For being annoyed I was asked to stand on a bus because of dog allergies?

[anywayhereswonderwall]

I went to visit a friend in London today and I took my dog. It's worth noting she is a mini poodle, and hypoallergenic, and well behaved. You can barely even tell she's there. I got on the bus as part of my journey. It was the middle of the day so there were a few empty seats (but not loads).

I got on and sat down, and the woman a few rows behind me said 'can you move , I have a dog allergy'. I apologised and moved a few rows forwards, the furthest forwards I could go and still get a seat.

She then shouted forwards 'not far enough, you're going have to stand at the front'.

I was confused, but did it. I spent the rest of the 35 minute journey standing right at the front of the bus while the woman was 3/4 of the way along, sitting.

I did what she said for the journey, but when I got off I felt annoyed and I'm not sure if I'm justified.

Not accommodating @fourteenhouses would not have been discrimination on the grounds of disability. If the policy is to allow dogs and a customer has an aversion to dogs then they simply go somewhere else. The reasonable adjustment here is for the disabled person to acknowledge that it’s not reasonable to eject other people from the premises to suit their needs when it’s perfectly possible for them to go elsewhere. They’re not being excluded - the decision to stay or leave is entirely theirs.

I don't know why he cared either. I found the encounter baffling! But it happened and i've no agenda -i'm a dog owner myself now and Ds is fine with our spaniel, and he's never reacted to his grandparents dogs.

That's not really the case. Many hotels don't accept dogs. Just check before you book, then it won't be 'unbeknownst'.

@Goldenbear - bet the mums wouldn't be happy to leave if one of their precious darlings was being 'yappy'.
Why do parents expect us to tolerate their children, but won't make the same allowances for people who consider their dogs just as important as children?

In the case of allergies, whoever is there first takes priority but public transport is very different to a private restaurant. You can't expect to visit a dog friendly privately owned establishment and people be turned away because of your allergies or fears. The establishment chose to be dog friendly for business reasons and you must choose somewhere where no dogs are allowed.
If allergy suffers are expecting people with dogs to be turned away based on their allergy, then they must be prepared to evidence their allergy.

@CheerIeader
How will you cope if one of your children dies? What a rubbish question to ask.

Yes, YABU. Only assistance dogs should be allowed on public transport. Get a car if you wanna travel with your dog.

@TheObstinateHeadstrongGirl are you for real? Why shouldn't someone take their dog on public transport to get somewhere?

@ScribblingPixie it honestly never crossed my mind to check if a 5 star hotel in a large city was ‘dog friendly’. It seems utterly bizarre to me that it would be. A country inn type place, yes, a city centre hotel, not so much. It certainly didn’t mention it was on booking.com where I booked it.

But trust me, I will check in future.

Would you have demanded someone with a guide dog leave?
Do you have a scale of which disabilities are more important?

I immediately spoke to the owner who said ‘well we are dog friendly!’ I said no sorry a child with disabilities comes first. One of the women started saying they had just as much right to be there it was awful.

FFS. Why did you take your DC to a dog friendly café and then come over all entitled to send people with dogs away? have a word with yourself.

(if i had been the café owner I'd have told you to suck it up or leave. I may or may not have not charged you for anything you consumed depending on your attitude)

Well. That's your opinion which is clearly not shared by most people in this thread.

According to a post further down the thread she would have.

As a guide dog owner I would have refused. And the owner of the cafe would be unable to insist I left without breaking the law. So she would either have to suck it up or leave herself.

And it’s really unfortunate, because there would always be compromise to be had. If I walked into a cafe and a child started having a meltdown and the mum was stressed I would ask to sit at a table where the dog was out of the way, he would be under the table anyway and not in sight and everyone would be happy.

But if I walked into a cafe and a child started having a meltdown and the mother started insisting I leave telling me her child trumped my guide dog I absolutely would refuse to leave. I would still ask to sit away from her child, but there’s not a hope in hell that I would leave.

