It's obvious to me that Nino is your whole world and that you would never deliberately place him in a situation where you felt there was a chance he could come to harm. When I was young and first had my collie, Cody, I lived in a very small town and had him trained to down-stay perfectly. Sometimes I'd walk him with me to the dime store and have him down-stay outside and go in to get a candy bar. The whole front of the store was a big window so I could always see him. At the time, I perceived no danger and no one ever bothered him, but looking back it's scary to think what could have happened had something startled him and he ran out in the street or someone do him some harm before I could stop it. Of course I did come to realize and think of those possibilities, and stopped. I was young, trusting, and naive, and just wanted my boy to be with me all the time. Some might have concluded I didn't care enough about him because I placed him in a situation that could have been dangerous. Those people do not know my heart though. I would have been destroyed had anything happened to him. At the time, I simply did not perceive it to be a dangerous situation.

Suki was obviously very upset and alarmed by what happened and came here to pour out her heart and hope for some explanations and advice. I think it's wrong to pile scolding and judgment onto her when she already realizes the error in what she was doing, and VERY hurtful to suggest she doesn't care about her dog. We've all been judged and looked down on for our actions at some point, whether we were at fault or not, and know how bad that hurts. Please try to remember that before pointing fingers at someone obviously working to correct a mistake.