Dogsitting NIGHTMARE (LONG)

FH and I agreed to 'dogsit' a family friend's pooch while they went on a 3 week vacation to see their daughter (my best friend) in San Diego. We figured that we'd sleep over there SOME days that were convenient and we'd let him out 3 times a day. Either FH or I go there in the morning before work, if FH is off work, he goes back around 2:30pm (if not, he goes around 5:30pm) and then we go again right before bed. Well, Saturday night, we left the house around 11:00pm to come home. When FH got there Sunday morning at 7:30am the dog had pretty much destroyed the kitchen but FH was late for work and didn't clean it (he also didn't tell me until noon yesterday and by the time I got there, it was worse than I could have ever imagined. He knocked over ALL but one of the plants on the windowsill and shredded them to bits. There was dirt and plants EVERYWHERE. Then he got into the magazine rack and shredded EVERY SINGLE magazine into 1 inch bits. He knocked over towels, pencil sharpener, craft materials, etc etc. He 'tinkled' a few places too. It took my mom and I (she came with me) about 2 hours to sweep and mop up everything. We filled TWO HUGE hefty bags with all the stuff he knocked over. This dog simply misses his owners and does not want to be left alone but FH and I both work (although FH is a fireman and doesn't work every day). We don't know what to do. My mom and I tried to 'dog proof' the house as best as we could. We spend the ENTIRE day with him yesterday and when I let him out this morning, the house was okay. I let the owners know and they feel badly but didn't offer any suggestions.

I know this is long but I just needed to vent.

I wish I had some advice, but this doggie misses his family. What did they do with this dog when they went away before? Did they board him somewhere? If you can contact them, ask them and if they did board him, ask them if you can take him down there and do it again, because the dog will destory their home, and obviously, the dog is stressed out beyond belief being left alone in the house.

Sorry.

Can you leave on the radio or TV when you're not there?

What kind of dog is it? Can you give it any kind of chew toys/bones?

I'm thinking of leaving on the radio or something at night when we're not staying there but this doggie is in a deep depression. I play with him and I talk to him and pet him and take him for walks, etc. He's known me his whole life (he's about 14 years old) but I'm not his mommy/daddy and that's who he wants. He's a mix of 2 or 3 dogs. He's part lab. He actually looks like a cow (same black and white markings) with some dark spots on his belly.

Spoke with FH a little while ago and he said we'e going to stay the night tonight.