Dogs in Restaurants

[IDontGetOutMuch]

Took my mum out to lunch today. It was a nice enough place-£25 per head.
Have expectations changed with regard to dogs in restaurants? There were four other tables in our section and three had a dog with them.
Two of them barked at least three times during the meal. One jumped up at a waitress carrying puddings to another table, paws on her apron. One jumped up at the table wanting to be fed. One was petted by another waitress who then went straight to a table to take orders without washing hands. One was lying in the way so that I had to ask the owner to move it to allow my mother to get through with her Walker.
We had a dog when I was a child. He never went to a restaurant. What about people with allergies?
Is it okay that they do? Do I need to get over myself? I tried to compare to children. I expect my children to cause no disturbance to others at a restaurant and to stay at the table. We expected this even when they were little and actually rarely went to restaurants anyway.

@LST do you live rurally? I live in a town and would never assume dogs would be allowed in any of the pubs around here. I went to a country pub yesterday and didn’t see any signs of dogs (eg water bowls) either. I don’t think it’s the norm and I am very glad of that.

[quote PattyPan]@LST do you live rurally? I live in a town and would never assume dogs would be allowed in any of the pubs around here. I went to a country pub yesterday and didn’t see any signs of dogs (eg water bowls) either. I don’t think it’s the norm and I am very glad of that.[/quote]
Nope. I live in a town right next to a city. Every pub in town allows dogs except Whetherspoons and all but 1 cafe. All the cafes serve food too. So certainly the norm where I live and intact everywhere I have visited in the country in our van which is most weekends.

@LST do you mind saying which town so I know to avoid it?

I am a dog owner, he is one of the family, we have always had a dog. But I disagree with people taking them absolutely everywhere. There is no need to take a dog out to dinner 🙄
The only time I find it acceptable to have a dog in a food establishment is in the countryside when having a pub lunch, as obviously the dog is with you on the walk. Apart from that, no need.

@vivainsomnia

I certainly never assume dogs are allowed everywhere, in the opposite. When we did our research, we expected places accepting dogs to be an exception, not the majority as we pleasantly found out.

Well house plants and motorbikes don't bite, or bring allergies, people seem to be forgetting that not everyone's dog "sits nicely under the table" (it does make me laugh that on MN everyone's dog is super well behaved
But why assume all dogs to fall under that category. Mine has never bitten, not even snapped at anyone or anything. She doesn't shed so hypoallergenic. She is extremely well behaved and will seat nicely in our lap or the floor.

I would fully support any establishment asking owners to leave if their dog caused issues.

Dog allergies to the point of causing discomfort just being in the sane room, let alone in proximity outside is extremely rare. Those people would be as much at risk walking in the street or going anywhere public.

Your dog causes issues - I am less likely to spend money in that place because your dog is there.

I do not know your dog so I'm am expecting it to attack me and / or annoy me at any time. I am on edge, ready to kick your dog as hard as I can in the head when it attacks me.

@MaMelon

People with allergies need to look after themselves, rather than expect the world to behave as if everyone has their allergy with them

And yet we have nut free schools.

From Allergy UK (www.allergyuk.org/back-to-school-campaign/faqforparents):

'It is not possible to guarantee and enforce a nut free zone.

Staff cannot monitor all lunches and snacks brought in from home.

A free from environment creates a false sense of security and does not safely prepare children for environments where nuts may be present.

Age appropriate education and awareness is important.

The school would need to consider other children with different food allergies and it is not practical to restrict them all.

The school should have procedures in place to minimise risk of reaction via cross contamination etc.'

ie People with allergies are ultimately responsible for their own exposure to allergens.

@FrangipaniDeLaSqueegeeMop

Why would you need to leave if someone had a dog with them and they were no where near you?

Allergies
Phobias

To name but two.

To make a point to the manager that you are not willing to pay full price for a third class service, being forced to eat with animals.

To name a third

None of our schools in our LA area are nut free or any other allergen free. It's advised dc learn to manage their allergies as the world as a whole won't be nut free. Also you can't allow for all allergies. Why would nut allergies be catered for but not dairy for example, they won't ban milk from schools!

