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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Dogs in Greggs

387 replies

Globules · 23/08/2023 08:29

I'm in Greggs getting my free O2 coffee. There's a dog next to the counter.

Surely dogs in open food places shouldn't be allowed?

YABU - of course all dogs can go in these places
YANBU - dogs have no place there

(Awaits the Greggs comments...🤣)

OP posts:
originaltastecoke · 23/08/2023 15:55

Bananas1350 · 23/08/2023 15:39

I went to a fairly expensive restaurant a few weeks ago. And they now let dogs in. Sat next to a table with two of them messing about and barking away. I won’t go back. And I say this as a dog lover. Not what I want when I go out to eat.

Exactly. And tbh before anyone starts on the "children" diatribe, I would also choose not to eat out in a place where young children were known to frequent if I was looking for a peaceful meal. Despite having my own.

HappiestSleeping · 23/08/2023 15:58

yogasaurus · 23/08/2023 08:40

Yanbu. I’m a dog owner but don’t like the new fashion of dogs everywhere either

This 👆

Not sure when it became a thing to take a dog everywhere. I would expect to see them (and take mine to) some pubs, but not everywhere.

It's handy being able to grab a coffee sometimes, but I sit outside with him, not inside even though he is allowed.

LakieLady · 23/08/2023 16:01

KimberleyClark · 23/08/2023 12:06

I say this as a dog lover, but I’ve seen an increasing number of dogs in motorway service stations and wonder why they can’t be left in the car, unless it is hot in which case there’s plenty of outdoor seating.

Outdoor seating isn't any help when you're travelling alone with a dog and need a pee, though.

Username1107 · 23/08/2023 16:02

If people don't like places with dogs and children then it's common sense to go and find somewhere that doesn't allow dogs and children. I do my best to avoid places that have lots of young children. Not my thing. Although I wouldn't advocate that no places should have children to suit me.

LakieLady · 23/08/2023 16:22

Seagullchippy · 23/08/2023 10:15

Much as I love (some) dogs and I remember how hard it was when I had one, being unable to get any shopping...my child has a terrible phobia of dogs and we now find it hard going almost anywhere. On holiday at the seaside all the shops and cafes had dogs in them, so my child was shaking and in tears. The thought of department stores like John Lewis allowing dogs is absurd — I get that occasionally someone might need to pop into a convenience store on their way home with their dog and that it isn't always possible to leave them outside, but a department store visit is surely a planned event and dogs csn be left at home or with a dogsitter so that people like myself can take their children for shoe fittings/school uniform/etc.!

I'm sorry about your child's phobia, OP, and I realise only too well how restricting that can be.

I was bird phobic until I had CBT approx 30 years ago, and it really restricted my life. I had to cross the road if there was a pigeon on the pavement, I couldn't eat outdoors anywhere because there were inevitably pigeons or sparrows looking for crumbs, and I had to stop shopping in my nearest big town and big supermarket because they are on the coast and the car parks are always full of sodding gulls. I also fainted when I'd failed to notice a parrot on a perch in the corner of a dimly-lit Ijunk shop! It got so bad I thought I was going to have to stop driving, after a pigeon flew really close to my windscreen and the urge to duck and hide was almost irresistible.

I only needed 6 sessions of CBT for there to be a vast improvement, and I'd really recommend it for phobias. I was scared of birds from a very early age, and it just got worse and worse as I got older. Your DD will never be able to avoid dogs entirely, and it will become more and more restrictive as she becomes more independent. I wish I'd had it in my teens instead of my 30s.

tillytoodles1 · 23/08/2023 16:58

Don't go to the Lakes, dogs are allowed almost everywhere. Except Wetherspoons.

LlynTegid · 23/08/2023 17:22

I think that shop staff receive such little support and so much abuse from people who go there, that I doubt unless they detest dogs for whatever reason, they would actively seek to challenge customers with a dog.

I also think that some businesses think they could lose custom. An example of how sometimes competition leads to perverse outcomes.

ThePoshUns · 23/08/2023 17:24

yogasaurus · 23/08/2023 08:40

Yanbu. I’m a dog owner but don’t like the new fashion of dogs everywhere either

Same

GrabbyGabby · 23/08/2023 17:38

I am singing this to the tune of thr Duran Duran hit "Girls on Film"

"Dogs in Greggs...."

icallitasplodge · 23/08/2023 17:44

Username1107 · 23/08/2023 16:02

If people don't like places with dogs and children then it's common sense to go and find somewhere that doesn't allow dogs and children. I do my best to avoid places that have lots of young children. Not my thing. Although I wouldn't advocate that no places should have children to suit me.

But what if you turned up for your sports massage and a dog was randomly sitting there. There are an increasing number of dogs in places you don’t expect dogs. Even in places with “no dogs allowed” allowed like play parks. Should we stay in to avoid random (usually untrained and increasingly not on lead with no recall) dogs?

Username1107 · 23/08/2023 17:49

I don't do sports massages. But if I did it wouldn't bother me that there was a dog there. Although I'm not sure it's a thing, taking a dog to a sports massage. Is it?

