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.

@Rosewaterblossom

Didn't you say about only having to be in a room with a dog for 10 minutes and your allergy gets set off? Or was that someone else?

It feels like during the course of the thread you've got from that to not being able to be in a room with a person who one met a person whose sister's doctor's niece had a dog for an afternoon once.

Sorry if you're not the '10 minute' person.

@Rosewaterblossom

It's bizarre that people actually think it's OK for paying customers to avoid restaurants designed for paying customers to eat at, all because they can't have a meal without their doggie sat under/beside the table. Kind of childish.

Who are you - one person - to say what it was designed for. The person setting it up has designed it as a dog friendly eating place for people to take their dogs to if they wish. There are one that places designed for eating with no dogs, no kids etc for those who want. It's frequently not possible to leave your dog at home ie camping or on a day trip so it's good there is options for everyone

@Rosewaterblossom

It's bizarre that people actually think it's OK for paying customers to avoid restaurants designed for paying customers to eat at, all because they can't have a meal without their doggie sat under/beside the table. Kind of childish.

Why is childish that when you patronise a business, you choose one which caters for your needs? I think I've spotted what's happening here: you think that restaurants have a duty to you.

They don't. They are businesses. They are there to make money for themselves. Nobody is obliged to go to them, and they are not obliged to provide anything special for any customer. They don't even have to serve you.

If you don't like a restaurant or you feel unsafe because it allows dogs, don't go there. If you're not sure if they allow dogs, ask them before you go.

Being a 'paying customer' doesn't mean that the establishment has to cater to you. Not in any way.

Actually incorrect, I love digs but there are a lot of owners of fur babies that need their head wobbling. The type of ignorant dog lover than cannot understand that everyone doesn't love their dog, the behaviour of their dog and want it in their space
Haha, indeed. That's what I think of many parents of annoying toddlers who desperately try to make eye contact with you and expect a smile and a 'she's so cute' when actually their kid is just an annoying, noisy, not cute at all brat!

I still tolerate eating next to them.

For those who have such allergy to dogs they couldn't be in the same room as one, wouldn't they have an issue with a dog owner who left their fur friend at home but coming to the pub with a jumper full of their dog's hair?

Genuine question for dog owners, but how do we approach you if your dog is causing what we deem to be a situation that makes ourselves/other diners uncomfortable?
I'll give you two real life experiences. Out for a large family get together we were eating starters and had ordered main courses. In walks a chap with a chihuahua and sits at an adjacent table. Dog proceeds to yap every time anyone walks in the vicinity of their table so basically constantly.
Second scenario. Out for brunch on quite a hot day couple sits at a table next to us. Puts their two border collies under the table. The dogs don't settle, are constantly moving and don't really fit under a table for two people anyway. As it's a hot day we didn't really want someone else's dog intermittently sitting on our feet.
On both occasions we've quietly seethed and it has impacted on our enjoyment of our meals.
How do we best deal with those situations? We don't tend to say anything because we don't want to appear confrontational.

@vivainsomnia

Actually incorrect, I love digs but there are a lot of owners of fur babies that need their head wobbling. The type of ignorant dog lover than cannot understand that everyone doesn't love their dog, the behaviour of their dog and want it in their space Haha, indeed. That's what I think of many parents of annoying toddlers who desperately try to make eye contact with you and expect a smile and a 'she's so cute' when actually their kid is just an annoying, noisy, not cute at all brat!

I still tolerate eating next to them.

For those who have such allergy to dogs they couldn't be in the same room as one, wouldn't they have an issue with a dog owner who left their fur friend at home but coming to the pub with a jumper full of their dog's hair?

I guess the difference is that people cannot leave children home but dogs can be left. Apart from those fur babies suffering separation anxiety of course .

@Jijithecat

Dog owners are people. There isn't a 'best way' other than the usual 'say what you feel and be nice about it'. Some people might think you're being unreasonable, some will be more than happy to oblige.

It's actually a really bizarre sense of entitlement that you expect every venue to cater for your own personal opinion and unusual severity of allergy. The people I know with allergies have pets themselves. Whilst I like that there are places to take my dog to on occasion, I also don't mind that there's many many places I can't take her to, in fact I like that there are dog free places as I know some people are fearful of dogs or have concerns over the hygiene aspect and I'm glad there are places they can go without any risk of encountering dogs. I certainly don't want free dog access for all and am happy to ask at a premises if they take dogs and if not to move on to somewhere that does. There are markets for both dog friendly and dog free eating establishment so it makes good business sense to provide these.

To be honest though I never took my toddlers to restaurants we built up the how to eat at a table at home first. We used more casual places like cafes etc but not restaurants.

However, eating as a family is very much done in many parts of the world. Eating with your dog present is not quite the thing in many countries; indeed, some countries actually eat dogs.

@Jijithecat the same way I would approach a family whose kid is playing a game with annoying sound on their phone, which sadly is becoming all to common.

I'd get on with my meal trying to ignore it. If it got bad, I'd start giving looks, if this still didn't do anything, I'd ask as calmly as I could if they could turn the volume down, get their dog to stop yapping.

