Yes the dog gets played with. We don't have her tied up bored all day. Like I said in previous posts, we have a 4 year old daughter and she is constantly running around and playing with the dog. Both of them waste their energy together... Expect when the dog randomly shits inside the house then that's when she gets time out and tied up by the back door. When we would leave and leave her in her crate, we left her toys inside with her but she never played with them. She doesn't like toys. She currently has 3 and she hates them. A squeaky monkey one, a ball, and a bone snapped chew toy. She has also gets bones to chew at least twice a week. Those keep her entertained but that still doesn't solve the pooping problem.