I work into the evening and my back yard is too dark to use by the time I get home. We have a lot of city critters around here, the chance of a skunk or a raccoon being back there after dark is too high to chance it.

I always take her for a long walk as soon as i get through the door, and we usually do some obedience on the walk or play marker training games when we get back. However my dog really needs a little play session to settle down after a day of being home alone.

The parks around here aren't really safe after dark, so that is not an option.

Also,I live on the second floor so our play has to be really quiet.

Is there anything wrong with playing games that involve a little tug? My friend who is a trainer advised me against playing tug inside, but he didn't explain why.

Im not talking about drive building tug. What we do is I roll the holee roller across the floor, she retrieves it, we tug for a few seconds, out and repeat. She loves it and its quiet. Am I headed for trouble by doing this indoors?

Even the most chill games can end up being too noisy for the neighbors. She gets so psyched that even something simple like "find it" can induce horse like galloping!

Could you get some lighted toys and keep the game outside in the parking lot after dark?

We don't have a parking lot. I live in a three family house.

I do have a small back yard, just big enough for a game of fetch. But as I mentioned there are just too many nasty little nocturnal creatures around here. Even on a long line would be scared that she might try to go off and try to catch one of them. She has a talent for seeing things before I ever could, even in broad daylight. She's not far enough along in her training to resist such temptation!

This isn't the ideal big dog living situation, but I got stuck needing a new place in short time. When I got the pup we lived on the first floor and had a front yard, but the house was foreclosed on. My friend who lived here has a boxer happened to buy a house. Nice place that will take a large breed? Snatch!

Now I miss that front yard!

Is there a reason why playing inside is bad? I'm just curious.

Honestly?

I think the trainer's concern was that the dog will become more rambunctious in the house through association.

However, assuming that the dog is well integrated into the household and has good house manners and good OB, I don't forsee an issue.

Just make sure that you have enough room so that the dog doesn't accidentally throw itself sideways into the coffee table and bruise something, or plow headlong into the glass-fronted entertainment center.

I just wanted to add that all the toys live on top of the fridge, all games are started and ended by me, and they all have clear rules. I'm really on top of her in most ways.

I don't know if that makes any difference.

 Quote: Aaron Myracle

Honestly?

I think the trainer's concern was that the dog will become more rambunctious in the house through association.

However, assuming that the dog is well integrated into the household and has good house manners and good OB, I don't forsee an issue.

Just make sure that you have enough room so that the dog doesn't accidentally throw itself sideways into the coffee table and bruise something, or plow headlong into the glass-fronted entertainment center.

Cool. Thank you!

I thought that might be his reasoning, but I wasn't sure. He advises most of his customers against playing tug at all, but when I told him about the engagement work from the Michael Ellis dvds he was intrigued and gave me his blessing

No need to worry about the entertainment center. I'm a broke bachelorette. Nothing fancy up in this jam!

My personal experience. I play tug with my dog in the living room and let him romp around with other toys daily. He has to work for a toy, I end the game before he's completely done, he has to stay in the living room with it, and I don't let him run around the house. Other than his insatiable urge to play with the cats he's otherwise calm in the house. I even do drive building tug. But yeah, he does get amped up enough that I wouldn't be able to do this if I lived on a second floor.

If there is some other reason to it then I would like to know because I play with my dogs inside almost every day. And not the "fetch and little game" play either but the tugtugtug-out-tugtugtug-throw-tugtugtug energetic games (with the dachshunds mostly so the downstairs neighbours are not too mad). The only reason I see why it might be discouraged is because of slippery floors.