Silliest place you’ve seen a dog owner take their dog

Breast screening - well the Portakabin thing they had in the car park, to be fair she asked and the nurse said no and it was taken out by her friend.

Exactly - dogs cannot be wherever humans can be. Again Gustavo77 said there was no such thing as a silly place for dogs to be. I am giving examples of where you can't just turn up with your dog and expect it to be treated as if it was human.

Indeed - animals who have gone through various checks and rigorous training to ensure they behave in a appropriate manner.

I was referring to Gustavo77 who has said there is no silly place for dogs to be i.e. they can be wherever humans are. I do not think this is the case.

The dogs going into nursing homes and hospitals tend to be Pet as Therapy dogs.

Dogs can't be on train seats whether or not there are people standing. It's a condition of carriage that they are on the floor, either in a pet carrier or on a lead.

Family has always been found. This has always been true regardless of context
Very rarely throughout history have people lived solely with nuclear immediate genetic family

Within science we know this. Is why there was a push to seperate id twins via adoption for studies. Because we know that often social family has just as big an out come as genetics.

I'm dual trained as a family therapist and within our family trees (geonagrams) there's a symbol for pets!

I remember seeing a documentary about John Lewis. Some woman had a dog with her and walked blithely away from the turd he left behind. Guess it was someone else's job to pick it up....

Fair enough. I am a scientist and am being literal about the definition of family.
It only impacts my life if someone treats their dog as a human and think they're entitled to be where humans are e.g. strolling into a nursing home or hospital, sitting on the train seat when people are standing.

I did not include cafes in my list (if allowed). I did not mention weddings. I mentioned funerals (but not assumed). I think we are in agreement.

For many dogs are family, some even preferred to human relatives. They’re loyal, loving, and always there when we need them.

Why is it silly to see dogs in cafés, weddings, or funerals? If they’re allowed, they’re welcome, and plenty of people are glad to see them. Letting a dog say goodbye to their owner at their funeral or walk down the aisle is the owner’s choice.

Marathons and no-dog beaches? Fair enough. But a calm pup under the café table? They’re just minding their own business and those with separation anxiety, thankful they’re not left home alone.

I understand that you love your dog dearly, but technically they are not part of your actual human family

For some people, their dog is all the family they have. You have no right to dictate to someone else who or what they see as family. It has no affect on your life whatsoever.

I'm thinking of the london marathon which (if you want to get a good view) you need to be in place a long time before it starts and involves a lot of standing around. There are barriers so the dog is unlikely to be able to see and it's very crowded. I can't see a dog enjoying that and can see it bothering other people.

I understand that you love your dog dearly, but technically they are not part of your actual human family.

Completely agree that dogs shouldn’t be on the no-dog beach, and the toddler bit of the park if that’s the local bylaw.

But why not at the marathon?

Funerals/weddings, invitation only.

My dog is definitely part of my family and I’ll be bereft when he leaves us.

I've had dogs and children and dogs are infinitely cleaner than children!

Kids today are even worse, mums stuck on phones whilst the children run amok in shops, picking their noses and touching everything.

Give me a well behaved dog on a lead in a shop any day.

Shops my dogs sometimes go in are
Hobbycraft
Dunelm
B&Q
TK Maxx
Wickes

Nah -
dentist
graduation
standing at the barriers for hours watching the London Marathon
the funeral of someone (might be welcome, but should not be assumed)
the toddler area of a play park
the no-dog beach

The above are all silly places to take a dog. Dogs are not people and are not included in when people refer to their family.

What a miserable bunch so many of you are.

To answer the question, there's no such thing as a silly place to take a dog, they're as much a part of the family as anyone else.

Stayed in a hotel on New Years Eve - the couple in the room next to us left a huge young dog in their room and went out partying. Dog destroyed the door trying to get out and howled till they came rolling back in around dawn. Madness.

Before my dog was neutered he never bloody stopped having impure thoughts about my leg.

I did that and he did. 50 years ago in January. There have been a few dogs since then

Well perhaps you don't have a particularly high standard of hygiene.

Wouldn't bother me seeing a dog in M&S.
Disgusting is totally over the top.

@ OuchyEars That’s an interesting point. By law they should allow Assistance Dogs in. However, ‘emotional support’ dogs are something completely different. In my opinion, those (and any other animals) should only be allowed in at the owner’s discretion. Not sure where that leaves larger establishments though…

This is quite a few years ago and dog is sadly no longer alive but my sister had a Great Dane called Percy and she lived next door to her dentist who was absolutely besotted with Percy.

My sister was nervous about dental check ups and her dentist suggested that she could bring her husband or someone for support to hold her hand etc and then he laughed and said why not bring Percy!

She did and he was a big bit with staff and in the waiting room with other anxious people being distracted by letting Percy.

Percy was such a success that the dentist would ask my sister to drop him off when there was going to be someone, usually a child with a known dental phobia and Percy would be a charming and calm influence.

My sister also took him to visit the school quite often when her children started school.

They ran a story in the local newspaper at the time because he was so popular.

Maybe someone on here might remember him as a child.

Health and safety probably wouldn't allow this in dental surgeries now, which is a shame.

I assume it's a bit like when people take kids to somewhere not kid friendly even when there is a second parent. Kids are equally a nightmare in b&q and are just as unsafe

Its a matter of need / convenience

No one really wakes up thinking yeah my toddler really wants to visit b&q, costa, and a shop full of small trinkets and an adult clothes shop.

It just happens that you are with them and it meets a need.

Shops/ cafes know you could go home and drop your dog home, you could leave a child with the other parent at home but if you are out they want you to pop in, otherewise there's a good chance you'll go home, not impulse buy or just go on amazon

My dog is a rescue with separation anxiety so we take her with us wherever we can. She is small and well behaved, brings pleasure to people and then isn’t distressed.