Our spaniel has a bit of a tendancy to chase after other dogs if he's not otherwise distracted.
I've found that you have to pay attention every second to what they're doing and what they're focused on. Then redirect their focus back to you when it looks like they may be getting focused on...
The hair has to come out at some point!
We found our spaniel shedded ridiculously until we started grooming it daily. We also use a stripping comb once a week to get rid of the dead hair which seems to help considerably.
I doubt you have anything to worry about legally as barking by dogs has to be chronic for it to be against the law - there are different levels for different cities that define this eg. some areas if a dog barks for a full 30 minutes then it's breaking the law etc. but it's usually much longer...
If you have a written agreement which says you have the right to buy outright after a specified period of time and it has passed that time then you are entitled to do so. If she refuses to do this then she's in breach of contract so you could (may be considered a little extreme but entirely...
I am currently looking for a horse to loan over the summer - May to the end of September. Not because I don't want any of the winter jobs, but because I'm at university the rest of the year and really don't have the time or money to keep a horse.
Think there are probably many students like me...