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.

If the dog was so distressed on the floor, the woman should have put the dog on her lap, or if too big, she should have given her seat to the dog and stood herself

You no more put a dog on a seat in public transport than you do a nappiless child or naked unwashed human

What's wrong with chat (she says as a non dog owner)?

I have a family member who freely admits her dogs are surrogate grandkids. She even takes them to a garden centre that does special santa sessions for dogs at Christmas. So they get to queue up and meet father Christmas ! Honestly I kid you not !

As a non dog owner, I sort of get that. If you don't ask, you don’t get! Plus puppies are high needs!

When someone is pregnant and says their dog will be a big brother or sister 🙄

I don't have a problem with that. More money than sense but hey

Worse have t shirts made!! 🤣

People are increasingly treating dogs as surrogate children, and bringing them to see Santa etc is clearly ridiculous.

However, OP has clearly taken a contentious issue and let her imagination run wild with the high chair. Think about the logistics - a dog couldn't sit on a high chair like a baby (feet through the holes, upright). Which would mean it would be sat on the seat of a high chair like it'd sit on any other surface, which begs the question why a normal chair couldn't be used if they didn't want it on the floor.

It's a silly story, but the issue is agreed - dogs aren't babies and treating them as such is good for no one.

I work in animal care and there are so many of these idiots about it makes me sick. I think social media is to blame for a lot of it. I know one person who took her fucking cat to see Santa. The cat has a wardrobe with more outfits than most humans have. All done for the Insta clicks obviously 🤮

going against the grain here

if people want to humanise their dogs and lavish attention and money on gifts on their fur dolls, why not? People waste more money on other more flagrant fripperies

here's an example of humanisation to the nth degree

< humans are welcome>

https://lovemyhuman.co.uk/pages/cafe

Valentine's Day

https://lovemyhuman.co.uk/collections/x-mas

we dont like people putting their feet on seats so why should dogs put their feet on the seats on a train, stupid

This 👆

Oh God, I love these photos. The dog always looks like, “What. The. Fuck. Do humans enjoy this? Is this a slow-motion kidnapping?”

And the truth is no. For my sins, I had to take photos of children on Santa’s lap, and a great many of them cried, so I’m not sure humans enjoy it either.

The only reason this batshit practice was worth inventing (it can now be abolished) is because of one photo (which actually made it into news articles): apparently, there was a dog called Kya whose favorite toy was a stuffed Santa and so her owners took her to one of those Santa things and she looks like she’s won the lottery, probably thinking, “I can chew on one this size forever.” Here’s that classic:

YANBU.
Dogs can be amazing companion pets and can bring us much joy,

but they are animals and we should never forget that. Humanising them does them and us an injustice!

T-shirts for who?

The dog? Surely not.......

I was in Cornwall with my sis and that is a really really dog friendly place. Everybody has a dog there and most shops you can take your dog in, but my Sis and I were laughing at a women whould could not understand why she couldnt take her dog in Morrisons. I mean do you take your dog in a supermarket when your not on your holidays? it wasnt a support dog either.

I love dogs. Which is why I don't make the self-absorbed mistake of thinking that they have human needs. They don't. They have dog needs, and it's cruel to treat them like humans
Well put.
Humanising dogs isn't fair on them. They have their own needs, which we should be meeting as responsible owners.

I hope they wiped the high chair after they were finished 😖😖 I’m all for dog friendly places, I have a dog altho we don’t take him to cafes/pubs as he’s a bloody nightmare 🤣 if you don’t want to be around them when eating don’t go to a dog friendly place. But the high chair thing is batshit.

Google has given me these delights.

Beware rant:!
I live in London and the dog situation is ridiculous. Dogs in prams, dogs in expensive steak restaurants.
my little one is scared of dogs because no one puts theirs on a lead. The amount of times he’s had food taken out of his hands when he’s been on a bench.
I don’t blame the dogs… seriously it’s out of control.

YANBU. The number of dogs being taken into ridiculous environments is getting out of hand. Dogs don’t want to be dragged around shops or sit in cafes surrounded by noise and strange people. They want to be on the beach or out exploring the woods, being bloody dogs fgs. They are not humans!

I love dogs, had them always growing up and would have one now if I had the time. However, they don’t belong in shops and restaurants. If you have a dog you need to change your lifestyle to cater for its needs. Not shoehorn it into your existing lifestyle. Selfishness dressed up as ‘I love my dog’ crap. If you love your dog get out and take it to places it enjoys.

Why can't people leave their dogs at home at all? I've had several dogs in my lifetime and we would always leave them at home if we were going out for the evening, or going shopping in an afternoon.

We have so many friends who take their dogs everywhere, turn up at parties with them, expect all cafes and restaurants to be dog friendly and judge them if they're not and are always showing videos and photos of them. I didn't even behave like that with my own children.

I have a dog and don’t get this obsession with taking dogs everywhere. Many dog owners now seem to lack basic common sense with dogs. Lots of people are afraid of or don’t like dogs and that’s fair enough. DD used to be terrified of dogs and people would be unbelievably inconsiderate and rude about it. Not everyone has to love your dog or any dog for that matter. That’s your job!

Sometimes it’s a lazy way of providing exercise and stimulation. Take your dog for a walk and leave it at home when you go to a cafe! Putting dogs in high chairs and on train tables ffs

My family member did this - dog was not impressed and growled at Santa.