Dogs in restaurants - I am done!

SerafinasGoose - How lovely to read a sensible, well balanced comment. You speak such sense without resorting to insults.

just to reassure you, people actually don't give a shit about food allergies either for the most part. you're not alone sadly.

Agreed: of course not everyone's districts are the same. And there are few shades of grey in a discussion that invariably becomes emotive because dogs are involved. Not least - again probably because dogs are involved - it should be a matter of straightforward common sense that seems to have gone out of the window.

Poole is a good example. Sandbanks cafe, down near the beach, is self-proclaimedly dog-friendly. I'd expect to find somewhere like that abutting where people typically walk their dogs, and where people are trailing sand in and out. It doesn't bother me particularly.

But those little cafeterias overlooking the harbour that sell artisan-type deli stuff are one of the places where it's often impossible not to trip over dogs every which way you turn. On the seats, under your own table, blocking the walkways - the places are just too small and not in any way suitable for them, especially when there is ample outside seating. Yes, the owners make them welcome - but this is a case of just because you can, doesn't mean you should. They're a headache in that setting, which I now studiously avoid.

This is a recent change. Taking dogs everywhere - certainly taking them into clothes shops, for one - wasn't the norm until very recently, probably post-COVID. Since this time numbers have multiplied: there are more dogs around now than I can ever remember seeing in my life before. Of course people won't be used to it when social expectations change this quickly, and given the emphasis on food hygiene (and failure of the certificate) venues have been far more scruplous about it until now.

It's a sudden turnaround that will understandably be difficult for some people to adjust to - or to see why they should.

YANBU the other week in a local pub/restaurant a couple sat by us with three huge wet dogs that stank. Then they fed them off their plates. Rank.

Not content with eateries, they’re taking over public transport too!

I’m not sure the dog friendly / dog free places are evenly distributed, though. I can’t think of one coffee shop in my local town that doesn’t allow dogs (one says on its website it has a dog-free area but in practice it doesn’t)

Most of the dogs and owners are fine. There’s a growing minority of owners, who generally seem to have poodle crosses, who are either arseholes or completely ineffectual and I do wish businesses would actually kick them out.

Today on Things That Never Happened...

Worlds gone mad. Was asked to move DS on a bus today for a dog in a fucking pram.

Across the UK less than 10% are dog friendly, so...once again, if you can't find onr of thf 90% of places that don't allow dogs...

My local cafe gives a 10% discount to people who have dogs with them at certain hours.
Another has a wall full of photos of the regular visiting dogs.
My mum took her greyhound to a cafe/bar and the staff treated him like royalty. He had a free sausage, which they cut up for him.

Don't assume that all businesses that allow dogs actually hate doing so.

Well if 90% are dog friendly (unlikely tbh) then frequent the 10% that aren't (just like the dog owners across the UK do).

For the last time I have no issue with dogs in dog friendly places and I don't go in these. My issue is the fact it's virtually impossible to find dog free places. Stop quoting places that we don't have near my home town. I presume you live in or near a large city that has a wide choice of food places. I live in a small, deprived northern town that doesn't have most of the places you suggested. We only got a KFC on a nearby retail park about a year ago. I am not replying to you anymore, your not worth my time or energy.

Thank you ☺️

@ovalsno I just mean lots of owners/staff might not love dogs as much as you do! They do need to make money tho!
Hope you have a lovely date with your dog.

@mrsm43s- it all depends on where you live though doesn't it?
there's no chain restaurants near us. And over 90 % of cafes and pubs are 'dog friendly ' - so if you're not a fan you're stuffed basically where we are which is annoying.

So we’re helping out by going in? That’s a good thing, surely. I’ll take my dog out for lunch tomorrow.

@YeOldeGreyhound- I'm not sure a business exactly 'welcomes dogs ' more 'welcomes money from dog owners' which is a bit different isn't it? And for many independent cafes and shops they need all the trades they can get.

It is entitled to insist that people with dogs do not go to places that welcome dogs.

Vegan food, 0% alcohol, gluten free food, etc... doesn't affect other people but dogs do. How a dog owner can call any other member of society entitled is beyond laughable. To suggest someone needs a carer because they don't like dogs is rude, insulting, mean and has shown everyone what a nasty person you are.

Look, there is nothing wrong, nothing wrong at all, in taking dogs into dog friendly places.

Bad behaviour, be that of dog owners/dogs, parents/kids or just people in general is never OK.

I’d say the vast numbers of dogs MNers are reporting to see in every shop, pub, cafe and restaurant they visit proves they do belong there.

I am a dog owner and I agree - dogs don’t belong in restaurants, cafes, food pubs. Leave them at home for goodness sake!