To think that dogs shouldn't be in toilets?

[LittlePearDrop]

I'm currently camping.

There's signs on the toilet / shower block door clearly indicating "No Dogs". Not small signs. Very obvious.

Went for a shower first thing this morning and a woman brought a dog into the toilet next to me. It poked its head under the gap and had a sniff. I just ignored it.

Took my daughter an hour later and whilst I'm waiting for her, another woman brings another dog in. This time, thinking maybe she has missed the sign, I said, very politely and calmly "Oh it's no dogs in here".

She immediately became defensive, saying there's no one else to look after him (there's a fence outside she could have tied him to) and that he would "cry" if left outside. Errm, so what? Dogs whine. It's not the end of the world.

AIBU to think that if the signs say "no dogs" then it means "no dogs" and not, "Well ok your dog can come in because it might whine if left alone for a minute"?

I have a dog, and I am fed up with entitled dog owners too.
But I am not entitled for taking my dog somewhere that she is welcome.... and that seems to piss of people who think dogs are "everywhere" and being treated like babies (which I have never seen).

People only post about things that bother them, good or bad.

They don't come on and say "I took my children to the park, we saw three dogs on leads, no one fought over their turn on the slide then the bus home was on time"

But the one time I dog barrels their toddler over... they post.

So it looksike badly behaved dogs ate everywhere.

Unfortunately, its the minority that's noticeable.

Anything human or non-human which poked its head under my cubicle door would get a poke from my walking stick. It's one of the few advantages of having to use one.

Yeah that’s not me though. I don’t hate dogs, I just don’t think they belong absolutely everywhere - there are some places that are and should be dog free - like the inside of toilets.

The whole point of this thread was someone taking their dog where there was a 'no dogs' sign. 🫣

I’ve got a toddler who is still terrified of dogs. We don’t have one (although we’d like to) but I have to agree with my toddler that having two youngish black labs 3x your weight barrel straight at you has to be fairly terrifying, as happened recently in a children’s playground with a “dogs on leads please” sign.

We have done all the right things bar getting an actual dog to acclimatise her. It’s not an unusual fear for the age group. It’s also really bloody hard to teach her that dogs aren’t scary when people let their dogs offlead in places where she should feel safe (ie playgrounds).

So it would be really annoying to be trying to use a shower block where you definitely don’t expect a dog to be whilst my toddler frantically attempts to climb up my body. Even more so when said dog owner is ignoring a sign that doesn’t permit them to be in there.

Can I just add as I was the poster who was young and inexperienced..

.the family had set their delicious picnic up in the dog walking part of the park. There were areas that said no dogs, dogs on leads and a part that was enclosed for dogs to free roam. They were in the free roam bit.

We were still mortified and I'm not excusing my dogs for their actions when they crashed the party but we weren't inexperienced enough to be in the wrong area.

Non dog owners can also be wrong too.

I do feel some sympathy towards you and you have learned from your mistake but in my park most of the areas are dog areas. You should be free to set up a picnic where you want it. My picnics contain things that could be lethal to a dog.

The park was a gated area to
let dogs off. They could have set up outside of that on a nice table. They chose to come in and sit amongst the dog wee on the floor and eat sausages. Guessing they didn't see the sign.

Not condoning my dogs, they were wrong. As discussed they went to boot camp and their recall is now brilliant and we are 15 years in and 4 dogs later..I can't be sure but I assume said family chose to sit at a table next time.

Dogs are like marmite.

@Porridgeislife I would 100% agree with you about off lead dogs running up to you. I hate seeing off lead dogs in public places, mine are always on lead and get very wound up when other dogs approaches us. There's no need for it, dogs can and should be kept on lead if they don't have 100% accurate recall.

However the incident the op describes is not that. A small dog stuck its snout under a toilet cubicle. I appreciate this could still be frightening for little children but it's not a safety issue or a hygiene issue. They cant get at you in a locked cubicle. And if it had been left outside alone your dc still would have had to pass it.

It was presumably a choice made in the absence of any other option rather than feckless dog owners letting their dogs off lead purely because they want to and don't care if they upset other people or other dogs.
I would encourage you to work on your dc fear of dogs, not because I'm entitled but because they are going to encounter them a lot in public (rightfully so, dog walkers have as much right as kids to be in parks etc) and perpetuating the fear won't do them any good long term.

