Letter: Stay-at-home dogs

Sir: I am surprised Roy Hattersley says that his dog Buster doesn't respond to words in foreign languages (Comment, 4 August). I have spoken to my dogs in bad French and worse German (when trying to lean these languages) and, providing the tone of voice was right, their response was always magnificent!

However, I entirely agree with Buster about the undesirability of some foreign holidays for pets.

Pet passports are going to be wonderful for expats returning to live in this country, or for people driving to the foreign countryside for a really "dog-walking" kind of holiday. But I have a horrid premonition that some pretentious, thoughtless exhibitionists will think it smart to take their dog to the Costa del Sol, almost as a "holiday accessory", with no thought for the dog's reaction to a possibly terrifying flight and an unsuitable destination.

JOAN HAGGARD

Harpenden, Hertfordshire