To wish this country was more dog friendly?

[lesley33]

I know some dogs are badly behaved, but surely not all dogs should be tarred with the same brush? My dog is a very well behaved labrador. On the continent dogs are allowed into lots of pubs and cafes and in places like Paris dogs are regularly walked along City streets. But in the UK, lots of people do not seem happy to let dogs share their space anywhere, which I think is vvu.

Great post, Dejawho! I'm going to bring up the SEN issue before page 5 though I'm afraid. It's not the dogs I have a problem with, I love dogs. It's the owners, especially the one who said "it's HIM that should be on a lead, not the dog", at DS2 (ASD, major dog phobia) when he was completely freaked out by a large dog that unexpectedly came round a corner and was face to face with him

Ooo! I have another one "I wouldn't allow my child to go to a friend's house where there is a dog/Staffie/Pit-Bull-that-of-course-the-complainant-as-a-SAHM-is-qualified-to-identify".

"Ooooh, lovely! just what I need after the most gorgeous Autumn walk to school with MissB and a cracking good ramble round the local country park.

It all passed without incident btw. Sorry if that's not what some people would like to hear. "

No, that is EXACTLY what I want to hear!

DogsBestFriend - I don't understand you're rudeness. You prefer children not to touch your dogs, and I've said I don't like my DD touching dogs, so why make this comment:

"That would be an insult to dogs." (in reply to my "comparing dogs to children" comment)

I just don't understand what the problem is. We both agree on the same thing . One might think you were offended by my earlier comment.

to be fair, i know for a fact my dogs are treated much better and cared for more than many of the children of posters i have come across on the tinternet. which is incredibly sad :(

It's lovely and dog friendly where I live. LittleDog loves going shopping, he is allowed in the butchers, and given a cube of beef, he is allowed in the bakers where he usually gets a bit of sausage roll, and he is welcomed in every other shop.

He's small and well behaved, and as a result he is very popular with everyone. Except Odd Neighbour, who is inexplicably terrified of a dog that is smaller than a small cat.

I'm crying laughing here at Deja's post 09:43:19

MrBloom I'm sorry that you don't understand what I was saying although it isn't rudeness, it's a statement of fact as I view it. To compare children to dogs is an insut as IMHO dogs are far preferable.

Do you understand now?

I would like to predict that someone says

it gets better the more ooop north you go. Makes a little allowance for quieter parts of Wales. May retire to Scotland.

That's sad, the butchers is LittleDog's most favourite place in the world. I've never taken him in Pets at Home, I'm not a big fan of them.

If I de-mullet him, I could get him some clothes to keep him warm.

Fair weather park users like fair weather friends best avoided. Nothing beats a winter walk on the beach.

I take it that LittleDog's feeling better this morning, Sarah? Hope so. :)

Have we got to the point yet where I an ask people to admire photos of my dogs?

Loads better thanks DBF, back to his normal, bouncy self. He's currently tucked up on the sofa with me, being all cuddly and canine hot water bottleish.

I think it's not a question of dogs not being welcome per se, it's just the national inability to tolerate anyone who is different to themselves. If you don't own a dog you don't see why anyone else would want or should be able to. If you don't want children you don't see why anyone else has to have the noisy little bleeders and you object to paying for playgrounds/schools etc. If you don't drive you don't see why you should tolerate everyone else's polluting dangerous machines. If you drive you get pissed off with cyclists who get in your way!

We are just getting more and more intolerant and won't put up with any inconvenience to accomodate other people.

Oh yes, Milly, I mentioned that you can admire 2 of my three dogs on my profile aaages ago. :o

YABU. I like some dogs, but not all. Everyone likes their own dog. But other people's dogs are often smelly, slobbery, hairy, over-friendly or unpredictable.

My beasties and I loved our recent time in the Lake District. Not only were they allowed in most of the shops, cafes and pubs we went in, they were also provided with free sausages whenever we ordered a meal. (Possibly as payment for the hoovering under tables service they provided.)

"MrBloom I'm sorry that you don't understand what I was saying although it isn't rudeness, it's a statement of fact as I view it. To compare children to dogs is an insut as IMHO dogs are far preferable."

Oh, bloody hell, it's statements like this that give dog lovers a bad name.