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.

Dogs are allowed if they’re well behaved which the OPs dog was. Would you be ok with an assistance dog?

I agree with the woman here. I HATE when people bring their dogs on the bus.
I also have allergies and it sets me off. And there is no such thing as a hypoallergenic dog.

During covid people were quick to speak about selfish passengers without masks, but feel no shame in bringing a dog onto a bus (and I have even see some go as far as placing the dog on a seat) and have no consideration for others that may have allergies or even phobia’s.

YABU

Your child will always come above a dog to you. To dog owners, their dog may come first. I put my kids above all else - I realise that no-one else (apart from the obvious DP and grandparents) will.

Imagine saying that whilst at the same time refusing to ease your own child's suffering by removing them from the situation... its not up to everyone else to help your child when you weren't even prepared to help them by inconveniencing yourself

I don't know the rights and wrongs of this, as dogs are allowed on public transport, but I do think there should be some restrictions as in theory the bus could become jam packed with large dogs. It has annoyed me that more and more shops have started allowing dogs in, not just outdoor shops but I was shocked to see one in John Lewis the other week.
I'm not bothered personally but one of my dds is petrified of dogs and previously some places were seen as safe. Imagine if it was really busy at Christmas and every customer had a dog, some really big, and they were all barking at each other. What if they poo in the shop?

People who don't like dogs may not like it but a lot of people feel as much or more for their dog than any human - they really are a true family member. Also if dogs are not allowed in cafes or on the bus their owner may also be completely isolated and not able to go out as a lot of dogs can't be left for long. So for those complaining that dogs have too many rights, it's the rights of the dog owners that's at issue, not those of the dog. In any event, a dog is a sentient being, with strong feelings. The truth is that they feel sadness, loneliness, anxiety and fear, as much as or more than anyone else. Why should their feelings be considered less important just because they are a different species?

It’s an imaginary scenario 😂

This thread is hilarious. You don’t like the fact someone prioritised my son over 2 dogs in a cafe so you’re making up hypothetical scenarios about me forcing a blind person out of somewhere to try to prove a point somehow it’s absolutely pathetic . You need to get over the fact that a cafe owner had the decency to put a child first.

I would fucking LOVE that!

I wouldn’t have moved on the bus and I wouldn’t leave a cafe. And if I owned a cafe I would not make locals leave over someone who doesn’t live there. Not good business practice. You must have been making a massive fuss. Poor owner.

I imagine they couldn't get out quick enough if there was a screeching screaming child having a meltdown in there. I know if I was a customer I would have left, dog or no dog with me. I don't mean that to be nasty, it must be very difficult for you to manage, and I feel for you. A friend has a child with autism and has major meltdowns with screaming and violence. I do think you should have been more careful to avoid meltdown triggers though, you could easily have asked the cafe owner if dogs are allowed in.

This. Though quite how her dander and saliver were going to travel so far, I don't know.

People getting so worked up about businesses who allow dogs in - here's a thought- don't frequent their business?

If you're allergic/don't like dogs/have a fear/etc etc if a business has a dog friendly policy then that's their prerogative and as adults, you are absolutely entitled to say "let's not go there, I don't like dogs for x,y,z reason"

The vast majority of places don't allow dogs in. Go there instead.

Re: the bud - dogs are allowed on buses, you moved once, that's enough. Unless she was going to check everyone's clothes for dog hair/dander, then making you move to the farthest point of the bus was stupid.

I'm a dog owner and she doesn't go to cafes/on buses etc with us because that's not our thing (to be honest we drive so don't use buses) - I would decide to go for food with my husband and take the pooch. But some people do and some businesses support that - and that's ok - just go elsewhere if you don't like it - it really isn't s big deal.

I thought dogs had to go upstairs in the bus???

Agreed, it's not on for them to be turned away.

@Fourteenhouses the Law does not allow denial of entry to someone with a guide dog because of others allergies. The law actually prohibits this. You would most certainly have to leave after asking a propertier to deny entry to a service dog. You would have to leave.

It’s not that simple - an autistic child set on choosing something particular and seeing through that task of eating it and who Will absolutely not leave till that’s done isn’t going to accept that we had to leave - he had already gone into a meltdown seeing the dogs why make it even worse. The dogs left - I was then now to calm ds and he got to have his food

I dislike dogs in cafes but surely the onus is on you to find somewhere that doesn't allow dogs? Do private businesses have to turn away business because of one allergic customer? I'm not sure that would be considered a reasonable adjustment, when you could perfectly well eat at home or find somewhere that doesn't allow dogs.

It was up to the owner 🥳

Severe allergies here and like others, it's becoming a nightmare that increasingly dogs are everywhere we go. Particularly annoying the ones that let threat dog sit up on the seats 🤢
Even loads of hotels are 'dog friendly' now which creates such an issue for me.

@Fourteenhouses If your son gets that distressed then the onus really is on you to double check that dogs are not allowed before ordering in a cafe. Don’t expect other people to care more about your disabled child’s needs than you do.

Hopefully it’s a lesson learned for you and fortunately you benefited from everyone else’s good grace on the day.

What if the bus doesn't have stairs?

Maybe they’ve now put a sign up saying ‘dog friendly ‘ so people know - if I’d known I wouldn’t have gone in !

The issue is I didn’t know and we had paid for our food etc so why should we leave

So you didn’t bother to ask if the cafe allowed dogs. You didn’t check even though you are fully aware that your DC is both allergic and terrified of dogs.

Instead you demanded that the cafe changed its policy to suit your DC and turned away paying customers. And you feel that the dog owners need to “check their privilege” for daring to take their dogs to a dog friendly cafe.

And you somehow think the dog owners are entitled!

@Fourteenhouses Im interested to know had your child not had allergies, but only the fear/phobia would you have still expected them to leave ??

People are always helpful we’ve found and make allowances . We never have issues most people are like the cafe owner and can see ds is very disabled and we are treated well it seems there are very different types of people on MN