AIBU to be surprise d that dogs are seemingly suddenly everywhere?

[Sibsmum]

What has happened? Has anyone else noticed this phenomenon? Dogs suddenly seen to be allowed into shops, cafes, service station...I am not talking assistance animaks, just general dogs.
Now I am not adverse to dogs, but if a wet nose drew back the curtain as I was getting changed in a shop changing room, I would be miffed ( saw it happen!) And I don't see how dogs in cafes is hygienic. Dogs can be off putting to sacred of dog people. But I don't want to get into the why not...I just really want to know wh at I missed that resulted in this happening

Oythebumbler

Lols. It is averse, not adverse. My gaff ( or one of the many word changes that happen by magic?)
X

I'm really scared of dogs, with historic good reason to be, to the point that it's stopped me going for walks. Yanbu they are everywhere, so are the "oh he won't hurt you, he wouldn't hurt a fly" brigade - so says you, I've heard that before.

I love it! It makes me really happy to get to unexpectedly fuss a dog when I'm out for lunch etc 😊

My dog is a pain in the arse so we can never take him unfortunately. He's not badly behaved as such but is a rescue and cries if he doesn't have 100% attention when in public but I love meeting other people's dogs

People with dog allergies need to accept that dogs are a part of the environment and manage their symptoms accordingly. I am terribly allergic to grasses but I don’t expect that grass should be banned because it inconveniences me.

People seem to forget that humans evolved alongside pathogens and allergens and in fact we need exposure to them in order for our immune systems to develop properly. We were literally born into dirt for thousands of years and many on the planet live in exceptionally unhygienic environments. Interestingly those people are far less affected by allergies and autoimmune conditions.

Interesting split of opinions. I am on the fence except for the cafe situation. Interesting point about cats, but don't cat cafes have cats there already sort of to be the usp? I didn't think you had to/ were allowed take your own cat. Haven't been to one so don't actually speak from experience. H
Any shop owners who can speak to the point about revenue being up , down or the same, since allowing dogs in?

If you hate dogs it’s simple go to the places they aren’t allowed. There’s loads.

Meanwhile those of us with dogs will frequent the places they are.

Any shop owners who can speak to the point about revenue being up , down or the same, since allowing dogs in?

We've always allowed dogs and it's a popular decision with our customers for the most part. It's an outdoor shop, though, which probably explains it and 95% of similar shops in the town do the same. I think our revenue would go down if we stopped allowing them - we have regulars who always bring their dogs and who say their dog loves coming here because they get a fuss and a treat every time. I have one customer who brings his dog in even if he's not intending to buy anything because his dog loves the fuss she gets the she comes in.

It's good business!

There are something like 9 million dogs in teh UK and if even half of them have a human thats still a lot of buying power.

Dogs in cafes/restaurants - sorry, no more unhygenic than toddlers I am afraid.

Both spread dirt.
Both dribble.
Both lick shit they shouldn't.
Both potentially bite.
Both spread parasites.
Both can be horrible little disease vectors.

IF.. not properly managed by their people.

As a trainer/behaviorist I am all for dogs being allowed in more places because this helps to increase sociability/habituates dogs to the human environment and is better for dog welfare.

I am also all for people training their dogs and managing them sensibly of course - I no more like rude, out of control dogs than I like rude out of control children.

As for those who are scared or horribly allergic - sorry, but those are your issues, not mine - you deal with them however you need to but don't make it my problem.

If we banned everything people could be allergic to or frightened of, we would all live in little bubbles and never go anywhere or do anything.

Here in the Lake District, dogs in shops/cafes is perfectly normal and has been for years. It's a business thing, for the most part. They don't want to lose the business of say, a four-person family just because they have a dog with them. So they allow the dog in too. The shop I work in allows dogs, and we provide water and biscuits (and fusses!).

A high proportion of people who choose to holiday in the UK will do so because they are dog owners and want to bring their dog with them. So it makes sense for business owners in tourist areas to be dog friendly.

Lois,
Sorry but that sounded a bit harsh. It must be awful to suffer severe allergies to anything, and I would like to think that I would feel sympathy to anyone afflicted by them.
Also I think that there is high infant mortality in the places you refer to. I guess you have a point to make, but surely we wouldn't want people with lowered immunity or allergies to just die like they might have years ago? Maybe I am mis reading because I felt you were a bit 'goady' . If so sorry.

Thank you shop owners for your perspective.
X

I don't mind small dogs in public places, shops, cafes provided they're on leads. I find lap dogs quite cute and entertaining, as does my toddler. The problem starts when people bring their Rottweilers, staffies, greyhounds and other large breeds that make people nervous. I don't think large powerful animals have any place in a cafe or shop. Big dogs also smell and shed more.

Big dogs also smell and shed more.

Nonsense!

