Dog annoying us in restaurant

[Onthegreeen]

I was in a restaurant with a friend this morning. A dog at the next table kept wandering over around our table, putting his head onto our laps, swishing his tail against us etc.
We asked the owner if she could keep him at her own table at which point she said it was a dog friendly cafe and he was entitled to be there.
So were we, but we weren't entitled to wander around other tables annoying people. Children are welcome in the cafe but they're not entitled to go up and sit on some random customer's lap.

We couldn't be bothered getting into an argument so we just left. But AIBU to think she was bloody rude and self entitled.

Well said!! I'll just add OUTSIDE on the floor under a table! Is where dogs belong.

Haha where I live parents think that’s acceptable even in non child friendly places

How on Earth would you know that???? Dogs can't talk & tell you! It's the owners need to take there dog EVERYWHERE they go! So boring now.

😂

Same here, my dog is large, but kept on short lead and usuallyvery well behaved.when we are on holidayShe gets a lot of attention and a lot of compliments. If she has an off day we leave.
We also live in an area where pubs/ cafes know the dog owner ££ keeps business going during off peak season.

We used to go to a pub in the New Forest where the majority of customers seemed to have dogs, and riders were allowed to bring their well behaved horses into the pub garden and use the outside tables at the front as well.

It was fab.

@Flinstones I've just seen a photo on a friend's Facebook post of a medium sized dog sitting on a bar stool at the bar next to a glass of wine with the owner nowhere in sight! Shame they didn't say which pub as I'd want to avoid that one too!

How on Earth would you know that???? Dogs can't talk & tell you!

You can easily tell by their body language. You can tell if they're happy or fed up, anxious or relaxed, being vigilant and all sorts. One of mine used to do a really melodramatic sigh when she didn't get her own way, like a stroppy teen. That made her mood unmistakable even to people who were very inexperienced around dogs.

I could tell if my dogs were even slightly uneasy, they'd just sort of stiffen their muscles a tiny bit, but it was easily observable.

Same with horses. Anyone experienced around horses will be able to spot when a horse is happy or not.

Completely agree with what @LakieLady just wrote.
You can build such a rapport with your dog that you understand exactly what they need or are trying to communicate in any given moment.

Regarding boundaries I totally agree that dogs are dogs and should be kept under control and not approach people unless invited.

On the other hand I've spent years fending people off from approaching my dog. The worst thing is trying to stop people giving her treats. Sometimes they don't even ask and seem offended when I say no.

The whole thing from both sides is about manners and respecting boundaries.

Utter rubbish!!

I am not a fan of dogs but I believe that dedicated people who care about their
pets, can understand animal behaviour, learn their signs and pick up on nuances that other people can’t.

Yanbu. One of my children is very scared of dogs. We are working on it but he gets very nervous when there is a dog around.

A few weeks ago we went to a pub for lunch, not realised it was ‘dog friendly’. This dog at a table a few meters behind us kept coming up to our table, putting its paws on our legs, sniffing us, brushing up against us. My son couldn’t relax as this dog just wouldn’t stop coming over and my husband asked them if they could keep the dog at their own table as our son was scared and for the entire rest of the meal they were loudly talking about us, tutting, staring, shaking their heads as if we’d been really awful. All we did was politely ask that this dog didn’t wander around under our table but apparently this was unreasonable. I wonder how they’d have reacted if I’d let my 1 year old crawl under their table and climb up onto their legs while they were eating.

Yep.

DD's Great Dane had very large, loose flews - he would shake his head and slobber would be all over the house - up walls, on the ceiling, across furniture (and us!). And you had to get on it straight away and clean it up asap, because if it dried it set like concrete and was a bugger to get off.

His anal glands also once "exploded" when I shoved his backside to get him out of the way - that much was all over flock wallpaper. I have never smelled anything like it, before or since.

Edited because of autocarrot

@Flinstones Do you not believe in body language then? Because much of the way animals (and humans) communicate is body language.

