A golden retriever owner has left internet viewers in stitches after proving that her dog certainly isn't ready to have free rein of the house while she's out, but she found out the hard way.

Dog owner Casey Strickland started crate training her golden retriever Gumbo when he was just 8 weeks old, but now at 2 years old, she thought he was finally mature enough to forget the crate and be let loose while she was out.

Unfortunately, Strickland from Warren, Pennsylvania, told Newsweek that it was clearly a mistake, and she overestimated Gumbo's good behavior. While his owner was at work, the golden retriever decided to shred his own dog bed, causing utter carnage as there was fluff and mess everywhere.

"He'd been making good decisions, so I figured I would let him have free roam while I was at work. I came back on my lunch break, and he decided the bed he used and loved for six months was the enemy all of a sudden and had to be destroyed," Strickland said.

"I was in absolute shock when I saw the mayhem he'd caused. I knew I was in trouble when there was a stream of stuffing starting from the back door, going through to the living room. Gumbo was no help cleaning it up either because he kept eating pieces of the bed while I was doing the heavy lifting."

While Strickland said that Gumbo has always been a wild card and continues to misbehave, her other golden retriever, Chowder, is much less mischievous. As she never had to crate-train Chowder, 4, she thought that maybe Gumbo would follow his lead and refrain from chaos; evidently, he prefers to make his own rules.

If only his dog bed was the first piece of furniture that had fallen victim to his devious behavior, but that was only the latest item on an ever-growing list.

Strickland said: "He previously destroyed a sectional couch, an armchair, the legs of four dining-room chairs, two rugs, the couch in our sunroom, numerous houseplants, and dish towels. He also learned how to move the metal baby gate so he could get upstairs; that was a fun discovery."

On some occasions, Strickland will take her pups to work, so they are not left unattended all day. However, Gumbo hasn't quite grasped workplace etiquette just yet, as he will occasionally end up in doggy jail when Strickland senses that "the beast within is rising."

After cleaning up the latest of Gumbo's messes, Strickland shared a video on TikTok (@chowderandgumbo) showing the aftermath of what used to be his dog bed. The clip left internet users in hysterics and, in just a matter of days, the post has gained over 1.9 million views and more than 216,000 likes.

Since the clip went viral, Strickland has loved connecting with fellow dog owners who have shared their own tales of what their pets have eaten. But, just like Strickland, they all love their pets unequivocally and wouldn't change them for the world.

"Raising a puppy is not for the faint of heart, but hearing commenters share similar stories brings levity to the situation and has made me realize that dogs will be dogs. You just have to love them anyway," Strickland told Newsweek.

Although his owner wasn't too pleased with him, Gumbo's antics have delighted internet users and led to more than 1,500 comments on the viral TikTok video. One reads that "they always get you right when you least expect it."

Another dog owner posted: "I graduated mine. He doesn't tear things up but he counter surfs and steals fruit."

However, not everyone thinks it's Gumbo's fault, as one TikTok user wrote: "someone must have broke in, he's innocent."

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