My dog has always been at ease in his crate, sleeps well in it and night, and this remains so..

I work from home, so fortunate that he is not alone all day.  However, I DO have to wrk, therefore, there are times when I am not around him for say an hour or two.  Sometimes he will just lie there, and have a sleep.  Ohter times though, he will chew and even eat objects that NO ONE could account for, as they are not things that are left lying around, it might be the plastic handle from a door, something like that..

He's already been in for one op for chewing and eating an alien object, and while I can be vigilant about leaving stuff around, I cannot do a lot about this sort of thing, yet it could be fatal!  I tried applying mustard, and then chilli pepper to the areas that are effected, and he licked the "deterrent" clean off!

Would I be better, for his own sake, crating him WHENEVER I am not literally in that room with him, he is seven months, btw..  :)

I'd crate him for his own safety if he's a chewer. If he's a puppy he'll probably get better as he gets older.

My shar-pei is terrible and how she's not ended up in the vets in the past is beyond me. She's eaten - and I mean chewed up and swallowed - everything from a hand mirror, a compact disk, numerous ballpoint pens and 5 TV remote controls. I've often picked her poo up to find it's green because of bits of circuit board! I just have to keep stuff out of her way, but it's impossible to be 100% vigilant and sometimes I wonder how she finds stuff. She's no excuse as she started doing this out of the blue when she was about 5.

Yes, I'd definitely crate him.  Get the largest crate you can fit in your house - it can't be too big - your dog will be more comfortable the bigger it is.  Give him a stuffed kong before you go out so he has something he's allowed to chew in there.

Okay, well I will do this then.

Thanks for the advice.

Just wanted to make sure no one thought it 'cruel' before I leapt in!

Cheers,

Steve

>>Just wanted to make sure no one thought it 'cruel' before I leapt in!

Oh I am sure you will fine SOMEONE who thinks it's cruel.  I agree with the others though.  I think it an excellent idea.