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 agree re figs. They need to be managed and if they create a nuisance they should leave.
However I think the same about small children who can also be loud and create a mess and spoil your meal / coffee.
i was once in a country pub where a mum decided to change her baby’s nappy at the table. And the mess left behind by toddlers who are allowed to
play with food and condiments is awful.

the principle is clear up after yourself, dog or children, and don’t create a noise that bothers others.

It’s a brave person who put there head above the parapet in the line of fire of dog owners
always going to get shot down

I really think there's a difference between humans and dogs, though. There really isn't an equivalence.

It never will. Unless people just get bored with them.

But the government won't do anything but tinker around the edges about dangerous dogs because by the law of averages 1 in 3 of them has (at least) a dog too so they would be legislating about their own behaviour.

There's no need for EVERY cafe to allow dogs inside. Some could allow them, some could say no dogs and some could say only outside in the garden/on the terrace.

2/3 of people don't have dogs and we spend money too. But you'd think we didn't exist.

Unfortunately there are a lot of entitled dog owners, a few of them appear to be on this thread

I’m a dog owner and I agree with you. If your dog can’t behave or in any way bothers anyone else or is aggressive to any other dog it shouldn’t be in a cafe or shop or whatever.

The problem is wanker owners who haven’t trained their dogs and yet still feel entitled to inflict their bad behaviour on the rest of us.

Exactly this.

There’s also a growing number of people around here who are starting to claim their completely untrained pets are assistance dogs. There was even one of those in the local hospital the other day -I have no issue with genuine assistance dogs being there but if it’s barking and running around at the end of a lead (through excitement, not alerting its owner to anything) it clearly isn’t one!

Which is also why so many businesses allow them - because they can't be bothered with the fallout. My local garden centre was brave enough to stop them coming in because they were pooing inside but then had to capitulate because of petitions etc.

My mum's local garden centre has banned them from the main shopping areas and a section of the cafe. We'll see how long that lasts. That wasn't because of the dogs though it was because people were using extendable leads inside! I mean, how stupid do you have to be? They are for training, not for use indoors.

I feel for the staff who have to clear up after them (ditto for having to clear up after the lazy yummy mummy (and daddy)'s messy toddlers but food isn't as bad as poo).

Yes The EHRC needs to review its guidance on that. Assistance dogs should be trained and registered as such.

I never believe the dog owners who say dog-tolerant cafes are full and the non-dog ones are empty. It’s ludicrous to think that dog owners eat at cafes more than anyone else, or that non-dog owners prefer to have dogs around when they eat.

And then there’s this sort of thing…

🤣 yes. gets hard hat and 🍿

Yes I nearly went flying over a Yorkshire terrier! It was wet too and resembled a large rodent, so I got quite a shock (apologies to any YT owners). 🫢

I love dogs (and most animals in fact), but can't stand barky, misbehaved dogs inside pubs, cafés, restaurants etc... take them outside ffs and stop spoiling everybody else's peace. No doubt you'll get piled on for daring to question dogs being allowed absolutely everywhere these days, but I'm with you. Well behaved dogs, fill your boots. Reactive dogs, stay away from crowded places which will set them off. Its not fair on them or everybody else.

I saw a sign that said "dogs are welcome but we will ask you to leave if they are not well behaved". I hope that isnt an empty threat.

But this is part of the issue, not wanting to sit next to barking, reactive dogs in a restaurant or cafe is not 'hating dogs'. It's not even a mild dislike of dogs. It's just not wanting to sit next to barking, reactive, or badly behaved dogs in your downtime. Not much to ask.

At the Cairn Lodge services M74 last Friday, a woman was toiting her dog around under her arm, at the cold food counter, and right in my face. I’m very allergic to dogs and had to walk out into the hallway until she’d gone.

Leave the buggers in the car with the windows open a crack FFS, like people did decades ago.

Oh, and edited to say I forgot about the two constantly barking dachshunds at Frankley South on the Saturday. Shut the fuckers up!

.

