Crazy dog when alone

Question
My husband and I adopted this previous stray as a new addition to our family a couple of months ago. He seemed like he was just what we were looking for. And when he is with us, there are very few things that would make me feel otherwise (examples: Licking and jumping) He learns really quickly. The only times he ever gone to the bathroom on our main floor was the first couple days he was with us and he never has since. We tried kennel training him and we kenneled him while we were gone also. He is about a year old and weighs 66 lbs. He would get out of the kennel and every time we got home he was just in the unfinished basement with total control over the basement. He will get into anything tear it up, pee, and poop. He acts totally crazy unsupervised. We tried getting him in the kennel and blocking the way he was getting out, however, he completely demolished the kennel. It is no longer fesable. I could let him outside, put him in the basement (because there is no kennel anymore) and leave for 30 minutes only to come home to pee and poop in the basement and someone torn up. We have tried making him just sit in his kennel for the whole night after we get on to him about it. We have also tried to "fake leave" with a muzzle on him so he wouldn't tear up anything. He tore it off and got into more things. We have no other ideas of what we could do to control him when we are not home. He is perfectly good when we are home. He doesn't get into things he's not suppose to,  he never goes potty indoors, and for the most part he is calm. I have a feeling it's him rebeling because I work from home and he doesn't want me to leave him.

He is Neutered. We didn't know if obedience training would even help because it's all about when you are there and he doesnt have a problem with that. With us having him for a couple of months now, I would have figured he would be use to us and wouldn't want to disappoint us as much as he does. It is not rutine though, because I could be home all day for a few days before I will leave for a couple hours or so. And not EVERY time does he do it, just the majority of the time he does.

What can we do besides what we have tried?

Answer
Obedience training is for when you are not there as well as when you are. The dog has to understand you are the Alpha and it is not. Second, it is bored, should be crated or kept in an area of non destruction with chew toys and other mind grabbing items. I suggest you see the movie Marly and Me.

The fake leave has to included a distraction so the dog is busy when you leave. Part of separation anxiety training includes getting the dog to play properly by itself. There are two reasonable training methods, one uses distraction, the other starts with walking the dog to the door, then having the dog sit stay or down stay (learned in obedience class) then you go out and return quickly. The time interval increases. The distraction method is to put treat chew toy, blanket in crate. Let the dog go in and out on its own until it stays in the crate with the door open, then with the door closed. You go about your business in the house. Leave the dog alone for longer and longer intervals until you can leave without it making a fuss.

RIght now the dog is being dominant and teh behavior is saying I can do what I want because I am he boss. Obedience training is to train the dog that you are the Alpha leader and it is submissive to your desire.

Regards,
Henry Ruhwiedel
Westwind Kennels LLC