Our Golden Ret. Bailey

Question
I have just adopted Bailey and I am her third home.  When I am around she is the nicest and most loyal dog.  She doesn't leave my side.  I am a high school teacher and I have to leave her for 7 hours of the day.  I come home for lunch to let her out.  When I leave her alone, she chews things that aren't hers.  I have some good chew toys for her.  She was never in a crate before so I don't think she would like that and I don't really want a "crate dog".  What are some things I can do?  I will try the Kong with peanut butter and the mouse trap thing kind of scares me with getting snapped on her.  
Another question I have is that when she meets only men for the first time she is very scared.  She growls sometimes at them if I'm not around her or by her side.  What can I do about this as well?

Answer
I don't know of any other way to stop the problem except by crating her.  You have to remember, dogs are different from people.  While many people would climb the walls in a small space, dogs relax and feel at home.  The dog may be
happier in its den than loose in the house.  It relaxes, it feels safe in its
den.  It rests, the body slows down reducing the need for water and relieving
its self.  Dogs that have been crated all along do very well.  Many of them
will rest in their crates even when the door is open.  I think the plastic
ones give the dog more of a safe, enclosed den feeling.  Metal ones can be put
in a corner or covered with something the dog can't pull in and chew.  Select
a crate just big enough for the full grown dog to stretch out in.

Leave it some toys.  Perhaps a Kong filled with peanut butter.  Don't leave
anything in the crate the dog might chew up.  It will do fine without even any
bedding.  You will come home to a safe dog and a house you can enjoy.

A dog that has not been crated since it was little, may take some work.
Start out just putting its toys and treats in the crate.  Praise it for going
in.  Feed it in the crate.  This is also an easy way to maintain order at
feeding time for more than one dog.

The "shut the puppy in a safe room" is a fallacy.  Very few houses even have a
safe room.  How many of us have a room with a hard surfaced floor and nothing
else?  Most rooms have electrical cords to chew if nothing else.  In addition
to destroying anything a bored puppy finds to chew, it may choke or have
intestinal  blockage from the pieces.  I had a friend that left her dog in a
"safe" room.  It ate a hole in the floor covering.  The safe rooms fail to
give the dog the comfort of the enclosed space their instinct requires.  Nor
do they restrict activity extending the time the dog can go without relieving
itself.

Better leadership on your part might help the problem with men. The key to most behavior problems is approaching things using the dog's natural instincts.  Dogs see all the people and dogs in the household as a pack with each having their own rank in the pack and a top dog.  Life is much easier if the 2 legged pack members outrank the 4 legged ones.  You can learn to play the role of top dog by reading some books or going to a good obedience class. A good obedience class or book is about you being top dog, not about rewarding standard commands with a treat. Start at http://www.dogsbestfriend.com/  For more on being top dog, see http://www.dogbreedinfo.com./topdogrules.htm

Having them give her treats will help too.