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.

@FrangipaniDeLaSqueegeeMop

I'm laughing my head off at the idea of airlines funding two planes just do someone can have a chocolate bar 🤣😂🤣 sounds realistic 🥴

None of this discussion is realistic. Reality is that dogs are increasingly allowed in restaurants, and if you don't like it, you need to either suck it up or have your dinner elsewhere, because businesses don't have to cater for you.

So, given that there are a lot of things that people can be allergic to, how are restaurants supposed to deal with them all? You're saying that no restaurants should have/use any allergens, right? It's the responsibility of the establishment to ensure that nobody with an allergy suffers a reaction on their premises?

Well people are mostly allergic to two types of things:

1. Food
2. Animals

For a restaurant the first is easy to manage. Customer states allergy, restaurants does their magic in the kitchen.

For the a restaurant the second is a bit more complicated as a customer may have no choice but to share their space with something they're allergic to. And if they're not obvious enough that they're dog friendly, that can mean an allergy sufferers, well, suffers as a result

@FrangipaniDeLaSqueegeeMop

If this thread has taught me nothing else it's to remember to ask when I make bookings if a restaurant is dog friendly or not. And give it a wide swerve if it is!

And then everybody's happy. See how easy it is?

dogtime.com/lifestyle/56357-can-die-dog-allergy
Interesting article. Confirms that serious anaphylaxis shock is very rare.

They must all happen to be relayed to people on this thread!

rantymcrantface66

MrsSkylerWhite
Dog owner, love them. Dogs in cafes, yes of course. Dogs in restaurants, no.

That's an odd blanket rule. Most cafes have open cooking areas next to seating and are small and quite cramped. I'd expect many cafes to be non dog friendly for that reason. Some restaurants are very pristine and formal and in maybe a city centre 1 Dogs don't really fit there but a nice relaxed country restaurant on a popular walking rouble with plenty space, why not?

I love our dog - obviously 🙄 - but cafes are pretty cheap snd we’re rarely in them for longer than an hour.
Restaurants are generally pricier. Some dogs are not great indoors for 3 hours, which is about what we would spend in one for dinner, and I’d be grumpy if our expensive meal was interrupted by a stressed dog. It would spoil it for me. I’d be worrying about the dog.

@TheFoundations Indeed

However the onus needs to be on establishments to make it clear that dogs will probably be nearby to customers. Not just assume everyone is a dog lover, or have an ad-hoc rule of some dogs are allowed in if the customer makes enough of a stink about it

If this thread has taught me nothing else it's to remember to ask when I make bookings if a restaurant is dog friendly or not. And give it a wide swerve if it is!
Finally one sensible attitude.

@vivainsomnia

I'm still waiting for how those with dog allergies would cope with a guy at the next table wearing a jumper with dog hair. Would you tell him to get out of the restaurant because you have an allergy and it outrageous they could come in with one dog hair on their clothing and not considered allergic people.

Same on a train, a plane, the cinema....how do you cope?

It's happened to me and I've had bad attacks from heavy amounts of dander on clothing. Once was sharing a bus seat for a work event. I had to leave the event and go to a clinic for a shot of Benadryl. Another time was on an airplane-they allowed me to switch seats in time and I washed my nasal cavity and throat which my doctor has suggested. I had pre-taken some allergy medicine before the flight but a lot of animal dander (cat, dog, horse - these I've been tested for) can override effects of allergy medicine. After an allegedly attack, I have painful breathing for days sometimes.

I don't mind if a restaurant accepts dogs as long as they advertise it! It's the shops and bookstores and grocery stores where I HAVE TO SHOP that should not allow them.

I grew up with dogs and cats and love them, but when my allergies developed, I just found the best way was to stay away from them. In the last ten years or so, it seems increasingly more difficult and I find it unfair. I also feel awful for people who have been attacked by dogs and believe this laissez faire attitude means fewer responsible pet owners than in the past.

Nut allergies can be airborne and potentially kill the person with the allergen. Not all allergens can be carried through the air like peanuts or treenuts, hence why most primary schools are nut free.

Someone drinking a milkshake (dairy allergy) on flight won't carry through the air like nuts can, hence the ban on some flights because the airborne contact could kill them.

Watch someone suffer anaphylaxis shock all because you needed a snickers. I guarantee witnessing that would make you think twice. That person hasn't chosen to have an allergy, they aren't trying "to be special" or have everyone cater for them. They could die. Simple as that. So if someone cannot go an x amount of hours on a flight without eating something that could kill someone who's just going from a to b, then well, they're a cunt really.

Doesn’t bother me in the slightest.

It's easy enough to check if it's dog friendly and make a decision accordingly.

Like the people who want to dine with their dogs do.

