Playing fetch in the house

[Christy&Riley]

You know how athletes have more injuries on AstroTurf? I was wondering if dogs have similar problems on carpet. Riley loves to run around and chase toys but we've been hesitant lately because of the carpet. Had one scare with a possible cruciate tear so a bit gun shy now. I don't want her to get twisted in the carpet. Just curious if anyone had thoughts on playing in the house. Thanks!

[Pat and Traveler]

Trav and I play chase and fetch quite a bit in the house and I've never worried about his running on the carpet.  The hard kitchen floor is my worry, as he can slide and lose his footing there.  There isn't enough room for him to go too fast, but we can get in a fair amount of exercise with chase and fetch.  For a really great exercise, we do vacuum aerobics.

Trav has considered the vacuum his nemesis since he was a baby.  He barks, does amazingly agile leaps and high-air twists, feints and dashes, all the while keeping a keen eye on the machine, alert for signs of weakness or imminent attack.

I could have trained him not to do this; in fact, once the vacuum is turned on, he leaves it alone.  That time before actually getting to the housework delights both of us, and provides as much exercise for him as a good run in the park.  He can be sound asleep, twitching and dreaming, and if I whisper "vacuum" he leaps straight up, barking and running for the closet.  Then I chase him with the vacuum or retreat with it, which can be pretty amusing when he tries to run backwards in the kitchen. 

When my daughter and her dog were living with us, I forgot to warn her about Trav and the vacuum.  There was pandemonium there for a while, with Grendel joining in the festivities and her yelling at both of them, and I pretty much ended up doing all the vacuuming after that.    

[Christy&Riley]

Funny about the vacuum. I thought Riley was just a scaredy cat as she does the same thing. Similar response with a carpet rake and my husband with his coat over his head. :-)

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

LOL, "vacuum aerobics", I love it!