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.

There are plenty of dog free cafes and restaurants , just pick one of them. Nearly all national trust, Starbucks, Nando’s, pizza express…10s of thousands of eateries across the UK it isn’t hard.

Kids don’t lick their own genitalia or eat other animals poo

would you like to be sat under a table for an hour and a half? No? Then why would you make a dog do it?

And you asked up thread how blood could be drawn through clothing - it’s definitely possible. As a district nurse I was bitten by a patients dog - through my trousers. I need hospital treatment, a tetanus and daily dressings for weeks

Oh please. All dogs stink. You may have a poor sense of smell, or maybe you are just inured to the stench, but I'm not, and I can assure you all dogs smell awful.

Depends. What I don't like are dogs slobbering over tables where there is food, or out of control/off leash or in 'packs'. Especially not in small places or where the tables are close together or are low.

Like the lady who thought it was ok to 'share' a low table where I was eating my lunch, with her 4 large out of control dogs. She didn't even ask. I was able to move tables fortunately, but I shouldn't have had to.

This is a real problem

We frequently ask if somewhere is dog friendly, get told yes but turn up to realise that its not got a correct layout.

Things like round tables in the centre of a restaurant aren't really suitable. We have no where to put the dogs out the way where people don't have to step over them.
The same with a previous posters experience of a steam train, we once booked informing them we had two dogs and got put on a table with someone with two dogs also. We now specify that we need to have a single two seat which should be automatic if you buy dog tickets because understandably no one wants to have their legs over our dogs!

I do think places should be more realistic if they actually have the space to accommodate them.

You could say the same about people with dogs looking for dog friendly cafes. There are plenty of those, so why should all cafes be dog friendly?

I'm a dog owner, I love my dogs. We don't take them to bloody cafes or shops because they are NOT places dogs should be. Such selfish behaviour.

good luck with your daughter and granddaughter today OP.

Lots of cafes have comfy seats with coffee tables so quite easily the tail is at table height

Not all dogs are the same, but OP states that this dog is known for biting and therefore is clearly not safe to be in a cafe. That’s poor ownership. the dog should be muzzled quite clearly.

No one is saying they should all be allowed everywhere? The OP says she wants them banned from every cafe, despite there being plenty of places she can choose that are dog free.

I hope you're never called for jury service.

I don't believe pets should be in inside cafes and shops other than pet stores which cater to them and are often attached to in house veterinary services.

Genuine service animals are different and have every right to be there supporting their human. Ditto for genuine service animals in training.

Dogs should be left outside of shops, cafes and restaurants.

We Have had similar in the cafe where I work, so we have now banned dogs. All it takes is one to ruin it for everyone else

But they are not all dog friendly. Also, believe it or not, it's not dog owners who decide whether somewhere is not friendly or not it is the owners!

I work in a dog-friendly office, and my boss has her lovely, timid, mid-size dog there most days. My totally non-scientific observations are that about 50% of visitors acknowledge the dog and want to pat her, 30% are indifferent, and 20% dislike or are actively afraid of dogs. We have a notice on the door that there is a dog in the office and giving people the option to knock first so we can take the dog into a private office while the person is there. So it is certainly not "only on Mumsnet that people hate dogs".

I don’t mind driving dogs being in cafes in general, providing they are fully under control and not causing annoyance to others. What I do mind is dog owners who think it’s ok to have a dog approaching other people whilst making their way to and sitting at their table.

We were in a lovely dog friendly pub for food last weekend, a group of 3 friends, one of whom was out of the house for the first time following an operation. The other friend had had some bad news and needed to talk. We purposely sat in a booth that was away from other tables. There was a family with a spaniel type dog at the nearest table from us, it was on one of those awful extendable leads, and constantly pestered us for over a hour, despite me asking the owner to take it back to their own table. It was actually a lovely friendly dog but had no idea how to behave, trying to jump onto the seat and catching my friends stitches with its claw as it did so. Tried to snatch our starters off our plates. All along, the owners giggling and saying, sorry, he’s just so friendly and loves people so much. We ended up asking to move tables to the other side of the pub and explaining why to staff.

I would just say, to those who take their dogs to cafes, keep them away from everyone else, and if you can’t do that, don’t take them. And before anyone says that kids are worse, same applies, I’ve had meals ruined in the past by people allowing their kids to wander up to my table and try to engage me in colouring/cards/whatever else they are doing. That’s also unwanted when I’ve left mine at home and am trying to chat with friends

I am sick and tired of pathetic dog haters stating "all dogs smell". NO THEY BLOODY DO NOT.

Different breeds have different types of fur/hair. Some smell some don't. Most of my friends have dogs and some of their houses smell of dog and some don't. Mainly the ones that don't are the same breed.

When my MIL was alive she loved to visit and tell us our house smelled as she was such a nasty piece of work. When we lost our last cat and only had dogs she suddenly stopped saying it and when DH questionned her she said it no longer did smell. Believe me if the dogs were smelly she would have said so and loved saying it

Because responsible owners don't want to leave their dogs home alone all the time!? Just a thought...
Personally, it rather bugs me that well-behaved dogs are barred from places, while unruly kids can go wherever they like!

See as a dog person this would make me nervous

Tying dogs outside is always suggested on these threads but actually i think is far worse

Id much rather walk past someone holding a dog on a lead, then an unattended dog in a shop front.

Other than the issues with dog theft etc, most of my childhood bad experiences with dogs were ones that were tied up, and hate having to brush past them to get somewhere where often you can't leave without being near them

There are good and responsible dog owners just as there are good and responsible parents.

Plenty of children run riot in eating places which could cause a nasty accident when hot food and drink is around. Plenty scream and screech and, in my experience, they are never spoken to or taken out by the parents. Also seen plenty of children riding scooters and bikes in supermarkets which should never be allowed.

Maybe I have been lucky but despite going to dog friendly eating places numerous times every week I have never yet seen a dog misbehave in one. I have never been there when a dog has been barking or run around leadless or cocking it's leg etc. I have seen dogs misbehave in parks and open countryside

I agree, I think this perception is psychological half the time. We haven't had a dog for eight years and I still don't detect any dog smell on dog friendly places.

We never leave our dog for more than 3 hours and that is rarely. We go out for the day and he comes with us. We might go for a walk then go for breakfast then go on somewhere else for another walk then have lunch. It's great for us and him and we get to talk to lots and lots of people who like dogs

All these cafe and pub owners are voting with their feet - clearly allowing dogs is good for their bottom line or they wouldn’t be doing it.

It’s not up to you OP 🤷‍♀️. You’ll just need to do a better job of researching dog free options in your area if it winds you up so much.

Not as sick as I am of your stench-beast stench.

MIL probably lost her sense of smell as she got old - ever think of that?