It's a difficult situation - campsites allow dogs and encourage dog owners to visit, but being selective about where they can go on site does make life tricky for solo travellers.

Yeah they were definitely in the wrong too for setting up the picnic there.

The thing is though, for every responsible dog owner like yourself, there are others who don't care or just shout "he's friendly" as they're bowling into a picnic/jumping on you etc.

I think parks (not including playparks) are fairgame to be honest, there aren't many dog-only places to allow your dog to roam free but the number of dogs who have no recall and are allowed to run up even to other dogs is high.

As I said, we have done all the right things bar buying an actual dog.

I am not scared of dogs, and do nothing to perpetuate the fear. As a parent it’s hugely annoying as I’d prefer she was more relaxed. We grew up with a succession of GSD so big bouncy working dogs are my normal.

It doesn’t make it any easier to teach her that dogs aren’t scary when in this case she may be washing her hands and in comes a dog into an enclosed space where she would have nowhere to flee to.

The lady doth protest too much! You have no point when you neither own nor have any valid knowledge on dogs.

What a silly comment.

If a sign says that dogs are not allowed in the toilets, then fair enough.

But I am not sure what the issue is with dogs in toilets anyway. I have had to take mine in the loo with me (in a park). She was in the cubicle with me and not bothering anyone.

My ddogs aren't defiant they just can't read the sign....

There isn’t an actual issue that’s the joke of this thread. It’s all hypothetical what if someone was dog phobic or allergic (then they probably shouldn’t be at a bloody dog friendly camp site!)

OP got annoyed because a dogs snout sniffed under a toilet cubical next to her, confronted a different lone women with her dog minding her own business, then created a MN thread about it to froth up the other dog haters on here. It has brought out the worst that’s for sure.

Camping isn’t my thing but every dog friendly event, venue or holiday place I have been to has never had a “no dogs” sign on a public toilet. I think this is the fault of the camp site and not very practical.

I completely understand the dog owners assessing the situation presented - our main priority is to keep our dogs safe. Rational people understand it isn’t because we are ‘selfish entitled wankers who like to inflict our dogs on everyone else’ it’s simply because we care about our dogs and want to keep them safe.

Also to all the “you must obey the sign”posters every dog friendly holiday place I have been to actually states you must never leave your dog unattended, so tethering them up outside or leaving them alone in a tent would be “against the rules” which you seem to find so important in this scenario.

@PixieLaLar yes, you are right.
A dog in a bog cubicle is harmless. I wonder if the camp in this scenario (if it is real) had such a rule to mean no dogs being showered/cleaned there.
But theses threads attract the few who say that people who have dogs are somehow socially inept, or are some sad sacks that everyone hates so they have a dog to fill a gap. It is upsetting tbh.

Yes I agree - firstly about the total non issue on this thread ( a nose under a door cannot be a proper issue); and secondly that the campsite is at fault for an ill-devised policy.

And I also agree: I’ve never seen a “ No Dogs in Bogs” sign before.

Now you mention it... yes, it's a long old while since I went camping, but showers DID have 'no dogs' signs, to stop people washing off muddy dogs and clogging the drains up with dog hair in the process.

So dog owners who need a shower... do you take the dog in the cubicle with you and let them have a little shower too?
Or do you leave them outside the cubicle?
Also what do you do if you need a food shop?

Camping showers are grim enough without the wet dog smell.

Any I've ever been on has outside taps to obtain water. One assumes it can be used for a dog.

Most people turn up in a car with enough equipment to start a small housing estate. Surely dog could just be left in car for a short while to accommodate all.

The real wild campers who rock up via foot with a backpack won't be worried about this scenario. They'll be wild camping and have less issues.

Yeah. The harping on by dog owners about theft of their dogs (lol at roving gangs of mutt robbers - it’s like childish horror stories of the bogeyman) never answers why their dogs can’t be stolen from outside the cubicle.

So they must actually take them in. They shower and use the toilet with their dogs with them! That’s not just foul, it’s really fucking weird.

Emptying your bowels while lovingly stroking your dog? 🤮 🤮

What you’re describing is the phenomenon of overly sexualised human bodies. Thankfully animals do not think in this way, nor do they care about what otherwise natural ‘bits’ they see. If you really think this is an issue then that’s a problem with your own perspective on life.

No, that’s really really not what I’m describing. And it’s off-the-scale peculiar that you should think I am.