So Spencer is usually a model citizen...usually. He was crate crate trained as a small pup and about a month ago we started leaving him in our living room when we went to work. Everything was fine at first. in the past week or so he's taken to finding new things to shred: our plant, the cord of a lamp, today it was the books on the bottom shelf.

He gets a 45 minute to an hour walk in the morning and either my boyfriend or I come home at lunch to give him another 40 min walk. It seems his destructo phase happens in the morning after leave for work.

i know he's only 6 months and this is pretty normal behavior but I would hate to have to crate him when we're not home. Do you guys have any suggestions?

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Unfortunately no, at 6 mo, he is in his teenage phrase, meaning crazy hormones will cause him to be extra rebellious, you may want to keep him in the crate and slowly increase his area, don't let him have free roam just yet. No pups can be fully potty trained until 9mo -1 yr. Keep up the good work!
i would definitely suggest leaving toys for him to chew on while gone as well as leaving the tv on. we do this for ein so he doesn't get too bored. lol. he just loves dog whisperer. i would also puppy proof your home before leaving him unattended. we close all the doors to the bedrooms and bathrooms just in case. this cuts down on his "adventures" significantly. ein recently started chewing the front door's wood frame so my hubby put a thin layer of hot sauce where he was chewing and he never chewed again. but i would really just stick to puppy proofing so there's really nothing for him to get into trouble with.
It's the teething stage.. So Spencer needs something to "gnaw" on. I usually freeze rubber chew toys, freeze a wet wash cloth. Keep your baby busy with safe chew toys. Make sure he doesn't swallow them tho.
Could you confine him to a small section of the house, like the kitchen, that you could puppy-proof more easily?

The chew toy suggestions are great. Sidney ahs really been enjoying his antlers. Also Busy Buddies are good.
http://www.busybuddytoys.com/View.aspx?page=dogs/products/toys/busy...

We have the Twist-n-treat
right now he's sectioned off to the living room and dining room. he has plenty of chew toys, but he bores of them quickly. the frozen towel toy only kept his interest for a month or so.

i have a kong for him but i feel like whatever i put in it should be low calorie. any suggestions as to what to put in there?

he's going back in his crate today since his safety is our primary concern.
Hi, I don't think a dog younger than 2 is likely to stay out of trouble when left alone. We put either the spray cheese(about a tablespoon) or peanut butter in the kongs. My two get very excited when we are ready to leave since they know the kongs are going to be filled. You can also put his kibble in there instead of his bowl. That will keep him busy for quite a while.
Some of it is their personalities too. Our older one never has damaged anything but the younger one definitly thinks that she can not get into things only when we are here! She is almost 3 and usually is good but still will occasionally find things to get into. You have to imagine what a 3 year old child would get into if left to their own devices for hours. Corgis are at least that smart even as puppies!
Green beans and yogurt would be pretty good. Or carrots and yogurt. I've been putting carrots and their kibble with pb or yogurt and freeze it. Of course, I adjust their food amount to compensate that which I put in the kong.

It's made crate time much easier.

Oh and be thankful the corgi isn't anything like a Weimaraner. Our Weim at 6 months destroyed a new pair of heels, a portable hard drive, a camera, a book, the carpet, chewed up the arm of the couch, and there was countless items of clothing that got destroyed during the night while we slept too! He actually got better now that he has Freya to play with...and so far they've been keeping each other out of trouble.
bitter apple spray?
When we had our 1st Corgi we went out for the morning, and on our return thought we had been burgled, as the whole of the front of the couch had been ripped off and was in pieces all over the lounge. We then realised he had destroyed it, and when we went to bed that night, he did the same thing to the arm chair!!
We spoke to the vet about it, who suggested that Basil could be sexually frustrated and we had him castrated, that solved the chewing problem altogether, tho hub says he would not chew if someone lopped his balls off after being naughty!
update: so friday we put him back in the crate when we were at work. his deddy came home at lunch to walk him and play with him a bit. when i came home at the end of my day he was chilling in his crate and didn't come out for 5 minutes after i opened to door. we are pretty lucky in that spencer never minded his crate. so i think he goes back in until he's 9 months then we'll give it another shot. though my gut tells me we will be keeping the crate around until he's at least 1.
Don't feel guilty about crating your dog. It is ok. It does look pitiful but it is the best thing for him. If you don't crate him, he could get into something that might hurt him- eating a plant etc. I agree this is the hard stage they get into everything, eat everything etc. I would suggest keeping things he can chew on so, he doesn't find something to chew on like ie - my corgi Holly loved to eat the elastic bands on my shoes. Also, chews are cheaper. There is nothing like seeing your favorite pair of shoes demolished into little pieces. Good bye Coach!! Not that you would ever pick your shoes over your dogs. :)
Best of luck!
I put a slice of apple cut in half stuffed inside the Kong.. I don't use peanut butter because apparently my baby has a long tongue... she cleans it up within minutes. As for the apples, it takes her about 30 mintues to get it out. At first, she couldn't get it out, she got bored of it, didn't touch the kong ever again. So I put a smaller slice of apple in first, so she can get it out. Then I went on to using bigger slices. Eventually, she learned how to get it out. Its a challenge for them.. Make sure the slices are pretty big, (to have nice tight fit inside the kong, you don't want it to fall out.) then cut in half so you have two small apple wedges.

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