To say love of dogs has GONE TOO FAR !!

[HildegardVonBingham]

DP’s grandparent’s 60th wedding anniversary, and we are all in the Lake District to celebrate. Every pub and cafe is crawling with wet dogs. We went out for dinner this evening and the pub was full of incessantly yapping dogs. A woman let her dogs piss all over the floor of the bar - disgusting. When confronted, she just turned on her heel and left. It is almost as bad in London - going to the loo in a pub is fraught with danger as you may run trip over the leash of a sausage dog with complex emotional needs and break your neck 😡😡😡 AIBU to say all dog owners should have to have a license and go on a civic sense training course at a minimum / be made to live in one big kennel with their mutts away from us at a maximum?

@HeartbrokenCatMum

How wet.

Costa allow dogs and I have seen the grand total of one in there since it has been allowed. Was a puppy under his owner' chair. Yet I bet some now avoid it as they are convinced the places now stink of dog.

I didn’t reject the too busy choice, it’s just not always an option, you know because it’s too busy and there are no available tables. Also we don’t have a Greggs, I was just responding to your list of “alternatives”.

If you have a severe dog allergy, it’s not worth the risk. You could go into a cafe with no dogs, but someone may arrive with their dog the minute you take a bite out of your traybake. DP’s allergies are of the not being able to breathe variety, which is pretty scary, although not inevitable. Maybe certain breeds are worse. I get itchy eyes and a runny nose which I can live with temporarily, since I go home to a dog free house and everything’s fine after a couple of hours. We don’t go to coffee shops very often as DP has a chronic illness that fluctuates. But if we do decide to go, there is nothing dog free within a reasonable walking distance.

Well if I have a look at my local rescue page I see dogs there because the grooming was too much, because the dog is unwell, one is there because after 9 years the owners got a new dog and realised their old one didn't get on with the new pup, then there's the gumtree ones, endless people getting rid of dogs because of a new baby.

People should love dogs enough to love them for a lifetime and realise they are committed for life, not just until times get tough, with a rare few exceptions.

People should also love their dogs enough to train them from the second they get them, but they all too often don't.

In short, people should love dogs enough to look after them well for life, or not get one at all.

Definitely one of my bugbears at the moment (and probably ongoing since Covid tbh). Went with a friend to a local market and one of our favourite pubs yesterday. It’s coastal so dogs are part of the landscape, as with the countryside. No big deal, all the pubs have water bowls, dog snacks outside etc. But my god, it is getting to be a bit of a joke. Groups of entitled people with up to seven dogs stopping in the market to coo and fawn over other people’s dogs, blocking the stalls and the stairway and entrance/exit.

Pub was busy due to there being sports on, plus it was heavily raining all day. We found a table at the back and it was quieter once the football was over, but a group of 8/9 people came in and, despite there being more tables at this point, decided to sit right next to us. They had five dogs, including two small terrier types who barked every time someone passed their table to go to the toilets or approached their table (one of the staff brought extra menus over and their drinks over as they couldn’t carry them due to the dogs). Dogs yapped and growled and barked loudly at this. The dogs also didn’t settle, but growled at each other from under the table and climbed on the furniture. Very annoying. We moved tables because we couldn’t hear ourselves talk over the yapping and the constant fawning/ineffectual chastising.

I’m still mildly salty over being not allowed on a bus with my sleeping toddler, preverbal and diagnosed ASD, taking him to an appointment sans car, because there were two prams already on the bus. One of the prams belonged to a small Pomeranian type dog who seemed fit and relatively young and was not actually in the dog stroller thing, but sitting on its owner’s knee licking the windowpane. The owner had been vaping outside the bus station and muscled into the queue three people ahead of me when the bus pulled up. Driver wouldn’t do anything about it when challenged. Told me to wake my boy up, get him out of the pram, and fold it if I wanted to get on - “he’s big enough to sit on a seat anyway.”

I grew up with dogs (and other pets) but haven’t had one since moving out at 18 - due to not having the time/space for one, having uni/work/small children etc. I’m sensible and responsible in that regard, unlike many others who seem to just do whatever they want and try to make themselves and their fur babies the main characters in everyone else’s lives.

I'll take dogs over sport on screens in pubs any day

I walked into my local doctors surgery on Thursday for an appointment and there was a family sat and the mother was holding a puppy. I am a massive dog lover, have two myself, but I was quite angry that they thought they can just bring a puppy to the bloody doctors! They sat right in front of the receptionist too who didn’t say a word

Don’t get me wrong, the sport is annoying too (for me), but yapping wet dogs climbing on the seats and barking at each other and everyone else is a major irritant.

