To wonder why the UK became so dog friendly?

[LancelotsLeftArm]

I have had several dogs in my life but I'm finding recent events in the last 2-3 years baffling.

Local ice cream shop lets dogs in - no longer go there as last time there was a massive dog blocking serving place where DC choose flavours, not sure what breed but size of a Labrador. 2 year Old's face ended up getting licked and knocked over,now DC doesn't feel comfortable around dogs. Always dogs there now but usually not that bad.

Family member has 2 labs that hate each other (no idea why) plus a history of "nipping" each other (?!) and recently they were growling at each other, teeth bared, lips rolling back. Toddler right between them with a toy. Heard the growling, got worse for about about 2mins, decided to tell toddler to move away quietly and calmly. Put myself between toddler and dogs. In law Relative went ape shit , offended. FFS. Decided we're not welcome in future if we don't accept that the dogs would "never harm a child" (like that's a reassurance).

School (primary school) is dog friendly and allowing dogs on leads in playground at pickup times which would NEVER have been accepted in my school. Including larger ones, not terriers etc - more Pointers etc.

@MixedCouple - nonces!! WTF

@pharaohrocher our local NT gardens are dog friendly so may be regional, but they have to be on leads and can’t go in the houses.

They are posting that on other dog threads too.

Because dogs are great! That's why. Though only well behaved ones should be allowed in public places.

Must be a full moon. Or something in the water.

I know it's ridiculous.

I find it dirt annoying but try to avoid dog places. Last night catching up with friends and the pub had turned into fog pub overnight with loads of dogs there on a Friday night. Odd

This 👆

I am a Lab owner too. Wouldn't dream of taking him shopping.

Do you know how daft you sound? YOU chose a dog friendly restaurant and complain about dogs being in it...

I don’t think she sounds daft. ‘Dog friendly’ shouldn’t mean ‘dogs wandering around licking customers’.

I wouldn’t consciously take a dog shopping but there are often occasions, especially on weekends away, that you happen to have a dog with you, and it’s nice to be able to pop in places, including clothes shops.

I’d definitely prefer well behaved dogs in places, than rowdy children who can’t behave.

@modgepodge she sounds daft saying " dogs don't belong in restaurants" when she was IN one where they're allowed.

I'm the op, looks like someone raised a zombie thread!

I started reading and was nodding along thinking "ooh that's odd, the EXACT same once cream shop incident happened to us" .. and I kept reading then realised it's this thread from ages ago 😁

My toddler is a bit sturdier now but we still won't go back to the ice cream shop where the blocking and licking incident happened. Urgh!!

For me, it’s not just that dogs seem to be allowed everywhere these days but a lot of owners seem mortally offended when you don’t love their dog as much as they do. We were at a pub recently and there was a dog at the table behind us. My sons are quite nervous of dogs and this dog kept wandering over to our table, brushing past my sons legs when they were eating, actually walked under our table at one point. I asked them if they wouldn’t mind keeping their dog away from our table please as my sons are nervous of dogs and they called it back over but the entire meal I could hear them tutting, shaking their heads and muttering about us. I think I was quite polite when I spoke to them!

I love dogs but I hate the they would never thing. You don't know. They could be ill or in pain. We grew up with 2 labs. They never once hurt us but when we were older and my brother had kids my gran kept them away. He was old and what he tolerated with us he wasn't necessarily going to tolerate then.

This does not sound 'daft'. The point being made is that people don't know they're in a dog friendly pub or cafe until they've sat down/ordered/started their cream tea and some slavering hound comes over to liick their leg. Tongue-in-cheek by the way. I don't mind most dogs, but those let loose to bother other tables should most definitely be on a very short lead or sitting under the dog-owner's table.

It's not 'daft' at all. Non-dog owners don't tend to look for 'dog-friendly on signs, tiny ptint on websites etc. They're not tuned into dog info and so don't avoid places, especially if they've never visited them before.

Dog-friendly should just mean dogs are accepted on the premises, kept very close to the owner and not allowed to bother other customers. If dogs are to have more freedom than that, it should be clearly flagged up as a major point in the nane or business sign, - like a kitty cafe or similar.

print - oh for a spellchecker! 🙂

I'd much rather see dog friendly cafes etc rather than have dogs left in boiling hot cars, tied upto lamp posts or left at home for hours on end.

I don't understand people moaning about dogs in the relatively few places dogs are allowed to be while most of the UK is totally fine with cats being allowed to be anywhere. You can avoid a cafe or two but a cat apparently can't be stopped from coming into my back garden, my actual property, and causing damage. Sometimes our culture is so bizarre.

It’s not a ‘relatively few places’ though. They’re everywhere!

There is virtually nowhere without dogs now - even dog free beaches are not free of the entitled wankers who think the rules don’t apply to them. It puts me off going anywhere now. And dog owners will rejoice in that but it does have a bearing on access and who is really being excluded from certain areas because of this need to include dogs at all costs.

Cats don't kill people
Cats are not encouraged by people to shit on pavement and down alleyways
Cats aren't encouraged to jump up at people and when they knock them over/ruin clothes/frighten them deemed 'just friendly'
Cat owners tend not to advertise their negligent cuntishness. Many dog owners see this as some sort of redeeming feature.

Relatively few places??

Dogs are allowed everywhere now

Exactly. Dogs are dangerous. Cats are just annoying.

Also, I have one of those only heard by cats repellers in my garden. It's excellent and might even keep foxes out too. (We've livestock and don't get them despite being Country)

People are highly encouraged to pick dog shit up. Bins are provided for it. I know people often don't, but they aren't actually allowed to just leave it. Whereas a cat can wander into my property, leave a steaming turd and fuck off. Nothing I can do about it.
At least you can avoid dogs. I can't even avoid cats by staying home.
And they absolutely can be dangerous. Their poo carries disease and they scratch. I went to school with a girl who was blind in one eye because her cat scratched her when she was a baby. And they are endangering wildlife in a serious way.

I've just never understood the blasé nature towards cats and all the damage they cause vs the hate for an animal that is largely avoidable.