AIBU to want cafes to be dog free after grandchild was bitten?

[OhSoTrue]

What to do? Took my 12 year old gc into a cafe for lunch today, and a dog
snapped her ankle as we walked by. It drew blood. No idea why it picked on her.
She did nothing beyond walking in the door.

The dog owner 'fled the scene' as it were. Made a hasty exit while he had the chance and everyone was looking at the injury.

Wouldn't it just be better if we kept dogs out of what really should be an exclusively human area?

The argument that "they are allowed here so suck it up" is wearing thin.
We are all very fed up of your dogs in human spaces. The vast majority of us would prefer a dog free space.

I love dogs, but they don’t belong in cafes and eateries

Not necessarily. The owners want to make money, if they disallow dogs they’re losing out on custom. I have friends NDNs who moved to Toronto a few years ago and bought a schnauzer. Canada is similar to USA, doesn’t allow dogs inside but does outside. So I assume they follow these rules.

He is gorgeous and very friendly. They attract a crowd round them wherever they go - even more of a crowd than our dog does!

Absolutely not. The vast majority of dogs are fine. Wanting to ban all of them because your grandchild was bitten by one dog is not proportionate.

Apparently it’s outdated health laws. Nothing to do with Trump.

Well they wouldn’t make money if it wasn’t popular would they? Of course it’s popular or they’d lose money!

You have no evidence of this so why post, other than to 💩 stir?

Unbelievable. Someone come on and says a child has been bitten by a dog in a place where only humans should be and the dog lovers are out in force calling you unreasonable.

I’m sorry this happened, OP. I’m sick of it too. You should absolutely report this.

Business owners decide whether dogs can be on their premises or not.

You have a choice to only use cafes, shops and restaurants where dogs are not allowed.

What you can't do is expect a blanket ban to suit your preferences.

It really is that simple.

The child was 12. Hardly likely to be playing up.

It's not implausible that one of those people has been me!

This is certainly more believable than the over-egged dramas about dogs leaping and biting everyone they see.

The vast majority of us would prefer a dog free space.

Do you have any actual evidence for that or is it just your assumption based on your own feelings?

The majority or chain stores, department stores, malls, restaurants, cafes and public buildings do seem to accept dogs now and I very much doubt they would do it if they had conducted the research and found that it was putting off the 'vast majority' from shopping there. Nothing is by accident in business. I imagine they do it because it brings in more customers than it drives out.

My dog definitely does enjoy going to cafes. He loves the attention and fuss he gets and he lays down and is very relaxed when we are eating.

He is a rescue and when we got him last year he did not like being left and would cry so we started taking him out with us. Now he can be left but we prefer him being out with us. We can do a lovely long walk somewhere then go somewhere for lunch - perfect.

Yes but for every person who takes their dog to a venue which allows it there’s people who disagree. Personally I disapprove mostly for hygiene reasons. But generally if I see dogs there I’m fine with them and like I said in pp they’ve generally been fine. If a dog bit me/growled, tried to eat/beg for my food then I would not be happy and would complain.

No we’re not all very fed up of dogs in human spaces and wouldn’t prefer dog free.
What happened to your granddaughter is awful, we obviously need dogs trained properly and to behave in public, but there should be a balance of dog friendly and dog free cafes.
In my area businesses would suffer if they didn’t allow dogs because it’s an area where lots of people come on holiday or for walks etc and a lot of them bring their dog.
I don’t mind having to sit outside or in a specific area with the dog but it does make life easier when you find a dog friendly cafe.
I do agree that most shops should be dog free though.

I love dogs, but i think the push to allow them everywhere is madness. A town centre cafe isn't the place for dogs.

When I was a kid I would get really upset we couldn’t bring our staffy to pick up and I thought everyone was mean and horrible to him. Until my dad said “what if someone wanted to bring their tarantulas to pick up?” And as someone who’s scared of spiders I said “no that’s scary” and he explained some people feel that way about dogs especially dogs like ours and we need to be respectful of others. Hope this helps. Dogs are great but people should come first, there’s an abundance of dog friendly places, people who are scared/allergic/just don’t like them have the right to go out as well. The good thing about capitalism is you have a choice where to spend your money.

Don't bring it to a cafe or a supermarket where the vast majority don't want it
Maybe not to the supermarket but many places encourage dos. They leave bowls of water, have signs up saying dogs welcome and have treats for them. Some of the pubs near me have a dog toy box.

If dogs are welcome I'm taking my dogs there.
Obviously there are places that say 'no dogs' and that is ok too.

But the cafe owners will obviously choose the most popular option for their location? To
make money!

If for every dog friendly cafe they would be equally popular without being dog friendly, why are they so popular 🤔

You are a considerate dog owner. On another thread people said they’d had other peoples dogs eat/beg for their food, growl snarl or start a fight with another dog.

I actually did witness a dog fight in one pub. Luckily one of the dogs was removed as it wouldn’t stop barking and carrying on.

I was in a virtually empty John Lewis store the other week and the make up staff were fussing some ugly dog - ugh gross and unhygenic - so that’s me not buying anything from that department. Then I see dopey dog owners letting their dogs brush up and snuffle in the £200 mint velvet dresses. I left quickly. It was such an unpleasant experience - I no longer feel compelled to ‘browse’ around shops that let dogs in.

Dog owner here and I completly agree.

There seems to be a rise in dogs going into shops as well, what is wrong with people. Take your dog for a walk and then go out and do what you have to do.

Same for children, why do they have to be dragged along to everything and made the centre of some parents universe with every fart and opinion worshipped. I have a gaggle of children so not anti children, but goodness me other people’s children are sometimes tiresome.

At least they will grow up and out of that.

your dog will always smell and slobber.

Gaslighting.

And you’re perfectly entitled to feel that, it’s your choice!

I’ve yet to meet an ugly dog though!