a solid chocolate Easter bunny and had eaten the whole thing. This scared us! We also had eaten chicken the night before and there were cooked chicken bones in the garbage that he may have gotten into.  After a couple of calls to the vet, we got lucky and Rocky was fine just hyper. My point is that if your dog is having issues when you leave, he may start getting into things that could hurt him and no one wants that to happen.

It's me again...I just remembered that I have another suggestion if you are not a fan of kennelling your dog. Occassionally, my parents puppy-sit for us. Instead of dragging his kennel to their house, they stack two baby gates (Rocky's a jumper) in the doorway of the entryway of their house. They put his bed, food, water, and toys out there so he has everything he would need and he has room to stretch his legs. Being confined to the entryway, he doesn't have anything to destroy and he's safe. Hope this helps!

 (new training method?)

My two don't chew per say. But I gave them each a sock that I had worn. So when I leave they go grab their sock and go to their basket to pout. They seem to like having something with you scent on it. It comforts them. We had purchased Dime because Nickle was showing anxiety when you would leave the house without him. That isn't a solution because now I have two that show anxiety and I'm not getting a third!

No... I didn't see that post in the "just chat" section.  I can't keep up with all the posts there so don't try.  I tend to stick with the training section and pictures.  No... dogs don't "get back at you" for leaving.  They don't think that way.  Sounds like someone needs to UNdo some negative training he's been given!

I know I am coming in late but just wanted to add that once a family member teaches your "trained" puppy/dog something oposite of what they were trained on it can be harder to undo the damage than it was to train them the first time. I had Sassie crate trained from the beginning and I know of no other way than to have them crate trained anytime they are left alone and during the night. It just works too well. My kids, most likely 12 at the time would sneak Sassie in bed with them at night after we all went to bed and return her to her crate in the morning before I got up. So when I would here her barking I just assumed she wanted to go out to potty. Until I happen to catch them in the act one night. So in trying to undo what they taught Sassie we went through weeks of barking, whinning and whola for weeks on end. She never really got to the point we started with but eventually quit all the fuss. I was so not happy.  So do not let family members undo what you have alrady done. It must be consistant.

They are so going to be watched close this go round!!!

I was reading on the petsmart website just trying to catch up on a few things before Molly gets here. I also have some shopping to do...

But when I came across this cute little quiz, one of the questions were about chewing shoes and I remembered this thread. LOL

This is how it went:

Your puppy chewed up another shoe, so you:

1. Make sure every room has plenty of chew toys in it.
2. Make a toy box and rotate toys in and out.

answer: 2, make a toy box and rotate toys in and out. Puppies get excited when they see new things. By rotating toys, he will focus on something more interesting than your shoes!

So just thought I would share as I found it to be cute beings I had just read this thread not long before.

Tauney may have not "erred" yet, but the day may come.  Dogs, even these guys, aren't smart enough to tell the difference between your "these are OK to chew" shoes and "these are NOT OK to chew" shoes.  I've always heard when it comes to dog training, never let them have as a toy, any item you don't want them to chew up & destroy elsewhere in the house, like shoes, socks, rags, washcloths, throw rugs, etc........you get the idea.  Because they won't know the OK item from the NOT OK item.  In doing so you set your dog and yourself up for inevitable behavior disappointments on down the road.