Dogs Everywhere

[SusanandMidge]

I don't live in the UK but am just back from a holiday in Cornwall. We were shocked at the amount of dogs allowed everywhere. They were in every restaurant, cafe, pub and hotel. Two or three people with dogs would all go into a small shop, blocking the aisles for everyone else. In Port Isaac on a lovely sunny Sunday afternoon the whole harbour and uphill area was disrupted by loud and continuous barking. Dogs were running around off leash on every beach. People were clogging the narrow pavements with two or three dogs on leads, wheeling dogs around in prams and buggies, stopping outside holiday cottages for ages chatting while their dogs barked, yapped and howled and ruined the peace for the people inside.

We were genuinely wondering if the next time we came back there would be dog and owner spaces in supermarket carparks and an expectation that you should stand up on public transport to let people with dogs sit down.

AIBU to think England has gone a bit mad when it comes to dogs?

You do sound like a responsible owner, two things though - you might not be aware of the number of people who cross the road to avoid your dog. I often do this, but try to do it in a subtle way (mostly) because it's not that the dog/owner is always doing something wrong and more that I just don't want to risk the dog potentially sniffing me/jumping at me etc (if it's an unknown dog/owner I have no idea how they might behave). Also, just because you don't perceive this to be happening with your dog it doesn't mean it isn't happening. As for only hearing negative things on MN, that's not been my experience at all, and I know many people who are frustrated by the selfish dog owners (not all dog owners) in our community. I have just seen one this morning letting her dog use part of the school grounds to do a poo - granted she picked it up, but she should not be encouraging it to poo there to start with because picking up often still leaves small traces and school pupils routinely sit there at lunchtime/break! This lady looks after her dogs much better than many people, from what I have seen, but in the past a grassy area at a school would not have been seen as an acceptable toileting location!

I haven't done yet, worth a punt, though. Im telling you something always comes out in the wash at a later date about people who hate animals.

I would never date someone who didn't like animals, and i would be cautious about people i do meet who dont eg a new mum at the school, i would think oh, worth remembering ha

My mum was scared of big dogs because she was bitten as a child which is completely understable, but she didnt hate them, she ended up with a little old lady dog as company in her later years.

I'm sorry, but that's just ridiculous and incredibly narrow minded.

Your second statement is simply untrue - people can 'hate' animals for a whole host of reasons. If you were choosing any other one feature, other than them having committed murder or something equally bad, then I'd call you out for your assuming superiority and judgemental attitude.

what you don’t seem to understand is that it’s not as simple as hating all animals.

I abhor cruelty to animals. I recognise that dogs bring comfort to many and of course there are incredible working and service dogs.

What people dislike is the increase in dogs being allowed in restaurants, standing with their paws up at a cafe counter, owners letting their dogs jump up at strangers, walk up and down tube carriages off-lead, ruin picnics and nuzzle through their property. All stuff which has happened to me in the last year.

Can you not see there is a difference?

I don’t know, some people on here get even more upset if you say you don’t like cats.

On Friday I was in John Lewis shopping.
I witnessed a 'yorkie' dog on a lead poop in the aisle. I said 'Oh excuse me you dog has just done the toilet'
She gave me the finger!
On Sunday outside a local coffee shop a woman had her dog on the chair. It peed.
She didn't attempt to wipe it.

I have always had dogs.

Are you indirectly suggesting we start a 'dogs are better than cats' (or vice versa) thread, and get some popcorn?
(I am not being serious, but that might be entertaining).

This is so disgusting. Yet the shit dog-owners deny this stuff happens.

Probably from having to be around them. Dogs are better company and tend to talk about themselves less.

YANBU. Interestingly a friend of mine is holidaying there right now with her family and they have their parents very beautiful but large and energetic dog with them. From what I understand they’re taking it everywhere when they go out .

The thing is Cornwall is known well known as a dog friendly holiday destination unfortunately, so they are going to be everywhere. It has actually put me off visiting tbh but I might still one day.

