by Ian Dunbar

CD105   $10.00  (60 minutes)

If puppies and dogs are not housetrained and chewtoy-trained during the first couple of weeks at home, then they will likely be confined to a single room or ostracized to the backyard, where they will develop additional forms of occupational therapy to pass the time of day when left at home alone. The dog will learn to eliminate indiscriminately and chew anything and everything. Also, the dog will take up digging or barking as newfound hobbies. Soon, the neighbors will likely complain about the dog’s barking and so the dog is further confined to the basement or garage — which he destroys. The poor dog is no longer a companion, but instead an uneducated animal (with many behavior problems) confined to a basement. But not for long. Soon the dog will be surrendered to a shelter and confined to a smaller cage.

Maybe out of sheer boredom in solitary confinement, some dogs may escape to explore the world beyond his backyard. Free-roaming dogs have decreased life expectancies. Should free-roaming dogs survive the perils of unsupervised street-access, they are generally caught by animal control and make a premature shelter visit.
Something is wrong with this picture. New puppies and dogs require management, supervision and education. They need to be taught household rules, so that they do not upset their human hosts. But above all, they need to be taught how to appropriately amuse themselves and enjoy their time when left at home alone.