My german shepherds are better behaved than 90% of small dogs onestep

Saying that, I still don’t take mine to public places that often for the dogs sake more than anything as people want to stroke them constantly when they would rather be sleeping!

Sibsmum It’s not “goady”, it’s science. Humans need microbial exposure to develop and maintain a normal immune response, protecting against infection and allergy. That’s not to say we don’t need some level of hygiene, most importantly access to clean drinking water. The infant mortality rate is high in developing countries because they children are concurrently malnourished and don’t have access to adequate medical care, therefore they die from diseases that are common childhood illnesses in the West.

I’m not unsympathetic to people with allergies. But you can’t reasonably expect something that is ubiquitous in the environment to go away because it affects a tiny proportion of the population.

Yes there are far too many dogs everywhere you go these days and people aren't just content at having one either. It has put me off visiting certain places because of them.

there are quite a lot of pubs and cafes that have always allowed them where we live. i dont believe my dog is any less hygenic than people's shoes or their kids. she lays quietly under the table. no i dont want to sit outside with my dog and inhale lungfulls of smoke and eat smoke tasting food. sorry if you are allergic, but there are invariably other cafes around that bar dogs....so there are options, apart from maybe in certain forest areas - but then if you are allergic to dogs you may struggle there anyway

I think that dogs in cafes/pubs should stay on the floor. I wouldn't dream of allowing my dog on a seat or on my lap (he is big mind you). I would also remove him if he was barking or wanted to be moving about all the time. He belongs on the floor under my chair or the table. He is normally unnoticed by most other people.

A few weeks back DH and I went to a pub. Ddog was with us. DDog sat under the table, stayed quiet and minded his own business the whole time. Next to us was a table with a few couples with young children - two babies, two toddlers and an older child. They were lovely kids but they were loud and boisterous - not surprising as they were just being kids. I can guarantee their presence was far more noticeable and probably more troubling to most patrons then that of our dog.

I think if a business/shop/cafe owner wants to allow dogs in, then that's their decision and they should be allowed to do so. If you don't like dogs or are allergic to them, then you can choose not to frequent that business. I think there will always be places that don't allow dogs - be it because it's an H/O decision or because the owner dislikes them for whatever reason.

But business owners will make the decisions that make them money at the end of the day, and with people no longer going abroad due to the cost, they'll holiday in the UK and take their dogs with them (cheaper than kennels). So it makes sense for shops to say "yes, we'll allow dogs because that means we get the business of all those families (adults and children) who are on holiday with their pooch". Similarly in rural locations where most people have dogs - you allow them because it doesn't make financial sense not to.

Yes huge increase no idea why. Shouldnt be in cafes etc unless assistance dogs

It's not against the law to have dogs in cafes or restaurants and it's hardly unhygienic when compared with the mess left on the floor after a toddler has visited somewhere....

I purposely find dog friendly places to take my dog when out our local pub allows dogs and serves food, it has a restaurant upstairs where dogs aren't allowed.
If you go to Germany etc it's pretty common.

I have a large dog, she has a short coat and doesn't shed in fact we take a blanket for her to lie on as she's a sight hound so doesn't like hard floors. She pretty much just goes to sleep!

As others have said there are far more non dog friendly places than dog friendly places so obviously if you go to a dog friendly place there is likely to be multiple dogs. If you don't like dogs then don't go you have far more options available then the people with dogs who just want to be able to enjoy a day out with the whole family which includes the dog!

why shouldnt they londonrach?

twiglet

My friend is from the Netherlands and was astonished when visiting the UK and I ran in to a shop after her to get her back out as she’d walked in my dog.

“What do you mean the dog isn’t allowed inside?”

Same reaction when later on, whilst sat outside a pub, it started raining and we had to leave because dog weren’t allowed in

• “but it is raining, why not?”.

It never occurred to her that dogs wouldn’t be allowed in, much like it had never occurred to me that dogs were allowed in shops etc in other countries.

Maybe at last businesses have realised that lots of people have dogs and they are losing custom if people out with their dogs (especially people on holiday) can't go in their shop/café etc.

We are actually pretty behind most of Europe on that score. We lived in France almost 20 years ago and took our dog everywhere with us - restaurants, bars, shops, hotels, gites etc.

At first we used to ask "can we bring our dog" and were just met with incredulous looks and "why not".

Then we came back to the UK and not only could we not take him into shops, restaurants etc, the amount of hotels, cottages etc that wouldn't accept him was ridiculous.

Where we live there are now quite a few places that allow dogs including a great vegan restaurants.

I don't see what the problem is with dogs in restaurants. They don't go into the kitchen do they? As I said, in a lot of European countries they have been allowed in for years

Yeah the cats are already at the cafe running all over the place, jumping on tables etc 🤢. I love cats but this is too far for me... I’m amazed they manage to obtain the correct health and safety certificates tbh.