I guess the difference is that people cannot leave children home but dogs can be left
And so I thought babysitters were popular when parents want a nice evening out!

@vivainsomnia

Not everyone has an available or trustworthy babysitter. And many people enjoy days out their their offspring, including eating out. Because contrary to popular opinion on this thread, not every child is a feral food-thrower in a restaurant.

But all dogs can be left alone.

Can't say I'd approach anyone with an annoying dog as I find the kind of people who bring dogs to restaurants are the kind that think it's a privilege for anyone to be in the vicinity of their "fur baby". It would be utterly pointless saying anything.

[quote FrangipaniDeLaSqueegeeMop]@vivainsomnia

Not everyone has an available or trustworthy babysitter. And many people enjoy days out their their offspring, including eating out. Because contrary to popular opinion on this thread, not every child is a feral food-thrower in a restaurant.

But all dogs can be left alone. [/quote]
All dogs cannot be left alone. My current dog can no problem, but my dog when I lived at home couldn't.

99.9% of dogs can be left alone then. And I imagine people who say their dog can't be left alone still manage to go to work, or the doctors, or the supermarket; or to hospital appointments etc without Fido in tow?

I guess the difference is that people cannot leave children home but dogs can be left

It's awful that eating in restaurants in mandatory and these poor parents are forced to bring their children.

Obviously you don't spend much time with a dog, from this comment and your general stance here. It's perfectly plain when you have a dog with you a lot of the time that people generally love them. People smile and approach, they make comments between themselves that you over hear. They ask if they can give the dog one of their biscuits or crisps. They want to know (dog owners will recognise, it's always the same 3 questions) name, age, and breed.

That's not people being uncomfortable to say they don't like the dog. And, honestly, it's all the time. Most people generally love dogs. The venom on here is nothing like real life. I've met a handful of people in 8 years who have looked uncomfortable around my dog, and always moved her away from them. It's that simple

Obviously I don’t spend time with dogs because I don’t like them so I avoid them! I spent more than enough being forced to go to people’s houses with dogs and be slobbered on to know I’ve had enough of them for life. You wouldn’t see me looking uncomfortable though, because I would have crossed the road to avoid you well in advance.

@FrangipaniDeLaSqueegeeMop

99.9% of dogs can be left alone then. And I imagine people who say their dog can't be left alone still manage to go to work, or the doctors, or the supermarket; or to hospital appointments etc without Fido in tow?

No idea. There was always someone in with him.

Not everyone has an available or trustworthy babysitter
How is that my problem? The same as how is it your problem that I happen to be on holiday and can't leave my dog alone in the rental place?

We tolerate each other. Fortunately for you, you'll likely manage to find somewhere where dogs are forbidden. It's much harder to find places that are child free!

Jijithecat
The same way I'd respond to any situation where another person's actions were causing me issues or discomfort: decide if it's a big enough issue to raise it, decide if speaking to them is likely to change the situation, then speak to them politely about it or ignore because unless they're breaking the rules or expectations of the establishment then other people being a bit annoying is part of life.

In your examples, would speaking to the owners of a yappy dog change the situation? Probably not. So I'd either raise it with the staff if it was a serious issue, or chalk it up to the fact that some people are inconsiderate and mentally file it with people who have loud phonecalls on the train, people who blast music/videos on loud in public, and parents who think their children should be free to shout and scream in all situations.

With the collies, would mentioning they're getting in my way lead to a logical resolution? Probably, so I'd say "excuse me, your dogs are coming round my feet. Please could you keep them away".

Well if there was always someone in with him no need to take him to restaurants really

It would put me right off. Pubs I understand but not proper restaurants. I'm a dog owner but the sense of entitlement of a minority of dog owners is ridiculous. I feel sorry for those with allergies or phobia of them.

@FrangipaniDeLaSqueegeeMop

Well if there was always someone in with him no need to take him to restaurants really

They didn't. My dog can be left but we still take him to restaurants 🙂

I walked into a living room where the pet wasn't even there but it triggered a severe reaction from the dander in the air. I was responding to an incorrect post about people not being able to be in a dogs company for 10 minutes, I said it can take under a minute for any allergy to be triggered.

I don't expect anyone to cater for my needs especiallyfor me. I suppose if a place cannot cater for the disabled then that's irrelevant too as they can just go somewhere else that does eh. Oh wait..

@FrangipaniDeLaSqueegeeMop

Can't say I'd approach anyone with an annoying dog as I find the kind of people who bring dogs to restaurants are the kind that think it's a privilege for anyone to be in the vicinity of their "fur baby". It would be utterly pointless saying anything.

🤣🤣🤣

As a dog owner who sometimes takes my dog to a pub, I wouldn't have let either of those scenarios happen. My dog is tiny so she'd not get in anyone's way and if she barked then I'd remove her. Sorry I don't know how you approach individuals as dog owners, just like non dog owners, range from considerate, reasonable and approachable to the opposite.