CHEWING!!

Question
My dog is 8months old and he recently started chewing on EVERYTHING. I have left him in the house outside his cage,sometime half the day and he has never chewed on anything,excpet his toys (which he has PLENTY of). Within the last 2 weeks, his chewed on my bed and a pair of shoes!! After that i started to close my bedroom doors. I gave him ONE more chance, as far as being out his cage when I'm not there and while I was at work, he chewed on a box. THEN that same night, while I was at the gym for 2 hours, he chewed on a cd case, a DVD cd, an extenision cord (it wasn't plug in) and another pair of my shoes! Like I said,once he got 6/7 months, I have always left him out his cage whenever I left out the house. I recently started working, do you think he is just lonely now? He has plently of toys.  

Answer
Hi Danielle;
I could be partly lonliness, but it could also be that he is cutting new teeth.
They go through another teething at about a year old. This can vary by several months, and they will need to chew again, to ease the swollen and painful gums, and to help push the new teeth through.
At about 2 months or so, they start getting new teeth to replace the little milk teeth, that at somewhere close to one year old, they get their permanent teeth.
Get him some Kong toys, or Nyla Bones.
They are hard enough to give the chewing exercises necessary for him, and cannot be bitten off in chunks he can choke on.
If you can block off the kitchen, maybe a laundry room or a couple of rooms, where there is nothing he can chew up and destroy, that would be better then keeping him in a crate all day.
Did he chew on the wooden poart of your bed? That counds like a Lab.
They like to chew wood.
I am NOT a crate person.
I don't know who came up with this nonsense of dogs being happy in their crate.
At a time when zoos start keping animals in a more open and free enviornment, so idiot came up with the idea of keeping our pets in cages.
It reminds me of the mothers that did so much damage to their children, back in the late 40 and into the 50s, by listening to Dr. Spock.
It is NOT natural by any means.
Dogs may seem to be "happy" in their crate, and yes, some will even go into their crate to sleep. But what makes the difference is, if the door is open and they can come and go as they please.
Closing them up in an area where they can't get at anything to destroy is different. They have room to move aroud some, even romp and play with their toys, and get some exercise.
Don't let anyone make you feel guilty about not keeping him in a crate all the time.
You could check with your Veterinarian to see if he is cutting teeth, or if not, then you know you have a disclipline problem to work on.
I'm soory I can be more help and give you more deffinate answers.
Dogs do go through the two teething sessions, and they DO also do things for spite.
Charlotte