I hadn't heard about this, Jabber, but then I no longer have a dog.

However, I did a bit of research, and found this article supporting your story.

Too bad the world has come to this. I used to leave my dog out playing in our fenced in yard for as long as she wanted to be outside. I or the kids walked her on a leash morning and night, but often that wasn't enough exercise for our big Lab.

And when i was a kid, we didn't even have leash laws in our village. While we walked her several times a day, we
OFTEN just let her out into the yard when she asked to go, and waited for her to bark to come back in.

Ah, the simpler life!
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