That's great to meet another person from Maryland on here! I also live in a townhome with no fence. There are dogs that live on either side of us and sit in the backyard and bark ALL DAY LONG. My little guy is pretty freaked out by other dogs and gets so stressed out in the backyard that I stopped taking him out there. I thought about getting a retractable leash for out front so I could throw a toy for him outside at night. My husband really doesn't want me walking him by myself after dark. Luckily it is staying light out longer now. I pretty much walk him around the block, which takes about 10 to 15 minutes. I should probably increase the area we walk so it's a bit longer. I got a book that gives ideas of 50 games to play with dogs. We've been doing fetch for a long time, but it didn't last long because he doesn't like to give up his toy
. But, the book helped me learn how to start teaching him to play fetch and I tried it last night and he really enjoyed it. So, I just need to start having more play times with him. I don't have any other dogs (he's all I can handle
), and he doesn't seem to like other dogs either.
One more question...do you crate your dogs while you are gone? How long do you leave them for per day?