Buddy Proofing Folly

Buddy is a sweet lab mix you mostly just wants to snuggle or play with his friends. He's very comfortable in his home but when he stays with me (or anywhere) he has some pretty serious separation anxiety. I tried a number of things with him, including leaving him in the house, in his room, with a friend, without, with toys and food, without. Nothing worked. I almost always came home to a river of pee, the closet door opened and stuff pulled out and eaten. He could open drawers, even the refrigerator. This led to an eventful and lengthy process of attempting to "Buddy Proof" the dog room. I moved the dog food into the closet that locked, got a tension mounted curtain rod to keep the other closet door from moving, spun the refrigerator around. He still managed to open the drawers and pull kibble out of there. I was really worried that he was going to hurt himself getting into things or eat something that would make him sick. Every time I came home, I would find a new challenge and fix it. After months of trial and error, I finally found a method that works. Everything food related is barricaded in the closet and Buddy gets a frozen Kong when I leave. When I come home now, his room is clean and his face is smiling. And if it's Buddy proof, it's dog proof.