Entitled behaviour of some dog owners

[Jsonwbia]

I am on holiday in the UK. I accept that the area I am in is popular with dog owners and I accept the presence of dogs, but the sheer number of them in some spaces and the thoughtless behaviour of some dog owners is really starting to grate.
I'm in a cafe - restaurant place for lunch. Most other people in here have their dogs with them...fine. But some people have brought in clearly reactive dogs which are intermittently barking loudly at each other, whining, flying into a rage when other dogs go past their tables and growling. It makes me jump out of my skin when they loudly go off and set a baby off crying in shock. There is outside seating available and it's quite a nice day so why they can't sit outside I don't know.
Add to that, dogs sitting on the seats, being allowed to reach too far on their leads making them a trip hazard, and sniffing around my legs as they go past on leads with owners making no attempt to remedy any of this.
The staff are young and very polite and seem a bit ill equipped to deal with any of this.
I'm not out to spoil anyone's day so am keeping quiet but it is not relaxing. I feel like I'm in a minority these days though with not finding this enjoyable.

I'm a dog owner, and luckily have a dog who is not stressed in cafes; but I do agree with you to an extent - its not fair on the dog (or other customers) to take a dog to a cafe if they are stressed with the situation.
The difficulty comes with holidays - if the dog is with you on holiday they generally are not allowed to be left in the hotel/b&b/apartment alone - which i think is why you end up firstly with so many dogs and secondly with so many reactive dogs in cafes, restaurants and bars.
Someone somewhere needs to open a dog sitting business and franchise it to all of the main holiday towns ! They'd make a fortune :)

I nearly ran over a small dog on a retractable lead with DS's pram when I was coming out of a shop. It was only because I noticed it was there and stopped it didn't get squished. I've noticed people let their dogs wander in and out of the shop doorways on our high street and it drives me mad. The people who take their dogs into places they're not allowed can get fucked.

I dont agree children shouldn’t always be thrown out of a cafes, a lot depends on where it is. I remember taking mine to the science museum cafe they were just so excited by once of the steam engines they could barely sit still. Last time I was at the BM it was full of noisy excited children chatting about what they'd seen or were about to see. The Ritz Cafe a different matter.
But I do agree annoying loud disruptive dogs shouldn't be in cafes or shops pubs banks post offices etc .

You'll be horrified to know then that a resturant near me has a full dog menu and they deliver the dogs meal (Roast dinner, sausage and mash, fish and chips) alongside the mains!!

Thats the problem on MN, one negative comment about a dog and everyone assumes they hate dogs. I think other posters should re read what OP has said. Of course it’s not enjoyable to sit around a load of reactive dogs barking at each other!

My dog is incredibly well behaved around prams due to the pram/ squish method of training when DD was a baby, they learn quick!!

Fairly obviously, in this hypothetical scenario where she has this power, she would ban the sale of retractable leads.

We holiday in the UK with our dog and as I don't want to spend 24/7 in the rental cottage (where you can't leave a dog unattended) we frequent dog friendly pubs and cafes. My dog was socialised from a puppy. He sits under the table, with a chew I take with and you wouldn't know he was there. If he was stressed or unhappy we wouldn't take him in. He ignores other dogs and knows how to behave.

At least an hour!

When I go away mine go to kennels I actually quite like having break from the responsibility of looking after them being able to do anything and go anywhere. I'm always surprised by the number of people who wont put their dogs in kennels and make negative comments about me doing this: "Dont you think kennels are cruel" "My dog would hate kennels " despite never having tried it. I acknowledge its expensive but I've factored this in to the cost dog owning. I'm pretty sure 30+ years ago most people would have used kennels.Maybe its due to the rise in dog friendly cafes etc and the increase in self catering holidays where you can bring your dog. A friend looked at putting her house out for self catering holidays and was strongly advised by a holiday letting agent that she would need to allow dogs if she wanted to maximise the number of bookings especially as the house was in a rural location.

To be fair, a lot of people let their children behave far worse. And some adults make noises that are more offensive than a dog barking.
The most important reason that dogs should be welcome, though, is many people need them for a disability-and as getting an official assistance dog is so hard, most people rely on their pets. If you or your child have never needed to think about this, be grateful, and please don't make life even harder than it already is for others.

What about long line leads people buying them abroad. Its not enforceable. Like the dogs themselves, its got nothing to do with the leads its the people on the other ends of them that's the problem.

Absolutley. I was walking with my son in a local high street beach town and he was playing with a large beach ball on a string type thing. A woman held onto her growling dog she was sat outside with and asked my son to stop playing with his ball as her dog ‘goes crazy for balls’ maybe don’t bring him to the beach then?!

Your dog is beautiful. Forgot to post a picture of my mutt.

In a pub

(Edited to say, in pub, late morning as it opens, for hot chocolate, so before it gets busy).

Two wrongs don’t make a right though so they? “Some people have annoying children” does not justify people letting their dogs be annoying, and vice versa. Dog people always say this - oh your child is more annoying than my dog - but it’s a race to the bottom then isn’t it?

I was in a café on Saturday. Someone brought a very large dog in, and the first thing it did was jump up at the counter, where there was a stack of plates. 🤮
Why on earth would you allow your dog to do that? I don't understand.

Always this. They don't understand that children will grow up, but dogs will always be dogs.

a mate of mine uses one
on her staffie its worse than useless as he's so big (and strong) she's got zero control over him,but its ok as he's 'so friendly' and stuff anyone who objects to him jumping up and slobbering over them in a cafe/a shop/in the street etc

she's got into so many rows with innocent members of the public over this-they panic at him jumping up and she starts with the 'but he's friendly' and can't understand why people get angry at her for not stopping/training him (you have to understand that hes her baby and she allows him to do what he likes,fuck you if you dont like it)

we have him every year (while she goes on holiday) and i refuse to use it
we have a proper lead (what ds bought for his dog and left at ours) and the control is so much better on walks
he's by my ankle rather than 20 feet in front of me and cant jump up as i'm in control of him
i hate those sodding leads,they should be banned

i'd also never take him into a cafe/shop/anywhere dogs could be a pest to anyone because its not for dogs,these places are for humans

Your dc sounds excited, not badly behaved. There is a difference. Plus no one minds normal children chatter, especially in a child orientated environment.,

The issue in uk holiday destinations is that outside of school holidays dog owners are their principal clientele - yes some non dog owners do holiday in the uk but most of us don’t, all my dog owning friends do though, dc left home and won’t put their new canine babies In kennels. I live in a holiday type town and we are rare to not have a dog

I didn’t say they should be thrown out but their parents should take action if they are pissing other people off. Obviously expectations of children in a museum or soft play cafe are going to be different from a pub or a restaurant type setting. My basic principle is, don’t let small creatures you are in charge of be loud and annoying - or bite/sniff/drool on people.

You're a responsible and intelligent dog owner, of which there are many.
Unfortunately, some people are bad owners and think dogs are accessories or quasi children. They're the problem.

I very much doubt there’s any sensible, responsible dog owner who wouldn’t agree with your post. And in my experience most dog owners are responsible and sensible. The OP wouldn’t even have noticed my dogs is she'd come into the cafe I was sitting in the morning. Like everything else its the irresponsible owners who give everyone else a bad reputation.

Exactly.

a women allowed her dog to attack and kill a swan local to me. The mating pair have been there yrs.