I don't believe dogs need to be out with there owners ALL the time especially eating & shopping places I'm sure they'd rather be at home after a nice long walk. If that's what you think your dog is saying then you can no more read dogs than I can!

@Flinstones If you'd read my previous posts you would know that's not what I'm saying at all. Nor was @LakieLady whose very sensible post you called, 'Utter rubbish'.

I don't believe dogs need to be out with there (sic) owners ALL the time especially eating & shopping places but I also know that dogs are pack animals and do thrive when they are with their humans.

Sadly, my own dog is not saying anything to me at the moment as she died of old age in August. She had 14 years of roaming beaches and moors with me, coming to work with me (I was a gardener before I retired) camping and yes - going into dog friendly venues where she quietly behaved herself like the very good girl she was. I'm so glad she came with me as much as possible as I now treasure every second we spent together.

I know we could read each other - I knew when she was hungry, tired, happy, scared as much as I know when I am. She was like my shadow and anyone who knew us together tells me how great that bond was. It was a privilege knowing her so well and being her pal.

I'll take my dog to places, mainly when on holiday but expect her to stay quiet, or of the way and of furniture. My child is definitely more of an issue

I think you should have talked to the manager and given them a chance to intervene. They also need to be aware that they’ve lost business as a result of allowing this. I wouldn’t expect the waiting staff to intervene. I think these owners with badly behaved dogs are a pita to other dog owners too. The idea of dog friendly is all well and good until you get these badly behaved dogs or you get a number of dogs together and they start woofing at each other. It spoils the experience for everyone else

What? This is well known.

It’s definitely all about respecting other people.
In one of the papers today an XL Bully attacked a small dog ( photographed with owner) and the little dog has serious injuries- the XLB owner pushing a stroller eventually put it on a lead , but didn’t even apologise- she did a “ Pit and run” as it’s called in the States.
( Happened in U.K.)

People need to be in control of their dogs.

Same with horses- if you know you have a kicker, keep it’s hind quarters the hell away from other people’s horses, and don’t let strange horses get too close to each other.

An idiot let his XL pit sniff at a horse- the horse was clearly anxious- The pit lunged, it’s leash broke, and the pit was trying to snap at the horse’s belly .( video online)
Horse galloped off down the road with Pit in pursuit.
Don’t know how it ended, but the level of idiocy was astonishing.

No way would I allow a strange dog to sniff a horse I was leading, especially a dog type like that that is known to cause damage to horses.

I'm sorry for your loss as I know how much dogs mean to their families & I bet yours loved the beaches & lovely long walks but I'm sorry I don't agree at all in taking dogs into eating & shopping places & even as well as anyone thinks they know their dog it really is for the human not the dog that they take them. They would be much happier at home. The being with a pack is surely more dogs & not humans.

Well if it's so boring why open the thread to announce how boring you find it?
Hardly makes you sound like the most scintillating, interesting and original person on the forum.
In fact it makes you sound..... well.... boring!

A little ironic coming from the most boring OP? 😴

Dog owner & lover here.

I would have been so cross. Just because it is dog friendly doesn’t mean the dog has free range. Absolute rudeness & entitlement on their part.

🙈 Oh no!
I know a Dane owner and they are very dedicated- Always well train their Dane - and are responsible and respectful of others with them-
I had a Whippet years ago whom as a puppy in my arms had a horse gently breathe on him- He let loose a fishy aroma - Anal glands!

In the Nurses room at vets it can have that very penetrating aroma - We had misfortune to follow a very anxious Dog for a weigh in before spaying.

Maybe it was the owner faced with the bill?

Local farm shop which was dog friendly has now banned dogs, due to dogs irritating customers, and accidents !

I’m pleased, one small dog is often fine, but then two more come in, and it’s not.

We also had to suffer there, two competing Grandmothers loudly singing nursery rhymes to their grandson, through a family breakfast.

They should ban them too, and it was so awful, I haven’t decided if I mean the Grandmothers or the singing.