AIBU to question non-assistance dogs being allowed in Primark?

I used to get really annoyed that my local library used to allow a woman to bring a non assistance dog in. It was a virtually open plan building and she used to stand at the library desk chatting to the assistants for ages while the blooming dog stood there barking.
That dedicated library building has now closed and the library facility has now moved to the ground floor of the local council office building, much against the wishes of the local community, including myself. But. They now have a big sign on the door saying No Dogs, apart from assistance dogs. Which i'm extremely pleased about. I don't know if someone complained or there was an incident or the library staff now have to comply with council rules or whatever but I'm very pleased.

I like dogs. But I like dogs in appropriate places . And libraries, shops, shopping centres, supermarkets, restaurants etc are not appropriate places. I'm not keen on them in cafes either.

Who wants dog hair all over clothes in shops?

We are taking ours to choose her own Jellycat at Selfridges in a couple of weeks 🤷‍♀️

We go to London regularly and dogs are allowed (and are taken) everywhere. Including very expensive restaurants, with tables VERY close together (so the people at the next table are dining with the dog as much as its actual owners are). After this weekend, where it has reached levels I have never seen before, I’ve adopted a ‘if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em’ mentality and I’m bringing ours with us next time.

I have a well trained Labrador and many people take to him but I am always mindful that not everyone likes dogs. I am grateful that some pubs are dog friendly but don't expect it, some like Wetherspoons bar them as is their right but I cannot get round this craze for letting dogs into shops

Drives me nuts - some daft woman was dragging a small dog round Brandy Melville in Covent Garden a few weeks back. It nearly got stomped on by the thousand teenagers that cram in there. There are places for dogs, but the world's busiest shop is not one of them (see also all restaurants).

I'm so fed up of the new fad of dogs being everywhere.

I don't like dogs, and I don't like dogs in shops from that perspective, but in terms of the slobber and yuck...they're kinda like hairy toddlers. Toddlers get their manky hands on things, sneeze on things, slobber on things. I think you have to approach shops with the view that nothing is really 'clean' if it's in that lower zone! I suppose the problem is more double trouble now if you have children and animals making a mess.

I don’t disagree with you, but I don’t think children find it fun either! Traipsing around John Lewis screaming and the constant supply of snacks to keep them amused whilst their sticky little fingers explore their surroundings.

Children have annoyed me way more than dogs, I don’t want to have to interact with your kid on an evening out and I don’t want it touching me either, throwing food around or standing on the seats. Went out for Sunday lunch a few weeks ago, came out of the toilet cubicle to find a child vomiting on the floor. I can go to dog free establishments, we don’t have any child free establishments though.

Just no basic respect anymore, it’s a bloody free for all.

I've just left a cafe where a labrador was on his hind legs, paws on the counter where milk, sugar and cup lids are kept. Mind boggles.

We were recently away for the weekend & I popped into Joules, leaving DH outside with our 2 hairy golden retrievers. They were enjoying the sunshine when the shop assistant actually invited them in to the shop! I was shocked. I love my dogs but even I don’t love their hair on my clothes & anything they’d have brushed past would’ve attracted their hair. If I’m buying clothing I expect it to dog hair free too.

Primark has such a bad record on how it treats people and animals I'm surprised dogs will go in there.

There leather, feathers and wool are sourced without adequate animal welfare standards.

If I was a dog I'd shit on their floor.

Historically dogs were everywhere. It's a fairly new phenomenon that they aren't allowed into certain places but it is all a lot of us remember, and now with an increase in dog ownership businesses are realising that they'll make more $ if dogs are permitted.
I don't think it is fair on the dogs, and it isn't nice for people who don't like them, but it is what it is unfortunately. Everyone is losing £ and it makes it easier to accommodate more customers.

YANBU. It’s a struggle to find a cafè or restaurant in my local area that doesn’t now stink and isn’t covered in coarse hair and sticky slobber shudder. On the upside, my bank balance is looking healthier as I don’t dine with doggies, so instead I walk with a flask and eat/ drink at home.

I really hate dogs, but saying that I actually don’t have this issue as I have never seen them in any shops or restaurants thankfully. I see it mentioned on mumsnet all the time but never witnessed it in real life.

I enjoy shopping, fairly certain my dogs wouldn’t.

And while I feel I could trust them not to pee or poop ( they like grass underneath them), I am also certain that no-one wants black hair and slobber on their new clothes.

No need or excuse for taking pets into clothing shops, food shops or restaurants. Dog friendly cafes, maybe.

You are not unreasonable.

They are everywhere now. I especially will
not book a hotel that allows dogs. I don’t want to sleep on a bed that a dog may have slept on , yes they have changed the bedding but they still have fleas and you can always recognise that dog smell. And they may have peed or worse on the carpet. My local cafe now allows dogs and one on the next table was keen on mine and DDs burgers and kept jumping up at our table. In another cafe I saw a dog shaking itself right next to the open cake counter so will not be going back there. A friend works in Go Outdoors and dogs regularly pee/shit on the floor and the owners just walk off and leave it. I don’t actually dislike dogs I just don’t want them everywhere I go, is a shopping centre really the right place for a dog. Only a matter of time before people start slipping on dog wee and the shops/cafes have an injury claim on their hands.

I love dogs, mine was sadly PTS a little while ago. However I was in my local butchers at the weekend and there were two dogs inside. That did not feel right. I used to take mine to the pub garden in the summer but not into shops.

@ExtraOnions great post by the way. Sums up the attitude of a lot of dog owners these days.

It is odd to take them into shopping centres/clothes shops. They’re not getting anything out of the experience. Clothes shops can be cramped as it is without having to need to watch out for dogs getting underfoot or even better treading in dog 💩 or pee. I’d rather not be buying clothes that have dog dander on them either, thanks. I’ve seen what @Ithinkofawittyusernamethenforgetit mentioned happening before - dog sniffing and even licking products at their level in a shop while owner was blissfully unaware.

The potential for genuine assistance dogs to be attacked is there too and that is a growing problem. I saw a stat late last year that the number of reported dog attacks on assistance dogs in the UK had risen to an average 11 a month. Wouldn’t be surprised if some of those happened in places like shops/shopping centres.

Ask most long-term owners of dogs (i.e. people who owned one in the 90s or prior) what they think about it and they say no place for dogs.

Dogs are basically children now. We just got to suck it up.

I’ve noticed this too recently and think it’s gross. Dogs in a department store in the children’s department. I said very loudly ‘what kind of idiot brings their dog to a department store’ while looking at the stupid family who had brought it, they had the decency to look a bit sheepish. I can’t believe shops now allow this. Nowhere is immune from the cult of dog.

Ii saw a dog take a shit in John Lewis.

Oh yes we go to Pets at home as we use the groomers but that's dog specific isn't it.

I don’t have a dog now, alas, but I tend to agree, with specific exceptions. The only shop we took ours into was Pets at Home and a specialist dog harness shop - the dog was the ‘customer’ who needed to try on the merchandise. Some of the outdoors shops welcome dogs - again they sell dog coats so there’s a valid reason for it.