This “humanisation” of dogs has got ridiculous

[Houseplantmad]

Had lunch in a chain restaurant yesterday. Two couples came in with smallish dogs. No problem with that as the restaurant is dog friendly however, they insisted on having high chairs for the dogs when their meal came as they had been holding the dogs on their laps until then. The waitress refused but they went and got them anyway so we had these shoved next to our table with a restless dog breathing and being uncomfortable in the high chair very close to us.
Today I get on an intercity train and a woman boards with a medium size dog and puts it on the seat next to her across from me at a table. The person who had booked that seat then turned up and the woman said what was she supposed to do with the dog as it couldn’t go on the floor! It did but was clearly distressed and couldn’t settle, poor thing.
I think putting animals in these situations is so unfair on them and also on others but it seems to be very common these days for people to treat their animal as if it is a human.

Perhaps a good compromise re pubs would be to allow dogs in the beer garden only and only assistance dogs allowed inside the premises.

Hardly ‘ordering’ 😅 They can go to the pub if they like. Just pointing out that everyone can make their own choices. Plenty dog free options, I’m hardly ever around dogs and do go out often. People here making out as if everywhere is over run by dogs attacking them

Literally no one has said that.

Dog owners are so defensive and aggressive towards others. Really no need. Just have a bit of consideration for others. Realise dogs are not humans and yes children are more important than they are. Just keep them under control and out of people's way and there shouldn't be any issues.

And ordering dog owners to leave their dogs at home and retail and hospitality owners to ban dogs isn’t arrogant? Entitled? Much!

Not sure why you directed that at me when I have said none of those things. Projecting much?

Are you funding the establishments run by others? Nope…. Sorry but if there was a strong business case for dog free pubs there would be more of them. The fact is, dog owners frequent these places often and it makes good business sense to allow them.

Not sure where you live but I’m in Sussex and it’s very dog friendly around here. But… if I go out for dinner in the evening, anywhere that isn’t a pub, there are literally zero dogs. And even in the pubs, most dogs are not in the actual restaurant area.

You are all massively over exaggerating

Our local that is half restaurant only allows dogs in the other half.

Also in Sussex and I am definitely not over-exaggerating to say that there are literally no coffee shops in my local area that don’t allow dogs. There are a few garden centres that have theoretically dog-free sections, but I’ve seen dogs in the dog-free sections before…

What seems to have happened round here is that the couple of cafes that were dog free have been the subject of fairly aggressive campaigning to allow dogs in. Presumably the business owners felt that the loss of business from people not going because they don’t like dogs outweighed the loss of business from poor social media reviews. Why the dog owners couldn’t just accept the original decision and just go to one of the MANY dog-friendly cafes I don’t know, but there you go.

Agreed that coffee shops do tend to be dog friendly, my comment stated ‘restaurants’ as that was the OP. You can find just as many aggressively campaigning bad trip advisor reviews from those complaining about dogs in premises, so this argument could be easily reversed.

The research shows that allowing dogs is very good for these types of businesses.

But I don’t get why some dog owners (and I know it’s a minority) needed to be so aggressive when they already had more choice than anyone wanting a dog-free cafe. Surely that’s pretty entitled on their behalf?

I’m actually ok with well-behaved dogs in cafes, but know people who’ve had to stop going. (Though the dogs are not always well-behaved - I suspect a large overlap between badly-behaved dogs and the social media campaigners…)

You are all massively over exaggerating

'All massively over exaggerating' because some people's experiences don't tally with your own, @upthehills1?

You genuinely seem oblivious to the levels of arrogance in your own posts.

Ok 🤣 In my experience… I eat out a lot, in various places around the UK and abroad. In the overwhelming majority of all restaurants I have ever personally visited - there are zero dogs.

So maybe you’re all just choosing to go to the wrong places for dinner

I’m completely with you OP. I’m not a dog lover and am completely fed up how every other person now has a dog and I can’t go anywhere without them around. Beach, park, anywhere nice, they’re always running loose, coming up to me with unwanted attention, and dog sh*t everywhere. Was having a nice breakfast with my friend in a little local cafe. Group came in with their big dog and I had to move my chair around to accommodate this huge creature who then breathed their doggy breath everywhere. Put me right off my food. In general I avoid dog friendly eateries and accommodations - I don’t want to sleep in a bed that’s had a dog on it, or be kept awake by them at night.
Putting them in high chairs in a restaurant is the absolute limit - what are things coming to?
Yes I am a grump.

And it's still going fgs
🙄

Stop forcing your nasty animals on other people and maybe they'll stop complaining. If it didn't happen all the time people wouldn't be aggrieved. No one cares about your dog, just keep them under control and not too close to others.

Nasty animals? Really?

Dog haters on MN seem to think a dog existing in the same room as them is a nuisance that should be PTS.

The vast vast majority of dog owners don't want their dogs approaching people like you anyway.

Saw another sign outside a shop today saying unfortunately they can't allow dogs any more since somebody's darling pooch shat on their floor. I think this new ubiquity of dogs in indoor spaces will prove to be a short-lived experiment.

As a dog owner I honestly didn't realise dogs were allowed in many shops. None in our village do. I know pet shops and some garden centres but that's it.

@OhNoWhatIf John Lewis has allowed dogs in their shops (not Waitrose though) for years.

In our town, dogs are allowed in most shops including Fat Face, Seasalt, the (independent) book shop, WHSmiths, but not the Co-op or Oxfam.

Our local cinema allows dogs in. I've got a dog but wouldn't take him as he'd be bored and restless. I don't agree with allowing dogs in cinemas. - I know people who are allergic and would struggle with this.

I'm more concerned about human beings vomiting and peeing in public after a night's entertainment

@EmmaGrundyForPM That’s the part that I don’t understand- are dogs really happy in shops/cinemas/restaurants and is it in their best interests to take them there?

My dog wouldn’t enjoy those environments aside from sitting outdoors at a cafe after a walk perhaps. He’d far rather be snoozing at home!

@BruFord my dog loves shopping as he gets offered treats in every shop! But it's s pain for me as I can't try clothes on etc if he's with me. I've never taken him.into JL as I think he would be bored, but he loves coming to the bookshop with me as he gets fussed over whilst I browse.

🤣 Fair enough, mine would also be happy to go if he got treats!

It's quite embarrassing. - in FatFace he goes straight over to the till, sits down expectantly and puts his paw out 🤣🤣

My DM has her own cleaning company, and has several contracts in the city centre (most are office buildings).
The amount of human piss, shit and vomit she has to clean up in doorways is staggering.