AIBU about the dog in the shoe shop

[GreatDaneBowers]

NC because identifying.

In my town there is a kids shoe shop that also does haircuts for children. It's not a big shop, quite narrow.

Today I went in there for the 3rd or 4th time with my DD. And the owner/manager had her dog in there. A Great Dane. I'm not short and it easily stood ears level with my shoulder.

The dog blocked off the whole shop and stuck its nose in the pram, she made no attempt to call it off or ask me if it was a problem. I'm not scared of dogs but I'm not exactly confident of them either and this animal is beyond huge. I left pretty quickly (was going to browse and buy DD some shoes but didn't).

I don't know how regularly it is in there (I've not seen it in there before, but fairly regularly I'd say as it had been lying on the sofa in the hair cutting area, and had a blanket in the entrance), but AIBU to think that you don't want a dog that big just mooching around a shop that you have to take small children into? (Because haircuts and shoes require DCs to be present).

Obviously the blanket in the entrance is to signal that the dog is in there and I suppose people can vote with their feet if they don't like it (which I did). And I'm sure it's a lovely dog, but lots of children (and adults) are scared of dogs and even the most docile dogs could have an accident or snap, and this one is as big as a small horse!

[Costacoffeeplease]

I'm sure these shop and dog owners are perfectly well aware - their shop, their choice

Just walk on by, none of your business is it?

[2kids2dogsnosense]

If I had a shop my dogs would be in it wreaking havoc, and if people didn't like it I would offer them directions to the nearest Boring Emporium.

I would be prepared to lose their custom.

[myfavouritecolourispurple]

"Like dogs? Go to a shop with a dog in it

Don't like dogs? Go to one of the millions of shops that don't have a dog"

Hmm this argument seems a bit like the argument about why do gay/black/insert protected characteristic of choice people care if someone tells them they can't stay at their B&B, after all there are thousands of B&Bs they could go to.

It's not your home, it's a business. If you run a farm it's a bit different to a hairdresser/shoeshop.

Not very hygienic to have dogs in a shop either. When you buy things off ebay people make a point of saying the items are from a pet-free home. People do care about that sort of thing.

[Costacoffeeplease]

Ah but the shopkeeper isn't stopping people of a certain race/gender/sexuality from coming into her shop, the customer has the choice of whether to go in or not, THEY decide whether to give the shop their custom, or not

[sparechange]

Not very hygienic to have dogs in a shop either. When you buy things off ebay people make a point of saying the items are from a pet-free home. People do care about that sort of thing.

What's inherently unhygienic about a dog being in the same room as you? Are you worried about breathing the same air as them?

I'm not sure eBay is really an arbiter what is and isn't acceptable, but second hand clothes which may or may not have pet hair on them from months or years of having a cat on your lap is a world away from buying some news shoes which have been stored in a box in a storeroom in the rough proximity of a dog

[JosephineMaynard]

I would avoid shopping in the shop described by OP.

But I'm not seeing a parallel between this situation and discriminating against potential customers on the grounds of race, gender, sexuality or other protected characteristics.

And also - buying things online from a home with pets is a bit different from buying things in person from a shop with a shop dog. If I buy online, I pay before I see the item, and have to go through the hassle of trying to return it if it's been somehow damaged by a pet. If I were to buy shoes from this shop, I'd be able to inspect them for traces of dog before choosing to hand my money over.

[Toddlerteaplease]

I'm very nervous of dogs (and not a dog person at all) but I would love that! As I would assume that if it's in a children's shop then it is probably very soppy. Also trying to get my head round a shop that sells shoes and cuts hair!

[iMogster]

I'd probably go to a none dog shop but I see that I am in the minority! I'm more of a cat in a pub type.

[brasty]

I would deliberately go to this shop.

[shockthemonkey]

If you're not short and the dog stands "ears level with your shoulder", either you are deluded about your height, or the dog is not actually a dog but a pony. Second pony, not Shetland. About 15.2 hands high.

[brasty]

A Mountain Mastiff can grow to 38 inches high. I don't know what that is in hands.

[brasty]

Just checked, 15.2 is 60 inches. So much bigger than the largest dogs.

[2kids2dogsnosense]

But the measurements are to the shoulder.

A dog's head can be much higher than its shoulder.

[GreatDaneBowers]

I concede that I may have mildly exaggerated the height. It was still huge though. An especially lanky one, exaggerated by my unbearably nervy disposition and Internet poetic licence.

And horsepower I namechanged for this thread.

[Costacoffeeplease]

Mildly exaggerated

it easily stood ears level with my shoulder.



GF?

[GreatDaneBowers]

costa

Hardly. (To rebut: after a bit of judicious googlising)

A GD is a minimum of 30inches to the shoulder (the biggest one being 4 foot 3 www.thesun.co.uk/news/1506981/the-8ft-towering-great-dane-in-running-to-be-crowned-the-worlds-biggest-dog/ ). So with, at a guess, over a foot of neck, head and ear - even a non-record-breaking GD on all fours could easily be just under 5 foot. I'm 5'7" and I can't be bothered to measure the height of my head but I bet it's more than 7inches from the top of my head to my shoulder.

It's possible I exaggerated (as it just registered as "bloody huge, almost as tall as me!"). But also that I didn't.

[BestZebbie]

I think YANBU - I'd also be charmed by a shop dog in the general sense, but I wouldn't be impressed if a loose dog was out of the control/reach of its owner sufficiently to actually put its muzzle into my pram.
This would be triply so if it was a massive dog that is probably stronger than I am, as it would be harder for me to defend the child if it did attack and it would do a lot more damage (possibly a fatal amount) in just the first bite.

[CatThiefKeith]

OP please pm me and tell me where this shop is, I'd love it and am in NE Kent so it can't be far.

[CatThiefKeith]

Not to worry OP. I've found it. YABVU, he's only a baby! He was a tiny puppy in March.

[Mummyoflittledragon]

Cat
That would make him 8 months old now. Dogs including Great Danes by that age are slowing down growing height wise. He will get a bit taller, but that could be as little as a couple of inches - although it could be more - and the majority of growing for the next 10ish months will be bulking out. This dog will also be right at the start of puberty. I know Great Danes are generally relaxed, child friendly, sociable and accept others willingly into their environment. However even a pubescent Great Dane will he more unpredictable at that age. Even the most even tempered dog is only as good as its training and as the owner has illustrated, he sees no harm in letting the dog get nose to nose with small children and babies. So I don't think Id necessarily be trusting that he's training the dog correctly.

[Mummyoflittledragon]

Posted too soon.

He's not a baby. He's a dog.

The problem with British society is that we assign dogs with human emotions and character traits. In the other countries I lived, dogs are dogs and humans are humans.

My dog is my fur baby. We have snuggles but not for long as he's not the lap dog type. But when all is said and done, he's a dog with sharp fuck off teeth. And mine only weighs 11kg. He's just coming out of puberty, is very feisty and a great dog.

[Yakitori]

It does sound rather crazy having a dog who fills the shop, getting in customers' way, if it is such a small establishment. The shop owner must know it will put people off. YANBU - a dog in a shop isn't a problem per se but it sounds logistically daft in this case.

[Pluto30]

Yeah, again, GDs just aren't that tall.

Like I said, at the shoulder, the GD I know stands right at my hip height. I'm 5'7". His face is nowhere near my face.

[Pluto30]

(And he's a male, and he's 5 years old, not a puppy).

[Mummyoflittledragon]

Pluto op admitted to poetic license.