Dogs have been stolen from the Springs Area too although it seems to have reduced now. There used to be reports of some very sick people stealing puppies and small dogs and throwing them in the middle of Sheikh Zayed Road to see how long they would last.
If you are bringing your dogs over, I would recommend living in a villa. Also, not sure if you want to have someone else walk your dogs. I wouldn't do that simply because a lot of people do not know how to handle dogs that are not their own.
Get a nice house with a high wall, locked gate and only let them out when you're at home and you should be fine
About 7-8 years ago, my dog managed to open the door of our apartment, go down the elevator and out into the sandpit where he used to have his daily run. I remember being in a shopping mall when this happened and the security guard calling me to tell me that my dog had just walked out the building alone!

After driving at 160 and getting 2 speeding tickets on the way, we were lucky enough to find him but there were 2 cars circling around him ready to kidnap him after he'd done his business!