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 allergic to dogs so I have the problem of very friendly animals approaching me, when I ask owners to leash their animals or move away (or I do, if i'm not already seated) I get the typical "oh he's friendly" stuff. I know he is but i'm about to inflate like a balloon if your dog licks me! - worst part is I LOVE dogs 😩
If I know a place is dog friendly, I tend to avoid it due to lingering hair/dander. (When I was pregnant my allergies weren't as bad!)

Ahh the poster who thinks they know it all but they don't!

My dog is a rescue and we are training him to be left alone but it takes time you know.

We don't leave him very often or for very long and, for your information, our neighbours have told us they are not annoyed by our dog howling as it is rare and never for long. Unlike the dog 3 doors down that howls and howls and howls for hours on end and even during the night (owners do shift work),

When out our dog lays quietly and is very very well behaved.

"Why should I have to go out of my way"

It's clearly not just dog owners who are entitled.

Eh? I think I am entitled to enjoy a public space without it being ruined by the behaviour of others, yes! Good grief

Using public spaces means we all have to live and let live a little.

Dog free spaces are available.

I agree OP.

I have 2 kids who are nervous of big dogs.

The amount of times people let a big dog run over to us. “Oh he’s friendly!!” It doesn’t fucking matter, keep your dog on a lead near the kids playground or near a cafe with lots of people.

I love dogs btw, I just hate all the entitled owners 😂😂

Its hard to just live and let live when entitled dog owners are literally everywhere and you have to tell your children to avoid dog poo outside their primary school every single day.

I really agree. I live at the coast and there’s lots of dog owners. The cafes and refrigerators are full of wet sandy dogs. Some of them you walk in and the main smell is wet dog. Totally off putting. But hey it’s their business. However I cant stand yappy, barking dogs. It’s so uncomfortable for people, let alone people with ND or hearing aids. I also find it unreasonable when a dog owners tells kids not to go near her dog because he might go for you, which I’ve also heard a lot. Obviously you tell your children not to touch dogs without owners permission etc but really young kids don’t always take that in. Or they might accidentally go to close. If you have a reactive dog who barks or will go for kids then you shouldn’t have them in public spaces. It’s obviously shit for you that you have to adapt your life, but then why should everyone else suffer because you’ve got a dud dog.

Not all dog owners are entitled.
I'm part of a dog walking litter picking group and we pick up any dog poo we find on our walks alongside all the other crap people drop on their walks.

The worst littering in our town is on the main routes to the schools where we pick up cans, bottle, sweet and crisp packets and until recently lots of vaping waste.

I don't think many dog owners wake up and think "I know what I'll do today, I'll drag my dog around cafes and shops with me". More likely they take the dog for a walk and stop for a quick coffee afterwards!

But enough are and ruin the enjoyment of lots of.public spaces for other people, if you are a responsible dog owner then you don't need to get offended

My kids are at infant school so are not leaving vapes around so I am not sure why your point is relevant.

As you will see from my posts, I quite like dogs and am fine around well behaved ones. I did not cause the owners of the badly behaved ones any issue so I think that probably counts as live and let live. I was considerate towards their enjoyment of the day and did not want to spoil it, which is a courtesy they did not afford me.

But enough children drop litter to ruin the enjoyment of lots of public spaces for other people. If your children are not leaving litter around then you don't need to get offended.

They just shouldn’t be allowed in food places at all. They are smelly and it’s unhygienic

Dog free spaces are available.

Are we talking about people or dogs here?

OP doesn’t want a dog free space

She wants a space where any dogs in it are adequately behaved

That doesn’t seem an unreasonable thing to ask, and many dog owners on this thread have agreed with her.

Aww bless ❤️

I don't disagree with her.
But to start yet another dog owners are entitled thread on this forum of a million dog owners are entitled threads is ridiculous.

If you go to public spaces there will always be an arsehole.
But if you don't want to risk arsehole dog owners you do have the choice to go to dog free venues.

There are lots of different behaviours that annoy other people but this thread is about dogs so I don't know why everyone has to bring in all the 'kids are bad' arguments. It doesn't change the fact that lots of the behaviour of dogs and dog owners is antisocial.

There are plenty of people who don't think dogs being everywhere is positive and get sick of all the negative consequences of entitled dog owners.

Completely agree.

There been a huge increase in dog ownership since COVID. It's great the more people have the opportunity to own a pet & can do what they like in their own home, garden etc but I do think there needs to be some responsible dog ownership rules for public places eg dogs on leads, not causing a nuisance or disruption to other people, respecting places where dogs are not permitted etc.

The heavily used heathland habitat common local to me has seen a change in the soul pH & biodiversity as a result of 'flick with a stick' alternative to picking up dog poo (despite PSPO requiring this & signage). Ground nesting birds are declining - Nightjars completely gone & other species eg larks severely affected.

I'm involved in guide dog training & it's hugely affecting that too with so many badly behaved dogs distracting the guide dogs, which in turn restricts where blind & partially sighted can safely go to work, shop, socialize etc.

I don't know what the answer is - livestock ownership is heavily restricted & monitored by DEFRA & I think with the explosion of dog ownership there is a need for some type of regulation or acceptable standards in public places.

I have a dog and she has never been into a cafe. It would not be suitable for her and therefore I rarely go. But it just so happens that I have had reason to go twice in the last month. They were both in out of town shopping centres. I was amazed at the amount of dogs there. None of the were causing a problem but I can't see they were having too much fun. One woman had a JR under a table. She looked like she was working on a laptop and had a bag of treats for the dog who was clearly getting bored. I guess she had a reason to be out of the house - building work or something - but I don't know obviously, it could be a regular thing which would not be good. I agree that there are far too many dogs in the UK and far too many have crap owners.

Yup, there are entitled dog owners.
there are also entitled people who do not own dogs, and therefore think no dog should be within 6 feet of them, regardless of where they are.

if I’m out and about with my dog and I stop for a drink in a dog friendly pub or cafe, there is absolutely nothing wrong with that. the people who seem to think we ‘drag’ our pets around obviously know very little about dogs - there is nowhere in the world my dog would rather be than with us.
yes, he can stay at home for a few hours. Yes, there are places we go that he can’t. And yes, he does deal with it. But why would I not take him somewhere that i know he’s welcome to come, when i know how much happier it makes him?

also, maybe grown adults need to use their words a bit more. Scared of dogs? Allergic? Tell the owner.
dogs creating a fuss in a cafe and it’s ruining your experience? Talk to the manager.

I’ve been sat outside on cafe seating before and happily moved my dog so it was as far away as possible from a child who wasn’t keen on dogs. No problem at all. Past that though? Well, the onus is on that child’s parents to go 5 mins up the road to the dog free beach cafe instead.

People are insufferable and inconsiderate with their dogs. It doesn’t occur to them that other people might not think it hygienic to have them on furniture, may be allergic, or may just fine it unpleasant. They feel entitled to inflict their animal on other people in any which way they choose.

You are not being unreasonable but you will be the exact kind of insufferable owners you are describing filling the thread with their mutant animals saying they are “cute”.

The problem is dog free venues increasingly do not exist!