American dogs are some of the most cherished and indulged creatures in the world. Doting owners spend billions of dollars on treats, toys and other "stuff," but what dogs really need is something that money can't buy.

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Many dogs need more one-on-one play time with the people they love.

Many dogs simply don't have enough going on in their lives. The problem isn't the long hours home alone when their people are at work or school. Most of us can't quit our jobs to play with dogs all day, and adult dogs generally sleep 12 to 16 hours a day anyway.

Lucky dogs get daily walks, which is good for them and the people who walk them. Some go to training classes, which should be enjoyable for dog and owner. Some dogs enjoy weekly romps at dog parks.

Not everyone has time to engage in those kinds of activities, but perhaps we could set aside 15 minutes a day just to play with our dogs. Everyone's busy, but to paraphrase from the Flylady house cleaning and motivational Web site (www.flylady.net), we can do anything for 15 minutes.

Fifteen minutes can be a life-altering experience for a dog that is generally getting zero minutes of playtime with people.

What kind of play? The best things would be tug-of-war or "fetch."

Playing with dogs will make them easier to train, according to some professional trainers. Though most of us are not gifted trainers, play sessions couldn't possibly hurt. A dog with a daily play session will be a happier dog and happier dogs generally behave better. A lot of "bad" behavior, including chewing and jumping up on people, can be attributed to the fact that the dog is bored.

I'm not making this up. I'm borrowing it from books, articles and e-mails from people who know a whole lot more about dogs and dog training than I'll ever know. I actually started down this road while reading review copies of murder mystery novels written by Lee Charles Kelley.

His main character is a former New York City detective who moved to Maine to train dogs and run a boarding kennel. Mr. Kelley, a professional dog trainer in real life, sprinkles dog training tips throughout the books, including how to stop destructive chewing, jumping and pulling on the leash.

You can read about the books in the Dec. 15, 2005, Pet Tales column. Mr. Kelley's fifth book, "Dogged Pursuit," was released this month.

Mr. Kelley and his fictional dog trainer character play fetch, tug-of-war and a game in which the dog owner runs and lets the dog chase him. Yes, I know, in recent years the experts have been saying that "chase me" and tug of war are bad, because those activities encourage aggressive behavior. A new school of thought says all of this is natural behavior for a dog, and natural is good.

Mr. Kelley credits these training ideas to a book published in 1992 called "Natural Dog Training" by Kevin Behan. If you want to know more about the theory, check out the following Web sites: www.leecharleskelly.com or www.naturaldogtraining.com, which is Mr. Behan's Web site.

By the way, "natural" dog trainers say the dog needs to win the tug of war game at least some of the time.

If you've got a dog that is aggressive toward people and/or other dogs, you need to consult a professional dog trainer. If you know people with well-behaved, well-trained dogs, ask them where they took their dogs or ask your veterinarian for a recommendation.

Many dogs are natural retrievers. It would be natural for them to chase a ball or toy, but they may be less than eager to drop the toy or give it to you. Don't fight them on this and don't try to take it out of their mouths, because the dog may inadvertently bite you while trying to take the toy back.

Dogs generally figure out that the "fetch" game won't continue until they drop the toy so that you can throw it again.

This may sound dumb, but I've found that if you throw a second ball or toy, many dogs will drop the first one in order to go after the second one.

The fetch game is just for fun. The kind of retrieving you see at an obedience trial -- where the dog trots in a straight line to bring a dumbbell directly back to the handler -- is a whole other ball game.