To think that dogs shouldn't be in toilets?

@Porridgeislife I would 100% agree with you about off lead dogs running up to you. I hate seeing off lead dogs in public places, mine are always on lead and get very wound up when other dogs approaches us. There's no need for it, dogs can and should be kept on lead if they don't have 100% accurate recall.

However the incident the op describes is not that. A small dog stuck its snout under a toilet cubicle. I appreciate this could still be frightening for little children but it's not a safety issue or a hygiene issue. They cant get at you in a locked cubicle. And if it had been left outside alone your dc still would have had to pass it.

It was presumably a choice made in the absence of any other option rather than feckless dog owners letting their dogs off lead purely because they want to and don't care if they upset other people or other dogs.
I would encourage you to work on your dc fear of dogs, not because I'm entitled but because they are going to encounter them a lot in public (rightfully so, dog walkers have as much right as kids to be in parks etc) and perpetuating the fear won't do them any good long term.

It's a difficult situation - campsites allow dogs and encourage dog owners to visit, but being selective about where they can go on site does make life tricky for solo travellers.

The park was a gated area to
let dogs off. They could have set up outside of that on a nice table. They chose to come in and sit amongst the dog wee on the floor and eat sausages. Guessing they didn't see the sign.

Not condoning my dogs, they were wrong. As discussed they went to boot camp and their recall is now brilliant and we are 15 years in and 4 dogs later..I can't be sure but I assume said family chose to sit at a table next time.

Dogs are like marmite.

I do feel some sympathy towards you and you have learned from your mistake but in my park most of the areas are dog areas. You should be free to set up a picnic where you want it. My picnics contain things that could be lethal to a dog.

Can I just add as I was the poster who was young and inexperienced..

.the family had set their delicious picnic up in the dog walking part of the park. There were areas that said no dogs, dogs on leads and a part that was enclosed for dogs to free roam. They were in the free roam bit.

We were still mortified and I'm not excusing my dogs for their actions when they crashed the party but we weren't inexperienced enough to be in the wrong area.

Non dog owners can also be wrong too.

I’ve got a toddler who is still terrified of dogs. We don’t have one (although we’d like to) but I have to agree with my toddler that having two youngish black labs 3x your weight barrel straight at you has to be fairly terrifying, as happened recently in a children’s playground with a “dogs on leads please” sign.

We have done all the right things bar getting an actual dog to acclimatise her. It’s not an unusual fear for the age group. It’s also really bloody hard to teach her that dogs aren’t scary when people let their dogs offlead in places where she should feel safe (ie playgrounds).

So it would be really annoying to be trying to use a shower block where you definitely don’t expect a dog to be whilst my toddler frantically attempts to climb up my body. Even more so when said dog owner is ignoring a sign that doesn’t permit them to be in there.

The whole point of this thread was someone taking their dog where there was a 'no dogs' sign. 🫣

Yeah that’s not me though. I don’t hate dogs, I just don’t think they belong absolutely everywhere - there are some places that are and should be dog free - like the inside of toilets.

Anything human or non-human which poked its head under my cubicle door would get a poke from my walking stick. It's one of the few advantages of having to use one.

People only post about things that bother them, good or bad.

They don't come on and say "I took my children to the park, we saw three dogs on leads, no one fought over their turn on the slide then the bus home was on time"

But the one time I dog barrels their toddler over... they post.

So it looksike badly behaved dogs ate everywhere.

Unfortunately, its the minority that's noticeable.

I have a dog, and I am fed up with entitled dog owners too.
But I am not entitled for taking my dog somewhere that she is welcome.... and that seems to piss of people who think dogs are "everywhere" and being treated like babies (which I have never seen).

Meanwhile some of us are fed up with meeting entitled dog owners every time we go out.

I think I've missed that bit in the thread, or do you mean just in general?

Which you expressed several times.

But people complain that a well behaved dog in a dog friendly place is somehow in the wrong. All the time on MN. Some people just don't like seeing them in their line of vision.

The problem is, most people don't know if the dog is a well behaved until it's too late. And let's face it, if a dog ran through my picnic to eat my food, I wouldn't class that as a well behaved dog, no matter how "excitable" it is, or how young and inexperienced the owners are. This is the problem.

Even the nicest dog can turn for no reason - look at what happened to the dog walker semi-recently.

It's fine to own an animal. It's not ok to make excuses for bad behaviour, bringing the dog where it's not allowed and just generally allowing it to be a nuisance because it's off lead with 0 recall.

And well behaved/controlled dogs are no problem. But many on MN are offended at the sight of seeing them. Which is really sad.

Dog's are everywhere at the moment.

Most of them are poorly trained and have entitled owners who think it's ok for their dog with 0 recall to be off lead.

I was responding to someone who was fed up with dogs "being everywhere".

If a sign says "no dogs" That means your dog isn't allowed there. It's not "shielding", it's following instructions.

I am fed up of entitled dog haters thinking that they should be shielded from seeing a dog whenever they go out.

Yes. My valid point.

Most of us responsible dog owners know they are not babies.

So fed up of dogs being everywhere now.

They are animals not babies!

As a non dog-owner I'd happily be alongside a considerate dog owner like yourself. I'd rather keep away from those breaking rules and having no regard for others though.
All we ask is consideration.