Growing up they were not always taken everywhere. Or the owners who did take any anywhere seemed fine. Not all, but most. The dogs seemed normal. Or well trained and handled.
Something has really changed. You see people who cannot manage their dogs on leads. The dog is out of control walking on a pavement. Too powerful and big for the home they live in. No lead on in a built up area. No or very poor recall. Carried around in a handbag. Fed off plates at a table in a cafe. Border collies who don’t get enough exercise. People who do not adhere to the countryside rules and posts everywhere if saying please dogs on leads etc due to nesting birds. Dog ownership has gone a bit haywire.

I doubt the owners of cafes etc are all to a man dog nuts, I strongly suspect that businesses have learnt that it’s more profitable to allow dogs in than not too.
I went for a dog walk with my family on the way back we thought we’d pop into a local garden centre I took the dogs in with me 1/4 of the way round an a member of staff said “dogs aren’t allowed in here” and then went on to apologise that the sign at the entrance stating this was covered up with plants. That’s fine I don’t have a problem with this we apologised and left. But went to another garden centre that we knew does allow dogs in spent £100 on plants and had 6 of us had tea and cake outside in their cafe.
The garden centres are only a few miles apart but no prices for guessing which one we’ll go to next time.
I used to do a lovely circular walk there was a lovely cafe just down off this walk with a charming garden dogs weren’t allowed so my friend with her dog and I would wait till we got home and go to the local dog friendly cafe instead. The walk was part of a very well known and popular river walk sometimes people would stop me and ask if there was a cafe near by I would direct them to the cafe I used because I knew it and liked it. Where I now live we have a very high % of retired people many have dogs I suspect that why nearly all cafes now allow dogs in.
The key thing is how well the dog behaves I took my two into a dog friendly cafe last the waitress didn’t even know they were there year till we got up to leave as both were under the table. Yesterday I went into a cafe to buy a take away coffee and as soon as I got in the door a dog sitting right next to the door started barking frantically at mine and growling. I was only standing there for 5 mins and it was annoying me that dog shouldn’t be in a cafe.

In the olden days you could shock horror leave them at home as well as take them out. It now seems to me some owners want their dogs to experience their own lives, eg pubs, restaurants and so on. Whether the dog wants to come along or not. Add to that badly socialised dogs and other issues and it sometimes doesn’t work in real life.

A well trained dog is a lovely thing but the trouble is most owners do not have their pets under control.

I was a in restaurant a few days ago. Woman comes in with her pooch and sits about 4 or 5m from me. Instead of telling the dog to sit on the floor under her table, she allows it to roll all over the padded bench. The next thing I know, the dog is licking my fingers….. ewwww! It is on an extending lead. Its owner is paying no attention to the animal because she is playing on her phone. I had to get her attention and ask her to to get her dog under control. Idiotic entitled behaviour.

I was in a hotel recently that had a dog-free area in their restaurant area (they had quite a bit of space which helped), which I thought was a great idea, because the place was teeming with dogs, and while I like dogs (the well behaved ones), I'm aware lots of people are allergic, or just really frightened or wary of dogs.

I'd like to see a law that all dogs be on a leash and muzzled in public at all times.

A few weeks ago in Blackheath, I was horrified to see a woman with a Labrador not on lead let it run towards to duck pond, chase all the birds around before plunging into the water. She seemed to think this was great fun! Stupid cow! She wasn't a teenager either, probably mid forties.

Oh! I'd wish I'd had a gun!

Sorry but that’s disgusting. Entitled dog owners indeed. I’ve had dogs, like them but some people cba to train them. They are also not your surrogate child. My cat is lovely but she’s not a surrogate child equivalent. Wonder how it’d go down if I took her into a pub/cafe/restaurant? No chance! My friend’s cat actually walked down a street with my friend’s boyfriend on a lead when she lived in Deptford, I think a quiet street though.

Yes that's true. I am not a dog hater, I had a dog myself for many years (until she passed of old age) who I loved dearly. I like most dogs. I just don't like my enjoyment of public spaces spoiled by dickish owners and untrained or overly stressed dogs who are not being adequately managed.