Does anyone have a problem with stray dogs?  

That is a good idea. I honestly haven't thought of that. I appreciate your advice and I will give that a try. Have a great evening!!

If you leave them food though, they most certainly will always come back.

That is true too. I don't want to be mean to the dogs but I hate to see them hungry too. It is really a predicament. I them some of them belong to my neighbors but my neighbors just let them roam the streets. I feel this way because as I drive through the neighborhood I can see these dogs a lot of times out with the neighborhood kids and their families.

You wouldn't be mean to the dogs. It is mean of the families not to keep their dogs inside a fence and outside from danger. They could get hit, let alone be hungry. : (

That is what worries me too. I'm afraid when we are leaving or coming in to our yard one might run out in front of us unexpectedly. I don't want them bothering my son or daughter either if they are outside doing something.

Dear Friend:

It would take a lot more than that for me to get upset. I try to take everyone's opinion into consideration. I try my best not to be ugly to anyone. I want to treat other people the way I want to be treated myself.

We are supposed to have a leash law here in Leighton where we live, but believe me, people don't abide by it. They also don't abide by noise laws such as going down the road and playing their radio so loud it makes your walls literally rattle (I thought we were having an earthquake one day!) even at night. My husband suggested going to a town meeting and expressing my feelings about it there. I'm seriously thinking of doing that. Maybe that would bring the problem to a resolution because I know other people have talked about it also.

If you can nip those things in the bud, I applaud you. I think if every place would just do that when things started to be a problem, a lot of the fussiness between neighbors and townspeople would dissipate. Because you can't help but feel burdened when agreements are broken such as the noise law and leash law.

I agree with you. There has got to be a peaceful solution to this problem. I appreciate all the responses from everyone. Hopefully I can get some peac about it soon.

You don't even have to chain the dogs around the neck. It bothers me greatly too when I see chained dogs. I can't tell if they are OK, or if the chain has dug into their neck...Oh, it bothers me. But now, if people would do this, you can put your dog in a walking harness. You know instead of having a leash attached to a collar around the dog's neck, you attach the leash to the harness fitted around the body of the dog. So if you chain the dog up, they have much more comfort, because it is a harness, not a neck collar.

Yes to all of the responses all of you have given me. I agree with everything. I certainly can't stand to see a dog chained up and not be able to move very far. To me that is cruel. AmbiePam said it is mean of the neighbors to let the dogs run around in the neighborhood and I certainly agree with that. Sometimes we come home and there are two or three in our yard.

I'll add something else to this discussion too, it isn't just the dogs, it is people too. They seem to think that because our driveway is on the corner lot that they can just take a short cut through. I have spoken and spoken with children about not doing this and I have even seen adults doing it. There were a few incidents where the children were agging Jake on and getting him more upset. When I saw them I hollered out the window and they stopped. I have filed police reports on these incidents too plus we have signs posted on our property saying beware of the dog. Jake is wonderful to my kids, my husband and me but he doesn't like strangers at all. I've told my husband that I'm afraid if they aggitate him enough he may take off running fast enough to jump over the fence and bite somebody. But we have done legally all that we can do. I'm just going to have to find out when the town hall meetings are and try to get to one and have a talk about it.