Well it sounds kind of unhygienic is all . <| sep |> George Takei voice OHHH MYYY ! <| sep |> Thank you everyone especially memreows and Snooso for your positive and constructive comments . I feel so encouraged after reading all of your replies . Doggy Day CareAgility classes there are some in my area , but they are incredibly expensive . Plus , Ozzy tends to lungebark at other dogs while we are on walks not in an aggressive way , just sheer excitement , and I am working hard to increase his self control , but it ' s still a work in progress . I don ' t know how he would react being around other dogs off leash . Dog parks there is one nearby , but I am not sure how well it is maintained . I will definitely check it out though . Safe Area with baby gates he is very athletic and can jump a baby gate . When I mop , I block him off from the room I am working on with my dining room chairs , and he does not try to jump or move those . I ' m not sure how safe it would be to block him in a room using chairs without any supervision . Crate training we can definitely work on that more , thank you for the tips ! Origins I am pretty sure he is a puppy mill dog , which is incredibly unfortunate . When we got him , the owners provided me with the packet of paperwork from Petsmart which I looked through the following day and he was bred in Loogootee Indiana . Which is pretty much Amish puppy mill central . But I could be wrong . Trainer very soon I am definitely going to schedule time with a trainer I am familiar with to deal with his bad habits , mainly the stranger shyness . Overhead line this is an AMAZING idea ! I ran it by my husband and he is gung ho for doing this . Before Ozzy escaped our yard , we started a routine that included runningplaying in the yard until he was worn out you know , laying down panting in the grass with his tongue out , eyes half closed . Happy tired dog . And that worked really well until he escaped . This seems like a great solution to the exercise problem . I will do my very best to utilize all of the advice you all have provided to make our situation work . Ultimately I just want the best for Ozzy . Rehoming him is a last resort solution , and I will only utilize it when all of my other options have been exhausted . Again , I so appreciate all of the advice and positive responses . I will post an update in a few weeks !