To expect some sign of concern

Galen - retired grey hounds evidently make wonderful house pets. One long walk in the morning (you can get a dog walker if necessary) and then they lie about, happily. Whippets are lovely dogs, and I'd go with whippet rescue, rather than a humungous greyhound.

cathybee I'm interested that your approach to unreasonable dog owners is the "scare them" by introducing more laws. My experience is that scaring people rarely improves behaviour. I'm also not sure what kind of law would "scare" irresponsible dog owners. I do believe that more resources should be put into closing down puppy farms, more dog wardens in popular dog walking places and so on. The most important thing is to educate the public about the reality of dog ownership. Too many people fall in love with a fluffy puppy, and are then surprised when it becomes a dog.

Some Dog owners are just very irresponsible. It relly annoys me and there should be more laws in place to scare unresonable dog owners into being better.

A Doctor friend of mine was chased in a Park by a dog and the owner just watched and did nothing!!

To confront this person would open up all sorts of negativity, if you are prepared for this and still wish to pursue all power to you. As you say there is a family living close by.

...look at Scruffy mutt cards section; 'park not vets'..

www.thelittledog.co.uk/little-dog-laughed/scruffy.../SM17.html
this probably won't work...

..just checked out JR whippet rescue and got meself all upset; need to go and give Hattie a cuddle [she'll think I'm mad; either that ot I'm taking her to the vets...]

There's a whippet rescue organisation. Honestly if you had one like mine she'd just sit and watch telly with you [they love the telly]. And they're incredibly clean; even when they whizz round the garden they don't get dirty and they never get wet cause they hate water. There was one advertised in the Co op when I went yesterday; 9 years old, has just lost her owner but needs a home without children or other pets [I did think of her being a companion for mine till I read the 'no other pets' bit].

Actually I'd love a whippet. I know you can get retired greyhounds, but can you get retired whippets?

Can anyone recommend any particular kind of rock. I only want a small one. I would give it a very good warm home.
It would live in luxury.

Get a whippet. If you could section off part of your garden she would run around in circles for a while a couple of times a day then come in and sleep. They even call them 'old mens dogs'; mine hasn't even had a walk today and she's still under her duvet [would be on the sofa if allowed and, even then she wouldn't move].

We had a yorkie and he had tremendous energy and loved lots of walks.
You could get one of those that sits in your handbag like the celebrities have. However I think your idea of a pet rock is best, no feeding or vet's bills.

I'd love a dog, but couldn't exercise one. Are there any small ones that can exercise themselves in the garden? Or should I get a pet rock instead?

I drive past one of those when I do the school run. From a distance they don't look very big but up close they're very big and powerful. I'm very taken with Viszlas these days but couldn't manage a big dog; also, with the weather being so awful recently I've been glad I have a dog that doesn't need much exercise.

Yes Tegan he's very handsome, but VERY strong willed and very strong muscled. He's a black and white German short haired pointer - a show-off at obedience class but out in the real world it's a different matter!

Pointers are beautiful aren't they? I bet one look from him and you forgive everything! What colour is he?

I agree with LizG andTegan about saying pleasantly that the wee dog's ok . She couldn't take offence at that and it might let her know that she should have apologised at the time.
We have failed so far to teach our 9 month old pointer reliable recall - he is so strong willed, so he's off to 'boot camp' for 3 weeks in March to see if the expert will have more success. He really needs a good run off lead but he's off after game given any freedom!

You could just say in a pleasant sort of way that the little dog is ok when you next speak to her. It might give her a chance to apologise in some way without causing an arguement.

Brother in law turned up again this morning and his little dog seems none the worse for his experience (I did worry about him all weekend as he is not a young dog - 11). My neighbour was away at the weekend and I haven't seen her since, I don't want to fall out with her as I have a good relationship with all my neighbours, so not sure whether to mention it next time I see her of not.

glamma- do your dogs get off lead exercise? I'm responsible with mine, but they are dogs that need a good run as well as on lead walks

We have never let any of our dogs off the lead in any local parks or on the beach where we live they have all been trained to do their "business" in the same place as much as possible and I would be mortified if they left any unwanted mess anywhere we always have bags with us just in case and deposit it at home.
I would cetrainly have words with your neighbour sunseeker and let her know your feeling I would also warn your neighbour with the children just to be aware of the two dogs one can never be too careful.

Another dog lover here, who shares the concern about what sees like an increasing dog population in the hands of people who know little about what dogs need. Stronger regulation of professional and hobby dog breeding seems necessary to me, along with a clear expectation that any puppy/rescue dog will attend training groups. I haven't yet worked out a master plan that would put this into practice though.

papaoscar have to agree that we have gone from dogs being habitually on the lead to being 'free and offlead' because there is an assumption that being on a lead is 'cruel' - I know I have been accused of this when I have my lurcher on a lead because we are around livestock (particularly sheep) or in the vicinity of my neighbours' cats.
also training a dog to walk nicely on the lead as well as off it - requires persistence and effort and too many dog-owners are either too busy or lazy to train their dog to be under control.
it is not to do with whether a dog is rescue or not - it is the responsibility of the owner.
I do let my lurcher off-lead in empty fields, early in the morning or when we are not likely to see any other dogs (unless they are regular local dogs he knows) and I ALWAYS have the lead with me to hold him if we meet strangers with or without dogs.

Aaah the dog owner who carefully bagged his/her dog's poop and placed it in my empty recycling bin. A very deep wheely bin. That was fun. Such lovely people.

We inherited ours when he was 4 so he was somewhat set in his ways regarding cats, and we could never stop him trying to take on much larger male dogs, although funnily enough he was fine with male dogs his own size, and loved the females. I think he had spent some weeks with a lot of other dogs before we got him so had had to 'stick up for himself'. Always lovely with DC although I know you can never completely trust any dog however sweet or small.
He used to chase cats out of the garden, and they would sit on the fence and taunt him.

Ours went through a teenage stage when he would take on quite a few but not all male dogs (if a male dog attacks a female dog then there is something radically wrong with the dog) now that he has matured and we have somehow trained him out of that phase he is totally laid back and almost all dogs he meets now he greets with enthusiasm or totally ignores them.

We have had dogs for years, big ones and small ones and never had any trouble, thank goodness. However, we have noticed that nowadays there seem to be more dogs about and that control of them can sometimes be very lax, even non-existent. Big or aggressive dogs can be found in the custody of children, older people or others who simply cannot or will not control them, and nasty incidents can easily arise. These are always avoidable if people will only take proper charge of their dogs and keep them on the lead in public places. If only...