But we can all be reasonable people and all co-exist together. That breaks down when you get unreasonably entitled posters such as the one above.

In my neck of the woods, there are usually no signs saying dog friendly but a lot of cafes tend to have a dog bowl of water by the doorway which gives it away...
If encountering a dog will cause that much distress to someone then the onus is on the family to check that somewhere is 'dog friendly' or not.
As for on the bus, there are polite ways of asking someone to move but I don't believe that the dog owner should be left standing as a result.

Dogs are allowed on public transport, assistance dogs or not. There is no “should” about it. OP was perfectly entitled to use the bus with her dog.

Allergy woman could have chosen to take the bus or not - she chose to travel by bus. Not OP’s problem.

i do have a lot of sympathy with people with allergies (I'm one) and dog phobias, in particular the autistic DS mentioned above (despite my thinking that poster is one of the entitled people I'd rather not have on my premises in future)

What may be a good idea for that poster is to scope out her local area to find places to take her child - pretty much as dog owners do when they're looking for a café, the ones i know do it anyway - so they know where they are going and what may happen.

It might also be a good idea to talk to local chambers of commerce to encourage a sticker on the door policy with either "no dogs except guide dogs" or "dog friendly, enter at your own risk" kind of thing? We already have that where i am for places that are welcoming to breastfeeding mothers, and for people to be able to use their toilets without buying something. It's very helpful. Because even if i don't need either of those things, it helps me choose which businesses i want to give my money to.

for dog phobia/hater/allergists - it is a (possibly for you sad) fact of modern life that businesses will try to attract the maximum number of paying customers. If that means being open to dogs, that is what they will do. It makes economic sense during a period of high inflation etc.

This post was mentioned throughout the thread and I know it’s pedantic to go searching for it just to reply, but, wow. Just wow. A blind person with a guide dog has every right to access places that don't allow dogs, never mind ones that do. That’s the reasonable adjustment you incorrectly refer to as your right in the situation you were in. If one of those dogs had been a guide dog, it wouldn’t have mattered who was there first, you would have had to be the one to leave. Anything else would have been illegal and trying to bully the cafe owner round to your way of thinking would have caused a nasty and difficult situation.

Your replies demonstrate clearly that you take absolutely no responsibility at all for your sons’ disability and instead rely on the kindness of others to do the ‘right thing’. You’re incredibly entitled, and you’re teaching your son to be the same. It’s going to be really hard for him to fight the battles ahead if you don’t teach him to be self governing and respectful of the rights of others. Yes, you have rights as a disabled person, but you also have responsibilities and as far as I can see you think disability absolves you of those and puts them on the shoulders of others. Your son is in for a very rude awakening when he’s old enough to understand how wrong this is.

Do they steam clean the soft furnishings every time a dog has been in a hotel room? That's what I'd require, were I to use a hotel that a dog has been in the bedroom of. I don't want to come out of the shower all clean, put on my pyjamas and sit on something a dog's anus has been on, then get into bed and cross-contaminate. My kids will wriggle in bed, they should not have to have their faces on sheets where dog arse has been.

Seriously, away and boil your head

Are you ok with sitting on something a human’s anus has been on?

You know there’s plenty of places that people with coeliac disease can’t eat at? I don’t stamp my feet and insist everywhere has gf food even though I could try and argue that a long term health condition is a disability.

during the pandemic when places were takeaway onLy loads of places like Wagamama and dominoes took their allergy menu’s away and said they couldn’t cater for allergies. Shit but I accepted it.

I think dominoes still won’t do gf pizzas orders over the phone, you have to be there in person. I’m not crying discrimination

Agree with you, digesting attitude. This poster has clearly been living in a bubble for a very long time.
FWIW I would not have left with my well behaved dog to pacify her demands. If she or her child had started making a noise or kicking off, I'd have stuck my noise cancelling earphones in and let them get on with it.

No. But humans are generally clothed. Dogs are not.

Plenty of humans sleep naked.

Bed sheets get changed. Hotel room armchairs and sofas, I'd assume not.