To wonder when the excess of dogs will die down

[OptimismvsRealism]

There's so much shit everywhere

There are so many feral horrible dogs pissing on front doors or prams or shop displays and barking terrifyingly at kids

I am sick of them!!!!! Is this it or will people learn their post COVID lesson and only get pets they can actually handle in the future?

I give up on these threads. As a PP said, the dog-haters tar all dog owners with the same brush.

It's very rare that I come across someone IRL who really doesn't like dogs, and when I do, I get the dogs past as quickly as I can.

But honestly, the vitriol on this thread makes me less inclined to be considerate. I just think, fuck it, you loathe and despise me and the dogs anyway, why bother. But then I remind myself that most people who don't like dogs aren't frothing on MN, and carry on being considerate.

I'm also sick of it not because I dislike dogs being everywhere. I foster for a rescue and the amount of dogs they have to turn away is ridiculous at the moment. I have one here right now who is a sweetheart and only 9 months old but they are now talking about having her PTS as she is incredibly reactive with some strangers and there is no apparent pattern so they don't think they can rehome her. Here is is timid and cuddly. I'm so sad about it. You go to stroke her and she collapses down to the floor because some human treated her so poorly.

Yet noone I know who got a dog got a rescue and a friend of a friend bred from her 2 dogs recently to make some extra cash. Makes me very angry how people use dogs them chuck them out when they aren't convenient or can't be bothered to train them etc.

Yep, we've even got folk leaving 1* reviews in perfectly nice cafes with the words 'not dog friendly'. No comment on the food whatsoever. Everywhere cannot be dog friendly.

I don't hate dogs, I actually don't mind them.
I don't hate dog owners, mostly don't mind them either.
I do hate the notion that everywhere should be dog friendly.
I do hate when owners don't train their dogs properly.
I do hate when people compare dogs to children.

@ShouldhavebeencalledAppollo
"How a business operates shouldn’t be in the business owners hands? Is that just when it comes to decisions about dogs or all decisions that shouldn’t be up to the business owner?"

Yes? You know that businesses have to follow rules and they don't get to pick and choose which ones they want to go along with, that's not in their hands is it? Don't you think places that serve food have a responsibility to uphold certain hygiene standards? Yes, obviously banning dogs doesn't automatically make the place hygienic (where did I say that) but animals don't belong where food is being served to the public. It's not about my personal preference, how bizarre to make that assumption. I'm saying dog peoples personal preferences shouldn't negatively affect other people and that proper standards of hygiene should be enforced regardless of the business owner's personal preferences.

"But we weren’t talking about allergies. "

You might not be talking about allergies, but when people say that others are "excluded" that includes all sorts of people including with allergies and serious phobias. It was you who decided that "excluded" meant people with a preference.

"But the person I was replying did try to go in a dog friendly cafe but didn’t like. So it’s unlikely they have a severe allergy to dogs."

The only reason I knew that it was a dog friendly cafe was because the smell hit me as soon as I walked in there. And none of what you said is relevant to that fact that you said people "choosing" not to use these places are not being excluded. People are excluded and that's the point.

Equally there will be people slamming perfectly nice cafes because they are dog friendly. Let’s not pretend otherwise.

Dog friendly policy has worked until now because there haven't been a lot of dogs actually in those places to really cause a problem. It'll come full circle the more dogs there are, the more of incidents of pooping, barking, fighting etc. It'll take until someone accidentally stands on a dogs tail or spills their hot coffee over it for the policy to be reversed.

I’m with you. I used to try and explain what I did to make sure my dog doesn’t impact anyone but they don’t want to listen. I was once told that the money I spent on training my dog should’ve been given to a child. I’m childfree so presumably should have picked one at random. They just want to try and outdo each other with their exaggerated stories and ott descriptions of dogs. Like the bloke who can’t help but mention their anuses at every given opportunity. I read to laugh at them.

But if posters are saying "I'm sick of dog owners not picking up after their pets" that statement doesn't apply to you if you're a responsible owner. I've seen plenty of dog owners come along and agree and join in the conversation without taking it personally because they know that they're nkt the ones being spoken about and they are also negatively impacted.

Also if you're the type of person who is going to get upset by this type of thread then why bother clicking on it. It's not fair to the posters who want to have a discussion to have other people derailing it. If you genuinely want to talk about badly behaved children or cats wandering the streets then go start that thread but people here want to talk about dogs. It is a massive problem in lots of areas...sometimes people just want a little moan to get it off their chests. We're already having to dodge dog owners shit on the street and your dogs in cafes and trains and shops and beaches and picnic spots and everywhere else, give us one little space on the internet where you don't impose on us 😭 (not you personally, that's a general "you" aimed at the people throwing abuse).

A review based solely on whether dogs are allowed isn't a fair review.

Before the pandemic, dog owners were broadly responsible, but something changed on lockdown and it hasn’t got better. Some, not all, of the new dog owners - particularly some of those who never considered dog ownership pre pandemic, are thoughtless and entitled.

Land that walkers had access to for decades was cut off because the farmer was sick of sheep worrying, even deaths caused by out of control dogs. Some cafes are no go areas for non owners. I don’t mind the occasional dog in a cafe, but walking into one on a wet day to the overwhelming stench of wet dog makes me turn around and leave.

Too many dickheads got dogs during Covid and don't train/clear up after them.

That's what the thread is about. Not you good dog owners. Not hoping dogs disappear off the planet. Not your lovely area where every dog owner is responsible and everything smells of roses (but thanks for the stealth boasts).

In my non-fancy town and neighbourhood there is a definite and marked increase in dog ownership since covid and we have issues with mess, noise nuisance and bad dog behaviour we never used to have.

I would never have posted on a dog thread pre-covid because, bar the odd antisocial owner, local dogs had no adverse impact on my day to day life. Now they do. But I suppose I must live in a rough area so that's all my own fault....

Not where we go their isn't, all we behaved just sit or lay down sleeping.

Are you on the wind up 😆

Dogs have always been allowed in lots of pubs. I remember them being in pubs in the 80s.

I Recall plenty of pubs not allowing kids, but allowing dogs.

Why pubs, particularly, shouldn’t they be allowed in?

Pubs are a lot more focused on food nowadays compared to the 80s.

Ok?

So a place that traditionally welcomed dogs and then started to do food?

Still plenty have always welcomed dogs.

You could smoke in pubs in the 80s too. That was banned for health reasons.

And dogs aren’t smoke.

Places that allow dogs also have health inspections and be no risk to health.

Somewhere that doesn’t allow dogs can also fail health inspections and be a risk to health.

That’s why it’s based on the inspection. Not wether they allow dogs or not.

Me too. And the ridiculous names they come up with for them. ‘I’ve got a Shardoodle’, ‘How lovely, we have a Poosation’, ‘We went with a Labrahound’

No, what you have are mongrels. You’ve paid a four figure sum for a dog that was likely created when its mum escaped the garden while in heat.

At my old house I used to get people leaving dirty nappies and used condoms in my front corner plot garden. Funnily enough never got left dog shit. Thankgod we moved. I love dogs. They make me happy, people not so much....

Don’t: compare dogs to children

Do: compare dogs to cigarettes

I don't understand what this emotional support animal stuff is about (I'm 57 and we didn't have this when I was younger), but I'd love ride a horse into the M&S Food Hall, Selfridges, or some animal friendly hipster cafe... just for the hell of it!