I’ve joined the “why are there dogs everywhere” Club

I was in the cafe in John Lewis on Oxford Street: the couple next to me gave their massive Retriever a drink of water from a MUG, and he slobbered it all over the wooden floor which dried into a lovely stain. They then let him lick their plates clean!! I'm never going back, it was awful.

OP was happy to share the space though - it was the entitled dog owner who wasn't!

There was a spaniel in my local John Lewis perfume section last week. Looked stressed and panting. Why take them, it's ridiculous.

There are far worse things in the world than dogs, its not something i can get worked up about, just share the space

I agree that dogs should be left at home when their owner goes shopping. I have a spaniel and when he shakes his head slobber goes up the wall. You are not telling me that clothes etc in stores like Lewis's aren't getting soiled by dogs. Honestly, i get second hand embarrassment from dog owners treating their mutts like humans. It's quite sad.

I agree.

I was once told I couldn't enter a shop as I was holding a cup of take away coffee in case I spilt it.

I pointed out there were several dogs in the shop already. Which did they think was more a hygiene issue. Dogs pissing up clothes etc.

YANBU for this, of course. However, YABU to 'scoff' over people who don't want dogs in pubs and cafes. Perhaps this incident will open your eyes to the fact that a lot of us have to tolerate dogs where they aren't wanted. This woman's entitlement was merely a more extreme example of the entitlement of all too many dog owners.

I have more dogs than is sensible, and I don’t take my idiots anywhere that isn’t entirely appropriate. They don’t understand the concept of shopping, or eating in a restaurant or any of the human things I do so they stay at home with their beds and toys and enjoy the peace and quiet while I’m out.

My rats though - they’d bloody love a trip to JL! They’re the nosiest creatures and would adore judging you on what you’re buying. Alas, the day has not yet come when I can take my intellectual equals shopping but come the revolution 😄

Wow. That is awful.

@Glitterandmud Ah, sorry, I assumed you were talking about Windsor, not the one in Denmark. I have never been there!

I was at a train station the other day and this woman was holding her dog as if it was a toddler. She was talking to it like that too, explaining when the trains were coming etc. I had to look twice to make sure it was in fact a dog she was holding. It was bizarre to me. But then she was a fairly mature woman and I wondered if she might be lonely, the dog her only companion. Loneliness is a big thing these days. Society is so atomised. People have deeper relationships with their phone than with family members. In fact the phone is probably contributing to family breakups (Ltb, go NC etc)

I am sometimes lonely myself. I wish I was a dog or cat person.

Hope I have not derailed the thread because I agree with op.

My friends 7 year old DD gets hayfever like symptoms around dogs. She goes to a school where the headteacher brings her huge wolfhound to school each day and calls it a therapy dog.

https://servicecenter.legoland.dk/hc/en-us/articles/202176692-Can-I-bring-my-dog-to-LEGOLAND

They most certainly are allowed at Legoland. I am quite clear on what I saw and it was upsetting to see the state these dogs were in.

Another dog owner here. I love taking them to the pub for an hour or two after a long walk, but I completely agree that they don't belong in busy shops. It feels like a hangover of the lockdown puppy craze - dogs who spent their first couple of years with constant company, now unable to be left alone for any period of time so they get taken everywhere.

We had that recently when a new garden centre opened. No dogs, unless service dogs. Totally understandably (& yes I have dogs), some of the comments were ridiculous, bordering on hysterical.
Madness

So many dogs seem to have anxiety, depression, separation anxiety. All manner of psychological disorders.
Is it a problem with the socialisation of dogs nowadays, or projection from owners?

I have an elderly dog who comes pretty much everywhere with me. He's gone deaf in his old age and since losing his hearing, he's become very insecure without me and panics if I leave him home alone.

So he's with me 99% of the time – but he waits in the car while I go into shops, or snoozes under the table if I'm going to a cafe and can't leave him in the car.

The hard part is when it's hot weather – I worry that he'll overheat in the car, and I worry that people will be annoyed if he comes with me, but I can't leave him at home and I don't have anyone who can watch him at short notice and for short periods.

It's a bit of a bind – but I completely understand people not wanting him in shops and do everything I can to avoid taking him into places he shouldn't be.

And if he weren't so doddery and calm, it would be a whole different matter again. Fit, healthy energetic dogs who aren't 100% reliable in their behaviour... that I don't understand at all.

I’m horrified they are allowed into LEGOLAND/disneyland and cinemas…
They definitely are NOT allowed in Legoland or Disneyland. Those posters must have visited when there were a very large number of service dogs visiting...🤔

I love my dog and absolutely agree with cafes and eateries allowing dogs in, because a lot of them, especially at country parks and walks would be closed if they didn’t, but I don’t agree with other shops in general allowing them in.

I have a shop. I had a couple stand at the door with their dog and ask me if it was ok to bring it inside. I said what I always say when asked this is “yes, as long as they’re well behaved”. “Oh yes, very well behaved” they said. So in they come and within 10 seconds it had pissed on my carpet.

Twice this week I’ve witnessed dog ‘meltdowns’ a distressed dog panicking and overwhelmed- barking and tying itself in knots on the lead as it tried to get away from a situation. The slippy floors, people, sounds and smells in a shopping centre were just too much for them. The response of their owners was just ridiculous- completely mis reading the dog’s behaviour and making it worse.

We went to a local (outdoors) children attraction. We didn’t realise that dogs were allowed in. It was horrendous. Dogs and kids everywhere - my 3 year old really dislikes large dogs and it ruined the day.
When I saw an unmuzzled XL bully (to be fair they did later muzzle it) wander past, it finished me off and we left.

I have 4 dogs and absolutely hate dogs in clothes shops I tripped over a small brown dog while clothes shopping in anthropology on the weekend.

Basically as I was standing looking at a dress this dog kind of tangled it’s lead around me, so as I stepped back and tripped and stepped on the dog, the owner was chatting to her friend and glared at me.

Id Like to know if one of the dogs bites, wees or pops in the shops who is liable? I also dislike the fact the clothes I’m going to try on may have fluff on them, I have enough fluff at home.

We don’t get respite at all and it is exhausting. Nobody takes pet allergies seriously. They treat it like a bit of hayfever because it is more convenient and the cognitive dissonance around it is astounding. I’m allergic and so is DH - I get flu like symptoms, wheezy, head ache, feel generally unwell. DH gets very stuffy, watery eyes, itchy all over, fatigue. It’s miserable yet such is the cognitive dissonance of dog owners that his brother - who knows we had to stop staying in the usual family holiday accommodation which allows pets because DH had such a bad reaction despite apparent cleaning one year that it ruined the holiday - thought it appropriate to bring his new puppy to Christmas, ask if it could come over to our house, and insist he didn’t realise it would be a problem when we had to draw hard boundaries around it

I love dogs, have several myself but there is no way on this earth I would take the shopping.
Surely dog hair gets on the clothes?! If the labradors were anything like mine she’s only got to look at something and it gets covered in her wafts of fur, despite regular grooming and professional de-shedding.
I had no idea they were allowed in places like John Lewis, I feel sorry for allergy sufferers, they must get hardly any respite if they are allowed in clothes shops etc