This week we have been challenged with Thani's love for chewing. Everything I've read recommends putting your dog in a crate when home alone, but since Thani isn't crate trained we usually keep him confined to a room. Since he's been doing so well with that, M decided to let him continue to snooze on the sofa while he ran a few errands. When we came home Thani had chewed open one of the sofa pillow cushions and had the stuffing spread out all over the family room. Oh, and one of M's dress shoes was in the mix as well. I had a hard time getting upset with the Thani... we hadn't gone on a long (60 min) walk for two days, and we left him alone in a big house without much to do.

So the next day we went back to keeping him in M's office while we were out. When we came back... a thoroughly ripped and chewed up blanket and magazine were the result. I'm wondering if the office is too big, and we should go back to putting him in the den (very small room at the front of the house)? We've been keeping him in the office because the sun comes in nicely and he can sleep on the warm floor. I only leave a couple of toys with him that I know won't be destroyed and swallowed (he's REALLY good at that). Next week I'm going to look into doggy day care as well and maybe send him there one day per week to run off some energy.

Yes, we'll go back to the basics and get plenty of exercise this weekend!