When our lab was a pup he had seperation anxiety -- ate couches, chairs, pretty much anything else that couldn't run away. I gave him st. johns wort - it's an herb that is supposed to ease anxiety... didn't cure him, but more days than not I would find my house in tact. Thankfully he grew out of it by the time he was a year old or so. I have also read that crate training your dogs can help ease anxiety - gives them their own little dark cave, but I've never had room in my house for a crate big enough to hold any of my dogs.