To be annoyed by the number if dogs in local coffeeshops

[Hocuspoc]

I really like dogs - sounds like I am a hypocrite here, but hear me out. I do, really, however...
I go to a local coffeeshop for 20 mins early morning before work and just want to enjoy a cup of coffee. Is it the time of day - don't know, but literally every table has at least one dog sitting still or barking or trying to walk around while the owner/walker is struggling. And this is a small space. I can always smell the animal next to me and not my coffee - there is a distinctive and not a pleasant smell.
Go to another place I hear you say - I try but it is the same in the few local coffee shops with decent coffee.
Once I tried politely asking a lady who joined my table just to steer her 2 huge dogs away from me, as one was waving his tail over my pastry brushing it in process - the looks I got, and also from the neighbouring table.
These places are dog friendly yes, but they are not dog only.
I apologise if I offend anyone here, I know very well they are a part of the family for all of their owners, and dogs actually like me, often try and squeeze in and sit on my feet or just next to me (maybe part of the issue here) and if I was on a bench in the park fine, but I am eating or drinking coffee and the smell is just offensive.
I don't know how other people feel - both dog owners (are you aware that this may be inconvenience for some people) and the rest who don't own...

Why do you think tying a dog up outside a shop is a good thing?

Before I had dogs I had a debilitating phobia of them. If a dog was tied up outside a shop I couldn't walk past it to go in or out of the shop. If I was inside, I literally had to stand and wait however long it was for the owner to come and retrieve it.

I don't impose my dogs on other people. They're not allowed to approach or pester. They're trained to sit or lay next to or underneath our table quietly. If other dogs start barking mine can get reactive, so I come armed with treats to distract when that happens which keeps them settled.

I take them to places because either we're out walking with them, we're on holiday and can't just leave them in the holiday let or we're going to be out for a long time, for example if I'm visiting my parents who live in a different city. I research where dogs are permitted, and always choose a table as out of the way as possible.

And in my experience, most other dog owners are perfectly respectful and courteous, too.

It's still mental stimulation, if you do it properly, and give them lots of rewards for behaving. More interesting than being stuck at home.

The problem is not dogs. The dog is innocent here. It's a dog. It doesn't understand that some humans are allergic, afraid or don't like him.

The problem is wholly selfish humans.

A cafe is for humans. You can tell this by the fact they sell coffee, cake and sandwiches, not Bakers Complete, Harrington's and Winalot.

Dog owners want that human food and drink, that's true.
But...
Non dog owners are humans who like to eat food, they didn’t have to cook themselves, sometimes too.

There's only one out of the two that stops the other from having access to that food.

"Go somewhere else", they say, "this place is MINE MINE MINE".

Now, if we were talking a few places, it wouldn't be so bad but we are not talking about a few places. We are talking about a very large number of places and in some areas, as has been mentioned many times, all places.

Dog owners who want their cake with a side of dog do not give a toss about the people who prefer their slice with no dog within inhaling distance.

I am not going to enter a food establishment that allows dogs. Your dog's presence will put my life in danger. Will my presence threaten you or your dog in any way.
The answer is no. You can still get a coffee and neither you nor your dog will potentially end up dead if it came near me.

Yet, you still insist your own desire to take your dog in there is more important than my life.

Selfish.

On another note, the baby/toddler comparison is ridiculous. Nobody is allergic to children, for a start. Not a single dog is going to end up performing open heart surgery in thirty years time either, while at least some of those annoying babies certainly will. The two do not hold equal status nor equal risk. No toddler ever had to be put to sleep for tearing apart another child's limbs.

You're not being at all unreasonable op.
I agree, and think that it's perfectly ok to not want dogs everywhere you go, especially badly trained/behaved ones.

Are there no smells you dislike then? You love every single smell?

I agree with you op. It is getting ridiculous. Dh and I were only discussing this yesterday. We are going on holiday to the same place we have been several times. It’s a lovely place, very quiet and relaxing. There are limited cafes/restaurants/pubs, very few to choose from. One of the fabulous cafes allows dogs. Most dog owners sit outside with their well behaved dogs. Last time we went it was busy and we ended us sat next to a couple with the most annoying shit if a dog. Every single time anyone moved, be it the waiting staff, customers leaving or coming in, which was every few minutes the damn thing set off barking and tapping as it if were being hacked to death. The couple made the obligatory noises of ‘ssh ssh,’ but it didn’t make any difference. It ruined the whole experience for us.
It’s a shame as I don’t want to go there again if this is going to happen. So again, why should decent, well mannered people suffer due to rude obnoxious people?
This type of entitled person seams to be ruining experiences where ever you go.
I said to dh at the time, if that was a child screaming and shouting and kicking off with that frequency people would be openly complaining.

I don't particularly like dog smell, but the way people carry on here, you'd think they were durians. A cleanish dog isn't that bad.

Are people not washing their dogs if they smell? Mine gets a rinse down after every walk, just warm water water no shampoo, until the water runs clear.

Anyway, you ask if dog owners know it inconveniences people.

Yes I know. I usually like to meet friends to eat without the dog in tow. However, she needs to learn table manners just in case.

We go to a coffee shop every Saturday morning so she can practice sitting and doing nothing while I drink a tea. Every time she gets up, I put her back in her sit. I set a timer. We are up to 30 mins and I am even getting lie downs 🙌🏻 She hates it and frankly I don't want to be there either, but she needs to be trained up for her own good.