I’ve said before in another thread every restaurant or pub should display clearly if they are dog friendly or not with some kind of symbol on their website/window, and there needs to be a range of dog free and dog friendly places for people to choose from in the UK because it’s all going one way now. I don’t know any coffee shop in my whole town that is dog free. I seen a dog in the library too recently. I was walking downs. Steep narrow park and two dog walkers who had congregated on the corner with their 3 dogs between them didn’t bother to move so i had to cross over or step out onto the road to get past them. I’ll get told I didn’t have to but had I squeezed past and if it’d been a nervous dog that had bitten me no doubt I’d have been blamed for coming to close round a corner and startling a dog.

I can’t drive and it really annoys me that I’ll be on a train and bus and a dog owner can just come sit next to me and I have no idea of the dogs temperament and they have no idea if I’m allergic or not . It’s an enclosed space that I can’t easily escape from.

I wouldn't take her in a restaurant. At most, a cafe if seating is very spaced out, I prefer outside seating and would choose that everytime! To the other poster quoting me. I watch for others very carefully, precisely because I don't want to be perceived badly. She is a big dog, and I accept not everyone wants her near them.
She is trained and will continue training all her life but still relatively young and can be bouncy, so I assess every situation/ location. I want us to be good ambassadors for her breed combo of dog.

But would you agree that many dog owners do not behave with any consideration for others, including the ones who announce that Cornwall is dog friendly so they can do what they want there.

Dogs are better company to some people, but if you want something more than a potential hot water bottle, potential cuddles, and a one way conversation then they are not really that great tbh. Don't get me wrong, I've loved dogs I owned in the past but none of them were great conversationalists!

Another anti dog thread. There should be a special board for the dog/cat haters.

To be fair, most husbands aren't great conversationalists either.

Dogs aren't allowed on our local beaches. There are patrols and heavy fines.

But I was in a new restaurant yesterday and was appalled to see a dog do it's business inside and the owners saw and just walked off. Absolutely disgusting. The restaurant owner came over and apologised. He said they were going to change their policy and dogs would be banned. Don't blame him tbh.

I see dogs everywhere but they behave very well. Never saw dog caused trouble. Some vile people just loathe them. I would be very weary of people who hates dogs. The most loyal company to anyone. Be aware this people may even harm dogs if they can.

Here's another view - another reason for someone to start a thread about entitled dog owners.

Because it apparently makes you a vile and untrustworthy person apparently
Exactly this.

Of course you can moan about not liking there are dogs everywhere when you don't like them, but every single thread about dogs in general leads to moaning about owners.

How many posters complained about owners calling their dog fur babies as if it is a crime to do so. It has no effect on them but still the owners are criticised.

Thats disgusting. I wonder who makes these decisions? Is it senior management?
I wonder if the floor staff have a say, because surely they’d be able to see the risk of stuff like this happening.

I mainly shop online now and make my own coffee at home but go to coffee shops occasionally if I’m meeting a friend and this kind of thing makes me glad I don’t go to coffee shops more.

. A shopping centre in Glasgow did a trial dog friendly thing last year and many people were against it. Including many dog owners who called it out on social media and correctly predicted the issues it would cause.

It didn’t last more than a few months because there were huge steaming piles of poo spotted in the food court among other issues. The vast majority were pleased when the trial ended.

I appreciate cleaners and staff are meant to keep shops clean but I don’t think it should be part of their role to routinely clean up dog faeces.

Also be aware of people who over generalise and then draw false conclusions. 🤔

Of course there are bad and good dog owners, but people tend to moan about things that are an actual issue/affect them. There is no denying that selfish dog owners are having an impact.
As for 'fur babies', well I try not to judge folk too harshly for a word, but it has always been a puzzling term to me. Comparing them to babies or labelling them babies really does them a disservice when they are not actually babies at all.

What false conclusions? Explain and confirm what is the biggest damage you have seen dogs causing in public?

I suspect this would be the response of the dog owners who allow their dogs to poo in shops, grab other people's food at picnics, bark non stop etc. 'Oh no, no, it doesn't happen, it's just dog haters making stuff up'