Chewing

Hi,

Help! My year old male Petey is gated in the kitchen during the week while I'm at work, and it seems he has taken to chewing on one corner of the wall and baseboard(the side near his bed). I'm worried that this is the start of a problem. Could the cabinets be next? I read in the Forum that chewing is related to boredom. I really thought I was giving him enough exercise(as well as tons of affection and attention), as he doesn't have any other destructive behaviors(excessive barking, chewing etc.)that would indicate otherwise. Quite honestly, he's such a great dog otherwise. He seems very happy, is highly social, and has been through several sessions of Obedience school. He does have a bit more than his fair share of aggression going on(mainly in the form of "guarding" his territory w/respect to other dogs at the dog park, but he's not out of control). And from everything I've read, he's right where he's supposed to be, and we're working through the aggression with slow but steady progress. I thought I was doing everything I'm supposed to do.

He's not left alone all day. My mom comes over midday and spends 2 hours with him(playing indoors). So in total, he's left in the kitchen about 3 hours in the morning, and about 3 hours in the afternoon. The time "alone" is when the chewing occurs. He goes to the dog park every evening for at least an hour of playtime, and even longer on the weekends.

Could the solution be that I need to start setting aside a half hour or hour or so in the morning for some exercise before I leave for work? Do you think this will help? Does it have to be outside(we do have an empty baseball field nearby) or can we just toss the ball around in the house?

Thanks!