Shop allows dogs in and my item is ruined

[shedidwhatnan]

Argh. Still annoyed even typing this

Visited a store of a well known aspirational brand today.

They let dogs in and have water bowls outside, encouraging dogs to 'take a sip' and then goes on to say all dogs on leads or dogs in arms are welcome inside

I had just spent good money on something and stopped to have a look at something on the display table near the exit.

The owner seemed to have been having a browse next to me and her dog proceeded to go right next to me! My paper bag from the shop got wet

The store assistant noticed, giggled and went to get some stuff to clean up. No mention of my bag or compensating me when I said 'Oh dear, it's on my bag now'. She just said 'ha, what are they like!' Then ignored me and started chatting to the owner who whilst the cleaning stuff was fetched, kept apologising to me over and over

And in truth, it isn't the dog owners fault really. The ultimate blame is with the shop for allowing dogs of any kind beyond guide dogs into the place.

I asked for a clean bag. Discovered my item also got wet. Shop assistant said 'oh, hopefully it'll just wash out!' And that was that

I was so embarrassed and upset that I left

AIBU to think dogs shouldn't be in shops? I can sort of see the appeal to have a tasteful sausage dog allowed in but not medium+ size breeds!

Had a freshly bought croissant snaffled out of my bag whilst I was paying for my shopping awhile ago. Id put my carrier bag down whilst I was paying for something and before I knew it, this large dog on extendable lead had its bloody head in there. So cross, once upon a time dogs were left outside shops.

Of course you have…..

I am with you OP, dogs do not belong inside shops or cafes. They are not humans they do not need to be in there.

Something about this post tells me it’s not even true. Totally fabricated to bash dogs. Weird!!!

If you teach your child to do a low, slow hiss at a dog that will warn the dog to stay away. Unfortunately a scream ( natural from a child) often excites a dog , it’s a “ hey there’s something going on, fun chase , run, run” signal to them.
Also teach them to walk past, no eye contact, just the low hiss.
To dogs low tones, a deeper voice means you’re in charge, you mean business. High pitched, any shrieky sound means let’s all get really hyper.

My daughter worked at French Connection at our local outlet centre in 6th form. On many occasions she had to clean up dog wee on the shop floor because entitled dog owners thought it was OK to just leave it there. Gross. I wouldn't take a dog shopping but if I did for any reason, would absolutely clean up after it should an accident happen.

You are in a minority of dog owners willing to take responsibility for their "fur babies". This craziness of dogs being allowed everywhere is in Canada too. I was at our local mall a couple of days ago and witnessed a dog crapping on the floor in the main thoroughfare. The owner just walked off and left the crap there. Another time a dog was pulling food waste out of a bin and strewing wrappers around while the owner sat scrolling on her phone.

Not very well, clearly

Because the shop had no obligation to give one?

Just as not all places are suitable for children, not all places are suitable for dogs. I'd have thought that was obvious. Just because you love a pet like family doesn't mean it should get to go everywhere you go.

I don't understand how this happened, OP. Your bag must have been really low down for the dog to aim at it and hit it. Why would you put a paper bag down on the floor when you're just having a quick look at something on your way out of the shop? It's not as if that shop sells anything very heavy.

"Dogs in arms" is pretty awful; great, so now people are going to be touching the shop's items with doggy-smelling hands? Yuck.

Unfortunately,

1. brick-and-mortar establishments are trying to survive in the internet age

2. a lot of people went and lumbered themselves with fucking dogs during COVID (because apparently a lot of people either thought the pandemic would go on for 10 years or didn't understand that dogs live for about 10 years and don't automatically disappear into thin air when lockdown conditions are lifted?) and now want to be able to do all the things they did pre-dog while trailing a dog around with them

3. it's become taboo to leave dogs in cars or tied up outside a shop

So we are basically stuck with them in shops now, unless we want to see a lot of places going bankrupt :(

With any luck, things may improve in a few years, as some of the COVID-era mutts start to shuffle off this mortal coil.

lol at the spin, trying to make out that the OP is unreasonable😅

Sounds like the White Company.

That is utterly outrageous - stuff in there costs a fortune. It's their fault your purchase got pissed on and they need to refund/replace. Stand your ground.

And here we go again….🙄
No. It means that a lot of households don’t own a dog. It says nothing about whether they want them around or even like dogs.

’Surround myself with those kinds of people’. In what way? By living my life and going to all kinds of places and meeting all kinds of people? What kind of people are you talking about?

Having said that, the odd aside, I do generally think that doggy people are mostly quite a nice bunch.