I think you can generally tell if dogs are welcome by the sign on the door. And dogs are generally not let inside children's playgrounds. You would be within your rights to challenge it if they were.

enchantedsquirrelwood · 23/08/2023 17:52

Yes, my sports massage therapist allows people to take their dogs (well pets in general but I doubt anyone takes a guinea pig though I could be wrong :) )

The waiting room is tiny, so I'd really not be happy if I arrived and there was a dog waiting in there.

And no dogs aren't allowed in childrens' playgrounds but entitled dog owners don't care and take them in anyway.

NeedTheSeaside · 23/08/2023 17:52

SomewhereWithSomeone · 23/08/2023 08:45

I haven’t seen an anti dog thread in a couple of weeks, which this will inevitable turn into. 😬

@SomewhereWithSomeone have you not been on MN? There have been the usual eleventy million.

yogasaurus · 23/08/2023 17:53

And no dogs aren't allowed in childrens' playgrounds but entitled dog owners don't care and take them in anyway.

Round here, people especially seem to think these rules don’t apply to cava/cocker/malti poo’s, for some reason

enchantedsquirrelwood · 23/08/2023 17:54

LakieLady · 23/08/2023 16:01

Outdoor seating isn't any help when you're travelling alone with a dog and need a pee, though.

Show quote history

But bow long does it take to go to the loo? You can easily leave the dog in the car for that time. Even if it's hot, most service areas have some trees in the car park you can park under for the 10 minutes it will take.

enchantedsquirrelwood · 23/08/2023 17:55

Username1107 · 23/08/2023 16:02

If people don't like places with dogs and children then it's common sense to go and find somewhere that doesn't allow dogs and children. I do my best to avoid places that have lots of young children. Not my thing. Although I wouldn't advocate that no places should have children to suit me.

It's a lot easier to avoid kids than dogs.

Username1107 · 23/08/2023 17:56

I wouldn't take my dog to somewhere it wasn't allowed. I'm perfectly within my rights to take dog to places where there is a welcome sign on the door though.

What you're describing is just anti social behaviour. Whether it's people's dogs or rowdy children. Or something else. It doesn't mean dogs (or children) should be banned from places where business owners allow them.

Username1107 · 23/08/2023 17:57

It's a lot easier to avoid kids than dogs.

Not my experience. Sadly.

icallitasplodge · 23/08/2023 18:09

I'm perfectly within my rights to take dog to places where there is a welcome sign on the door though.

this is it. You’re within your rights too. But maybe 70% of people don’t want the dog in there. So they’ll sit there thinking you’re entitled because you don’t need to take the dog to (insert stupid place to take a dog but do it anyway because the business allows it) here.

pigsDOfly · 23/08/2023 18:11

I love my dog but can't imagine any reason why I would take her into a shop like John Lewis, or Greggs, for that matter. When I go shopping I leave my dog at home.

Having seen the way some owners let their dogs pee on the flour or chew on the merchandise in pets shops, I'd really rather not do my shopping in the company of other people's dogs.

I was in a local Co-op recently and someone was carrying a small dog, a puppy I assume, in a shoulder bag. I've also seem someone with their dog sitting in a trolley in our local Waitrose.

Neither of these dogs had 'assistance dog' vests so I assume they are just pets. Obviously a trained assistance dog wouldn't be sitting in a trolley in a food shop.

Trained assistance dogs apart, dogs shouldn't be in food shops.

icallitasplodge · 23/08/2023 18:12

Or (dog doesn’t even want to go to inappropriate and is getting so overwhelmed it might shit itself, bite someone or steal a greggs Cornish pasty) place.

but the business allows it so… crack on I guess.

Atethehalloweenchocs · 23/08/2023 18:13

I think the law is just that they cant be where the food is prepared, but I can see why people would not like them there at all.

Zebedee55 · 23/08/2023 18:16

Dogs, other than guide dogs, should be banned from where food is bought or served.

Its unhygienic.

EsmeSusanOgg · 23/08/2023 18:18

Mavmach10 · 23/08/2023 11:30

So what germs do you think dogs have that assistance dogs magically don't have? On these threads, it's always the same thing said yet nobody ever provides an answer. If you are happy to have the presence of a guide dog etc in an eatery, why are you so bothered by other dogs aside from saying assistance dogs are different.

Show quote history

Honestly, a lot will be exactly the same. I have a dog, I love her and I love going to dog friendly places with her. But I also value places that are dog-free. Places with lots of dogs can get noisy. Very few dogs are as well behaved or well trained as an assistance dog. And in places where only assistance dogs are allowed (versus dog friendly places) there are unlikly to be more than one or two dogs (so less fur, less mud from dog walks in the park, better behaviour etc.). It is more about having options.

NeedTheSeaside · 23/08/2023 18:29

43ontherocksporfavor · 23/08/2023 10:15

If they want the dog £ then they should take orders outside.

@43ontherocksporfavor

why?

why should they run their business how you say??

they're running their business in the way that suits them. If you want to write the rules, open your own business.