@TheVolturi

I am a dog owner, he is one of the family, we have always had a dog. But I disagree with people taking them absolutely everywhere. There is no need to take a dog out to dinner 🙄 The only time I find it acceptable to have a dog in a food establishment is in the countryside when having a pub lunch, as obviously the dog is with you on the walk. Apart from that, no need.

And if you're blind of course, but hey who cares about that?

@JediGnot oh dear, I didn't realise having to share your space with someone blind who has a guide dog would constitute 'third class service'.

I must tell my friend she has to stay indoors and never sully a restaurant again with her (and her dogs) presence.

The waitress didn’t need to wash her hands to take an order. As long as she washed them before handling food, cutlery or crockery.

ie People with allergies are ultimately responsible for their own exposure to allergens

Nope, nut free schools don’t mean ‘kids, manage yourselves’. Nice try though.

@JediGnot do you now ring up and check a place has no dogs before going? As that would really make life easier for you!

@MaMelon

ie People with allergies are ultimately responsible for their own exposure to allergens

Nope, nut free schools don’t mean ‘kids, manage yourselves’. Nice try though.

So nut free schools are guaranteed 100% that there will never be a nut, brought in by another pupil by mistake or otherwise, and the children with allergies can forget that they have allergies at all because they are 100% safe.

Is that right? Or is it that the children with some allergies still need to be on alert in case they come across their allergen?

Would never eat at a place that allows dogs in, didn't used to mind until a Lab curled one down under the owners table, it stank the place out and they had to asked to clean up, they were oblivious to it or where the type that doesn't pick up their dogs poo.

Anyway, who wants to eat a meal whilst a dog licks it arse?

There was a particularly horrific dog incident in a local pub last year. An Akita fractured the windpipe of an elderly person's Shih Tzu in a totally unprovoked attack. The owner of the Akita didn't even apologise. It must have been traumatic for the owners and the people that witnessed it.

Sounds less annoying that many children!

[quote PattyPan]@LST do you mind saying which town so I know to avoid it?[/quote]
No. And it isn't just my town. We go to lots and they're all the same. It's fab

@Furloughlaylow

Would never eat at a place that allows dogs in, didn't used to mind until a Lab curled one down under the owners table, it stank the place out and they had to asked to clean up, they were oblivious to it or where the type that doesn't pick up their dogs poo.

Anyway, who wants to eat a meal whilst a dog licks it arse?

There is no such thing as a dog-free venue, as all places must allow guide dogs by law. So your best bet is not to go out at all.

@LST thanks well I will at least tell you not to come to Reading if you want dog-friendly (other than guide dogs obviously) as thankfully I can’t think of anywhere in town that allows animals other than guide dogs. So I guess it has at least one thing going for it!

@PattyPan not sure why you’re so up in arms about this if you live in a town where there are no dogs in any cafes or restaurants. All you need to do now is when you go on holidays or away somewhere just ask when you’re booking. Not seeing the problem?

@ouchmyfeet - so do a fair percentage of the humans in the place usually!

[quote PattyPan]@LST thanks well I will at least tell you not to come to Reading if you want dog-friendly (other than guide dogs obviously) as thankfully I can’t think of anywhere in town that allows animals other than guide dogs. So I guess it has at least one thing going for it![/quote]
Really? None of the pubs in reading let dogs in?

Restaurants exist to make a profit. Lots of people like taking their dogs out with them so some restaurants allow this as it (presumably) attracts more customers than it scares off.

I agree that dogs should be well behaved but I suppose it’s quite awkward for the staff to police.

My dog loves coming along for a pub lunch . He doesn’t like it quite as much when other dogs try to say hi whilst he’s concentrating on looking like a good boy though... can’t risk missing out on his beef.

@ForeverAintEnough3 I’m concerned that people will start trying to bring their dogs into our local Specsavers there has been an increase in dog ownership all over the country and I don’t like the general cultural shift towards dogs being everywhere and everyone having a dog so I guess that is what I am protesting.