Wrong again. I have absolutely no expectation that anyone would want to like her. Repeatedly stopping so that people can say hello to her is actually quite tiresome sometimes. But I allow it because she clearly makes others happy too.

Please feel free to stay away! I’m a carer for my hubby who is terminally ill, so we go out quite a lot to cafes and restaurants etc, often after a short walk. The (dog friendly) places that we go to are generally heaving, so I don’t think you’ll be missed!

Great summary of the lead up to the current dog problem!
And yes, 'dogs in arms'!? Presumably a spin on 'babes in arms'? The human urge towards anthropomorphism is once again exploited for financial gain.
A large segment of society needs very little incentive to view dogs as 'children-lite'.

Ignorant comment.
Guide dogs would never wee unless given the command they’re trained with.

But surely given the shop allowed dogs then the OP could justify asking for a replacement. At the very least a robust stance might have shamed the dog owners in to taking responsibility for their badly trained animal and offering to pay. The least they could do.

This doesn’t make economic sense at all. All kinds of business, especially food places, are closing down all over the country. This is due to the economic climate and the massive increase in overheads. It’s probably got little to do with dogs.In fact, the number of places now allowing dogs in would strongly suggest that it’s good for business, not bad. You can google this, but research suggests that it actually increases turnover and profitability, as it opens the door to a wider range of customers.

@OOOtil2025 Tbf some dogs have little interest in going into shops or cafes. My dog gets plenty of walks but the few times we’ve stopped at a cafe, he lies under the table waiting to leave! Same with shops, he’d much rather snooze at home than come with us.

I absolutely know this from the idiots other owners I encounter who cause me the same problems they cause everyone else by not taking responsibility, those who expect me and my dogs to entertain their dog because it wants to play or 'teach their dog a lesson' by letting my dog do the correcting (and putting them at risk) because they can't be arsed to bother. And the amount of owners who have zero understanding of their dogs body language "He's friendly" no - he's dominant and ill mannered a lot of the time.

I've been tripped by extending leads - I use one on my old dog and have managed not to be an entitled twat around other people with it.

I've stood in other people's dog shit.

I've been snapped at, jumped up at and blamed for it.

But that doesn't mean that anyone else other than the dogs owner is responsible for it, and the more we blame everyone else for their behaviour, the more they're going to do it. We need to be holding the owner solely responsible in situations like this, not copping out and blaming the venue or the people working in it, because that means it'll continue and get worse because they've got a readymade scapegoat to take the fall.

You are making no sense

You were quite happy to use your statistic of " one third of households own a dog" to justify why people should accept dogs in eating places. But just as easily dismiss the two thirds of people who don't own a dog because you have decided that you believe they probably like dogs in eating places anyway. Have you not even considered that a fair chunk of the " one third" also might not want to eat in a place where other people's dogs are? I'm fairly sure they don't want to stand on other people's dog shit in the street even though they love dogs so it makes sense they probably don't want other dog hairs in their food or watch waiting staff clean a turd off the floor before carrying out their plate. Or maybe they are just more sympathetic to other diners than you.

Yes you feel free to go to places with your dog even though you know it probably bothers other diners. I mean you've just said that dog owners must all be a lovely bunch because that's what you believe about yourself. It's clear you don't consider people who are pissed off with dogs pissing and shitting everywhere in the street and indoors, jumping up on their clothes, slobbering over them, begging for food, tripping them up in the street or with there stupid long leads. Knowing that if a dog has an accident in a cafe the staff who are handling your food need to clean it up 🤢 Or those with allergies or a bad dog experience. Because you owners are all "nice people" but just know that you are actually the reason many don't visit establishments and spend our money there.

That’s true. As a toddler I got trapped between two dogs who were fighting. I was petrified of dogs I remember screaming and climbing up my dad at probably 6 years old because his friends dog sniffed me. My parents got a dog, I walked in the sofa and hairs for weeks terrified of the tiny fluffy pup…now I bloody love dogs and I’m rarely bothered by them. In fact bring me all the dogs!

Of course any new fad that attracts new customers will boost profits at the beginning. Notably it's the biased " dog lover award" type websites that make this research claim. And mostly around covid times.

But that doesn't work long term if others customers stop coming. As I have said the dog cafes in my area have closed while others sustained. I also know of others who have revoked access to dogs. So it mustn't make economic sense for all of them

So did I and I was petrified of dogs. My parents got a dog and i stopped screaming and crying on seeing them and now love them. You are going to need to do something as the screaming might actually get a dog agitated. Do you know anyone with a nice docile dog? Have your child get near at first and see that they aren’t all bad. Then build up to stroking.