We all like and dislike different smells.
Dog smell, particularly in enclosed spaces, is just unpleasant to me.
It puts me off wanting to eat.
I don't hate dogs, some are lovely and some are useful, but there are just too many nowadays. Many owners are also deluded in terms of how they try to humanise them. They say 'dogs are better than humans' while simultaneously attempting to humanise their dog. Basically they want something that doesn't speak back.

They still smell. It's a natural odour, albeit an unpleasant one.

I love dogs, and happily have them in my house if friends want to bring them. I have had dogs of my own and would love another one if I could look after it properly. I don't like them in pubs/coffee shops though. For one thing, many dogs don't like being around other dogs and whine or bark, as they are upset by it. They might even growl and fight, which does worry me as sitting at a table can make it difficult to get out of the way of scrapping dogs.

People have different ideas about what constitutes a well brought up dog. I am of the old school view that they are 'the dog' - loved, but not 'one of the family' equal to children or granny - and should do as they are told, not greed food and generally know their place. Not everyone agrees. People let them sit on chairs and even tables. They sneak them cake under the table, encouraging them to beg others for food, they let them walk about being potential trip hazards and don't train them not to bark or whin, which disturbs other people. It's selfish.

There is also the fact that many people are allergic to or scared of dogs, and some owners see their 'right' to opt out of training the dog to be settled at home as more important than the right of the phobic/allergic to be able to enjoy a coffee in a cafe.

I think a lot of this is rooted in the fact that people got dogs during lockdown, when they couldn't be socialised to cope with separation, and inexperienced owners don't know how to deal with it.

Some places have a menu for dogs. And the ones that don't often have a jar of biscuits on the counter for visiting dogs.

You have solved your own problem here though. You said you wont go to a place that allows dogs. Well, keep on doing that, and dog owners can carry on taking their dogs to places that allow them. Easy.

Cafes are for humans? Nope. Why are you making that up? The owners decide if dogs are welcome and if they say they are, then the cafe is for humans and dogs.

So yes, go somewhere else, maybe open up your own cafe only for humans instead of thinking you have any right over a cafe that is not owned by you.

Thanks for all the responses, I guess I can see I am not the only one that finds this to be an issue, and yes a couple of dog owners here do show complete disregard to other customers based on their comments.
But that is expected. I mean today on my way to train station, literally every 50 meters - a dog's shit. Counted 10-15. Then just in front of the station a cute dog and an owner who is just picking up behind him.
Someone put it well - it is not about the dogs really it's the owners :( some people just tend to be rude and disrespectful...

There is a difference between having a dog in a coffee shop lying quietly on his blanket under a table next to his owner(s), and the dog I saw yesterday - his owner put him on the sofa next to him with his head over a dog bowl which was placed - yes on the table where everyone else from that party was eating. (A well known chain restaurant).

Sounds like the title of the thread is wrong.

It says you're annoyed about the number of dogs in coffee shops.

From what you've just clarified, it should say you're annoyed about behaviour of some of the dogs in coffee shops.

Two very different things.

Wow.. Some of the comments here are... Just wild.

Op, I agree that yapping, reactive or overly anxious dogs shouldn't being taken out to cafes ect.

But some of the responses here are so anti-dog it's a bit weird. Some of us have rescue dogs that have serious slinical separation anxiety. One of ours is only OK to be left at home for 35 minutes. And that's after 10 months of home alone training plus mediation. If it wasn't for dog friendly spaces, I literally wouldn't be able leave my house. I'm so thankful for dog friendly cafes and restaurants ect. So when people say "no-one needs to take dogs shopping/out for lunch" umm hold my beer, because some of us do. But I have trained my dog to be relaxed in these kinds of establishments, but it's very clear so many people don't. I've noticed so many noisy dogs in cafes since the pandemic.

Well yes, but what about someone with a dog allergy who goes out for lunch, chooses a seat where there are no dogs, orders food and then someone comes in with one and sits next to her? Does she leave her food and go (ultimately being unable to leave her house) or stay and risk an asthma attack, or however her allergy manifests?

Or someone with a child who is scared of dogs? When they are settled in a dog-free space only to have a dog arrive at the next table, and the child starts screaming because of her anxiety at being around them, should they leave to make way for the dog?

I'm struggling to think of anywhere in my town that is not dog friendly. It's only really restaurants (as opposed to cafes and bars) that don't let them in, so the allergic and phobic are at a huge disadvantage.

YABU, it’s not a library, it’s a coffee shop.

This is my life now. Sit down order, get food, massive dog arrives, start to feel itchy, child doesn’t scream but is now totally on edge. Nightmare. Only go to places like Wing stop now!

That is something you will have to take up with the owner's of the establishment. People taking their dogs into places that welcome them are doing nothing wrong

I agree. I would not attend any cafes or restaurants that allows dogs unless it a guide dog. It puts me off my food.

Good, all the more room for me and my dog.

Even a well behaved dog that is under the table with its owner?

It's taken years for my 6yo autistic daughter to be able to come in and sit with us at a restaurant or cafe table . It was so lovely to be able to do this as a family.
A while ago we were at a cafe and a dog was sitting well behaved under a table, another dog came in and they both started barking loudly and neither would stop. One dog was a large German shepherd type dog and the bark was very loud.She had a complete meltdown and had to be carried out while my 9 year old got really upset because it caused a big scene.

Now it doesn't matter how well behaved the dog is we cannot go into cafes or restaurants that allow them because she is so nervous they will start barking.

I don't 'have to' do that, as I am neither allergic nor phobic. I can, however, see beyond my own experience and consider others.