@ClinkeyMonkey I am severely asthmatic and dog/cat/horse allergic myself. I don't react to my own, long coated breed, but I'm allergic to short haired dogs. I can't go to coffee shops at all because I also have perfume allergy. So I suppose I should have said unless you are severely allergic in my post, rather than referring to the broader issue of these threads which seems to be based on a dislike of or fear of dogs rather than a medical reason for not wanting or being able to tolerate being around them. Apologies if I was not clear on that.

Yep I do. I know that if cafe owners want to allow dogs then they can. However, I think maybe some businesses are still stuck in the time of dog-friendly = guaranteed increase in custom as it used to be something of a USP. Now that dog mania has well and truly taken over, practically everywhere allows dogs so you’re not necessarily going to get the increased custom from dog owners because they now have a wide variety of options.

In fact I believe the opposite is true. The USP now is a dog-free environment. The one place of that kind in my town is always full. Yes they have excellent coffee and food, but the same can be said of many other places in town which aren’t always full. So based on this, my own preference for dog-free and that of plenty of other people (you could use this thread as evidence, including some dog owners), then I’d wager some places would have just as much, if not more, custom if they didn’t welcome dogs.

And what did the owners of the fifteen dog friendly cafes in your town say when you put that argument to them @NoSoapJustUseShowerGel ?

Ah no it’s fine. I only mentioned allergies because the poster you quoted had spoken about allergies being an issue further upthread and I wasn’t sure if it was clear that this was part of their reason for wanting to find a dog free coffee shop. If that makes sense!

Edited to include quote

I hadn't seen them specifically mention having allergies. Sorry. My error then.

What’s with the sanctimonious pass-agg posting style? As you’re well aware, I didn’t say I HAD put it to them.

Maybe you should?

Is that something you’re in the habit of doing then? Going directly to the source for every situation that bothers you, even when it’s a national problem?
Most people don’t appreciate being told how to run their businesses, even if that feedback could be good food for thought.

If I feel strongly about something, yes, of course I go to the source. You have fifteen local dog friendly cafes,@NoSoapJustUseShowerGel . Copy and paste 1 friendly email to them all. Ten minutes at most. At the very least a few may reply explaining why they are dog friendly. And you may get a few to change, especially if you get a bit of a campaign going.Win win.

I'm quite a literal person. I didn’t mean to sound passive aggressive. Apologies.

I was on a beach in the summer with my
young children, dogs running along the beach off lead. One did a massive poo next to where why kids were playing. Granted woman cleared it up but my youngest was so close to stepping in it. Absolutely gross and I was annoyed they didn’t have better control over them!

In most UK coastal areas I have visited, I've found plenty of dog-free beaches. I live in a coastal county, and all the main beaches here have an April-Oct dog ban on half of them. I think it's pretty easy to find a beach that doesn't allow dogs if you don't like being near them, at least in the summer months. And not all dogs show signs of needing a crap (both of mine did a "sniff and circle" beforehand, which gave me a chance to intervene), so it's entirely possible that the owner had no idea.

But I think a fair proportion of dog owners are twats, too. When I had my dogs, they were socialised around things like children, horses, cattle, cyclists, traffic etc right from the start, and were generally very reliable. I even got complimented on their behaviour by the bloke in charge of the hunt when I encountered them while out walking one Boxing Day. I went to the edge of the bridleway and told them to sit, and they sat patiently at my side while about 40 horses trotted past without batting an eyelid.

They were a breed that has a rep for being hard to train, too, so I have no sympathy for people with more biddable breeds who don't bother. It's not rocket science, and it's never been easier to find training tips, there's loads of stuff online.

Some people just can't seem to go out without a dog, no matter where they're going, and it's got a lot worse recently. The worst are those who take smaller dogs into huge crowds, and don't seem to notice how frightened the poor dog is. Even bigger dogs can be scared. What psychological problems drive someone to have a dog with them all the damn time?

It’s an epidemic. Everywhere you go there’s dogs everywhere, cafes, pubs/restaurants, shops…why? I just don’t get why people think of dogs as children and they can’t be left at home. Bicester village was swarming with dogs yesterday, how can anyone think dragging a dog round a busy shopping outlet is fun 🤷🏻‍♀️ I have dogs too and I wouldn’t dream or taking mine out like that. Mine are walked and left at home, they are not kids stop humanising them!

What an odd comment. Dogs grow accustomed to people and noise by being around people and noise. For lots of dogs it's a stimulating and fun experience! And sometimes you need to take your dog with you because otherwise they'd be at home too long on their own. I have no idea why you would assume it's because the owners have 'psychological problems'.

Back to the dogs arses again 😆

Op, the fact is that the Lake District is famously accepting of dogs. It has been for years.
Apologies if someone else has pointed this out, but given how dog friendly and touristy the place is, perhaps check before booking?

That said, any and all dogs should be under control, not peeing in a restaurant, pooping near kids on a beach etc. But of course that’s the human’s fault.