I wouldn't feel that it was fair on the staff working to raise the issue with them. People can be bloody hideous to waiting staff, it's not really fair to them to have to deal with this too.
Someone up thread mentioned things don't change if those who need to know don't know about it so perhaps I'll start emailing companies instead. It won't deal with the situation at the time but perhaps businesses need to know that the default situation isn't that everyone is fine with it.
I should add that I do like dogs. My Dad had a lovely Lab, but I like them in the right situation.

Are they supposed to have signs up about what cleaning products they use? What plants they have? Dust mites clearance? Mould clearance?

These are common allergies. Surely pubs need to be making sure that their customers are aware of all potential allergens in their premises? Mosquitoes? I could come a cropper from that one myself, actually. So definitely pubs need to be having signs up to make clear that all doors and windows have been netted. Anything else?

I'm definitely allergic, seriously allergic to children. Dirty, noisy, smelly, messy, unpredictable,uncontrollable creatures, often ill-disciplined and poorly trained, fed inappropriately and over indulged. Some of them, I've learned, even bite, and are allowed to scream and brawl in public, including 'restaurants'.

Down, Stanley! In your basket, Jayden !

I don't mind as long as these places advertise themselves as family friendly - then I know to avoid eating there when in the U.K. Doubtless for the good of all.

Somehow, who knows why, eating out in France and Spain is far less likely to be blighted by bad behaviour from infant guests.

Dog friendly ? That I can cope with.

Not "allegedly". Should be "allergy"

@Delphinium20 that's awful you poor thing! I used to work in A&E and I remember one young mum who came in with a similar allergic reaction to dander, she'd taken her DD to a party at another child's house who had cats and dogs - she'd checked beforehand and the other parents had lied and said no they had no pets and hid them away! Her eyelids were so swollen he couldn't actually open them to see. She was terrified, I saw many things but that one stayed with me

@Rosewaterblossom

You've created a fantasy person on a fantasy aeroplane with a fantasy chocolate bar, and you're calling them a cunt for fantasy -eating the chocolate.

I think you just enjoy being pissed off.

I don't mind if a restaurant accepts dogs as long as they advertise it! It's the shops and bookstores and grocery stores where I HAVE TO SHOP that should not allow them
Totally agree, but do bookshops and food stores accept dogs? Never seen one in either, except pet shops.

And yes s a PP pointed out, watching someone going into anaphylactic shock is absolutely horrific.

But hey, some people like Snickers so why should they be deprived of a tasty treat

[quote FrangipaniDeLaSqueegeeMop]@TheFoundations allergies can be debilitating - why should allergy sufferers be the one to walk away? Would you tell someone with a peanut allergy not to get on a plane because somebody has brought a Snickers on board?or would you expect the Snickers eater to be the decent person?[/quote]
Well no but there's a million other restaurants and not a million other flights. That's a daft argument.

@TheFoundadations, again, establishments by law have to display allergens clearly to customers. Even bakeries now have to display allergy info on products displayed in their window ie; Danish pastry (contains nuts, gluten, wheat) etc, whereas before they could just write "apple Danish "
"Dogs on premises" would be great.

[quote TheFoundations]@Rosewaterblossom

You've created a fantasy person on a fantasy aeroplane with a fantasy chocolate bar, and you're calling them a cunt for fantasy -eating the chocolate.

I think you just enjoy being pissed off.[/quote]
It was a PP who actually said the solution to ensuring nut allergy sufferers don't die when flying is NOT to remove nuts from planes, but to have the allergy sufferers put up with it...or to charter a brand new flight 😂

@Words

I'm definitely allergic, seriously allergic to children. Dirty, noisy, smelly, messy, unpredictable,uncontrollable creatures, often ill-disciplined and poorly trained, fed inappropriately and over indulged. Some of them, I've learned, even bite, and are allowed to scream and brawl in public, including 'restaurants'.

Down, Stanley! In your basket, Jayden !

I don't mind as long as these places advertise themselves as family friendly - then I know to avoid eating there when in the U.K. Doubtless for the good of all.

Somehow, who knows why, eating out in France and Spain is far less likely to be blighted by bad behaviour from infant guests.

Dog friendly ? That I can cope with.

Oh a lovely classist post. How refreshing

Why do people who hate children join a parenting site anyway?

We had dinner in a naice pub in Dorset when our kids were much younger. A couple and their friend came in with 3 boisterous Springer spaniels which then behaved in exactly the way you’d expect 3 boisterous spaniels to behave in a foodie pub. At one point the woman had one spaniel up on her lap with its paws and chest on the table lunging at their companion’s starter. It was a complete bloody circus. All the while my primary school-aged children chatted with us using their indoor voices and were considerate of other diners. Reader: I judged. Hard.

Go to another restaurant OP if you don’t like dogs.
Many people got dogs during lockdown , and many are giving them up because so many places are dog unfriendly.
Live and let live.