on the brighter side (literally!) the other evening I was walking home from the grocery and a man was walking his dog (little fluffy white one - toy poodle, perhaps) and the dog's collar had a light on it. Very small, very bright - with it getting dark so early, it struck me as a really good idea.

There's a dog asleep on my feet right now AIFG.

Isn't it a little weird, at least in the for-profit sector, to send a conference call invite without a toll free number? This one has a local number and an online audio link. But most people can't use their computer's speakers and mike, because they're cube rats, like me. I'm home, so no biggie, but if I were at work, I'd be a little frowny at spending my company's money for another company's call.

My dogs are rarely left alone for more than four hours at a stretch--and only rarely. Cody the Chihuahua still pees on stuff in the house. Chis are notoriously difficult to house train so he gets crated. And Lola will chew and eat anything that doesn't eat her first, so she gets crated.

I don't scold the dogs unless I catch them in the act. Really, there's no point. The failing is mine, not theirs. I just buy extra Nature's Miracle.

And look how well that works.

It's got to really depend on the dog, doesn't it? Some just want to nap all day and others get bored and want to Do Stuff.

Horrific giant insect loves carrots.

There's no use yelling at a dog for excreting after the fact. Especially if you weren't there to let/take the dog out.

Arthur's pretty good. He's only messed if we've been away for a REALLY long day, and that's only happened once or twice, and it was like, we were gone, we let him out before we left, things ran late, it's poop. Whatev.

And since I'm freelancing, he gets let out when Dan wakes up at 5 am, when I wake up at 8-ish, and bunches of other times.

ETA: Oh! Barb linked to that beagle vid yesterday on FB. I cried and cried.

Tom, I think your link's broke.

Horrific giant insect loves carrots.

Damn. I'm not sure if that's the coolest insect ever, or if it will give me nightmares.

Possibly both.

a coworker who believes that crate-training for more that a few hours a day is cruel and no life for a dog

Depends on the dog, really. Absolutes don't really apply.

I will say that puppies can be difficult: I've only ever adopted adult dogs. My sister is spending a lot of money right now paying for a dog-walker to handle the puppy during the work day. Six-month-old golden retriever pups need a lot of exercise, yo.

So Sue, if you really want a dog, consider a rescue. They're often housebroken adult dogs whose owners just couldn't keep them for some reason. I saw a pair of lovely GSDs at an adoption day once who were clearly well-cared-for, but their owner was a meth dealer and had gone to prison.