Thanks Fran. I'm glad someone can get me back on track. I tend to have a warped sense of humor.
In all seriousness.... the simple, scientifically based fact is Vega, that the domestic dog has evolved over about 30,000 years, has been genetically altered, selectively bred to be in a synergistic relationship with man. They are hard wired for it. That relationship has developed into a situation where humans become the dog's "surrogate" leader. A dog's leader is his provider of his resources, food, shelter, leadership. A dog is a social animal and needs a social order to survive and thrive. Without this, he is helpless. There are varying degrees of social interaction but there is a minimum level, whereby a dog will not thrive well. They are extremely personable and companionable. They instinctively seek this out as a means to adhere to this order that they require. We started out needing them to help us hunt, alert us to predators and it became a companionship over eons and in fact, with selective breeding, these dogs came to be intensely in need of companionship from us.
So, in other words, keeping a dog locked away from his family (pack, if you want to call it that) for too much of his day, is unnatural and goes against what is meant to be, how he is designed.... with a human being and his dog. Of course, they can be alone for some of the time. But too many hours in a day and they get lonely, pure and simple. And this lonliness threatens their survival, as far as their wiring goes or their intinctual design. They can become very uneasy.
I leave my dogs for several hours occasionally and most people leave their dogs more. And they're fine. But upon returning to our dogs after a long day away, it feels like an eternity to them that we've been gone and they're thrilled to see us. I couldn't greet my dogs like that and then go inside and leave them in a garage while I was home and perfectly able to hang out with them by my computer, by my couch with me, while I put my groceries away. They would hate it if they couldn't help me put the groceries away. Good heavens! There might be a suprise in there for them! LOL.