Shop allows dogs in and my item is ruined

If you teach your child to do a low, slow hiss at a dog that will warn the dog to stay away. Unfortunately a scream ( natural from a child) often excites a dog , it’s a “ hey there’s something going on, fun chase , run, run” signal to them.
Also teach them to walk past, no eye contact, just the low hiss.
To dogs low tones, a deeper voice means you’re in charge, you mean business. High pitched, any shrieky sound means let’s all get really hyper.

Something about this post tells me it’s not even true. Totally fabricated to bash dogs. Weird!!!

I am with you OP, dogs do not belong inside shops or cafes. They are not humans they do not need to be in there.

Of course you have…..

Had a freshly bought croissant snaffled out of my bag whilst I was paying for my shopping awhile ago. Id put my carrier bag down whilst I was paying for something and before I knew it, this large dog on extendable lead had its bloody head in there. So cross, once upon a time dogs were left outside shops.

Absolutely not true. At least not where I live. Cafes are starting to allow dogs due to it increasing the footfall through their doors. Most dog owners are out and about on walks on the weekends, and so often utilise the cafes during their walks. Whereby families increasingly stay indoors, as they can’t prise their children away from their devices long enough to get them outdoors. This was clearly portrayed during the last couple of snowy weekends at our local park (with dog friendly cafe). There’s a slope which I remember back in the day would be hugely populated by families taking their kids sledging. When we were there, there were just a couple of families there on their sledges. So sad to see.

I think I would have insisted on speaking to the Manager and asked for the item to be exchanged, which I think would have been reasonable.

I'd have asked for an exchange.

Sigh*

Clearly they are suffering because several of us have literally seen them close down.
Being busy does not necessarily equal being profitable if the head count includes non humans and the spend per head is low.

I hate the "but what about if it was a guide dog???" brigade. Many people have pointed out how well trained guide dogs age already, but even if they weren't, it's just completely different.

If from time to time it so happens that a guide dog pisses on someone's shopping, then I think that's a reasonable thing to accept in return for the fact that the guide dog is enabling a disabled person to leave the house and have some independence.

On the other hand, I don't think anyone should have to accept their shopping being pissed on just because some idiot thinks it's cute to drag an animal round places they have no interest in being, usually because they can't be bothered/don't want to deal with their dog's separation anxiety.

Irrelevant anyway since a trained guide dog really isn't going to piss on someone's shopping, but whatever.

But yes Op please stand up for yourself next time. It’s understandable if you weren’t able to in the moment but It’s not too late to write a strongly worded email to the head office of the store or wherever you send complaints.

It can be hard to react in the right way when put on the spot with this kind of terrible behaviour, often we react automatically by being meek & placating the aggressor!
Yes it would have been better had OP stood her ground but not everyone has the knack! (we could all do with learning it I agree).

Clearly businesses are not suffering because you decide to stay away. All the dog friendly cafes round here are always very busy, so wouldn’t be bothered about losing your custom. And, let’s be honest, there’s a lot of cafes around, (half empty may I add) which don’t allow dogs, so there’s enough to keep us all happy…or do you want every single cafe in your vicinity to not allow dogs, whether you choose to use them or not?

Yes, I know they’ll cater for the majority. Not arguing that.
The point of my post was to remind people who think nobody will be irritated by their dogs that some of us quite literally will be irritated! Dog allergies are no joke. And following on from that point, that a dog doesn’t have to be poorly behaved to cause issues…

Also, apparently roughly 8% of people are allergic to dogs (to a greater or lesser degree). Add in friends and family who accompany them and it’s not tiny numbers we’re talking about.

I don’t have kids, but I find it gross and weird how many people rush to compare the idea of banning little/younger humans ie. Kids, from indoor spaces as if it’s the same as banning animals 🤦🏽‍♀️ it happens on every thread about dogs being a nuisance.

You're unreasonable for not standing up for yourself. Yes that's disgusting but if you meekly accept it, that's on you.

You are barking up the wrong tree on mumsnet OP

I knew it! 😏

But this applies to everything in life sadly. Although I sympathize, people with allergies isn’t necessarily a reason to stop people taking their dogs to places. Or for places to stop serving certain foods etc etc.
My husband has a terminal neurological disease and increasingly can’t tolerate noise. We had to leave a cafe recently due to some appallingly behaved children screaming and running into him. There were asked to leave by the staff eventually. But people like my hubby aren’t a reason to ban kids and noise from cafes.

I personally hate dogs in indoor spaces especially when I’m eating but I also said upthread :

We need clear signs on every shop and restaurant so everyone knows where is dog free and where is dog friendly. I feel that would be fair for everyone.

Another issue which I’ve also said is it’s increasingly rare in some areas to find places which consider those of us who don’t want dogs around. Every coffee shop /cafe except costa in my town is dog friendly and I’m hearing that Costa now accepts dogs so I’m not even sure if there’s that.

But businesses will cater for the majority. In some holiday destinations, like The Lakes, the majority of a cafes customers may own a dog, versus a tiny percentage who are allergic to them. They obviously can’t refuse to allow dogs in, just on the off chance they might have a family who are allergic to dogs visit their cafe.

The market forces decide whether they exist or not.

And as we have outlined many dog friendly cafes don't survive and we have given our thoughts as to why that might be.
Maybe the owners are crap at running a business eg giving too much free food to the dogs, or maybe the dog owners sit for hours with one cup of tea. Who knows. We are just saying we won't be spending our money there.

Yes, your item was spoiled due to the shop policy of allowing dogs, so I'd have insisted on a fresh item!

And I'm a dog lover & owner.

I’m going to Hitchin tomorrow, what’s the shop?