Some dogs soil the home when the owner is gone, destroy things when you are not around, bark or howl, dig, or cause trouble for other members or pets in the family. This is “Owner Absent Misbehavior”.
What sets up this problem?
Well, you’ve become the Fun Police. When you are around, if your dog doesn’t do something you want, you punish your dog. Dog poops in the home? Punishment by you. Jumps on counters? Punished by you. Destroys something? Punished by you. Rude to the family? Punished by you. So, the dog learns not to do any of these things when you are around, but your dog doesn’t have the training to do what you want them to do and no inhibitions to not do these things when you are not around.
A lot of these dogs are the ones eventually banished in some way from the home. How many of you have had a neighbor that chains their dog outside every time they are gone, and in some cases the dog is always chained outdoors. Or it lives outdoors, with the justification that the dog is “protecting the home” (the valuable stuff is inside the home, this excuse is just camouflage for not having a trained dog). Or it lives in a crate 24/7 on the back porch, in the laundry room, or in the garage (how cruel). Or the dog is abandoned or given away to a shelter.
All of this is abusive. It is cruel. It is unfair and inhumane. You can’t train a dog by only teaching the dog what it shouldn’t be doing.
There are good training methods for all of these issues. If you have gotten a new pup, why not get professional assistance to help with the training? And if you have messed up, it is never too late to undo the mess your dog is now in.