Dogs in restaurants - I am done!

[Doseofreality]

The hill that I will die on. Dogs should not be allowed in eating establishments.

Just had another lunch spoilt as a family came in with 3, yes 3, large dogs and sat down at the table beside us. It’s gross, unhygienic and anti social. If I wanted to eat surrounded by animals I’d grab a takeaway and go and sit in a vet’s waiting room.

Close to £100 wasted on a lunch where I had a dog licking it’s bumhole in my line of vision.

Some dogs do, yes.

Various reasons -

• I'm on holiday and not allowed to leave the dog alone in the accommodation
• I am out for longer than 4 hours and won't leave my animals alone for longer than that because it is cruel
• I happened to be out with the dogs and walked past a bacon butty, which made me want a bacon butty
• For my anxious dog, it is often a choice of where he is the least anxious - somewhere scary and strange without me but also without scary strangers, or somewhere strange and scary with me but with scary strangers. The answer is almost always where the food is. I come a close second to the food.

It's annoying and childish to call anyone that thinks dogs shouldn't be in cafes etc 'dog haters'.
There's plenty of dog owners who agree dogs shouldn't be in cafes. They own a dog but don't need to be with it 24/7 or take it to a cafe.
Does that make them 'dog haters?'
In my book it makes them sensible dog owners who see their dog as an animal (i.e kind of how traditional dog owners were before covid and everyone went mad.)

So it's cruel to leave your dog at home but not cruel to piss off half the population who don't want to be surrounded by dogs the whole time? That's bonkers!

Well I wouldn’t advise you visit places like Cornwall then! I voted YANBU in your views. However, we have just been away to Cornwall and been pleasantly surprised by how many places welcomed dogs. We ate in some restaurants where we could bring our small dog but were always seated away from other guests and with other dog owners. We could bring our dog for breakfast and dinner but it was exclusively for the use of people with dogs. Other guests were seated in a different room so didn’t have to come across our dogs. And we still had to ensure our dogs were well behaved. But these were places where dinner for 4 was easily over £200 and accommodation was expensive.

That said, now we are not on holiday and back home we wouldn’t take our dog out unless for a quick coffee but not for a full meal. Where we are locally it’s not encouraged for an evening meal. We did leave our dog alone for 2 hours while we had evening meals out once holiday and only once they were used to our holiday accommodation. We also bought their crate so they were left in a safe space for them.

What's bonkers is choosing to be in a dog-friendly establishment and then complaining that there are dogs in there.

It's the new Spanish people in Spain.

I like dogs but I don't want them in restaurants. There was one in The Stable last week but luckily I sat outside and dog was inside. Don't mind them in pubs so much but not proper restaurants and cafes.

@FrequencyI heartily disagree - there's 20+ cafes near me and only 1 that says no dogs.
It just seems dog rights trump human rights every time. Bonkers. I guess if u run a cafe tho you want the cash knowing people take their mutts everywhere now.

If we are playing Top Trumps, the business owner's preferences/profit margins beat everything and everyone else.

I've had dogs for over 20 years. Traditionally children weren't welcome in pubs either. Should we go back to that, too?
I'm so glad I holiday in France with ours, where people are more live and let live, and rather less preoccupied on what's going on at the next table.

@frequencyha we agree on something!
Not liking your cocky tone much though.

My local pub allows dogs but not kids.

@Laterlife- erm ....yes please! Kid free pubs- lovely. No-one has responded to my plea not be call a dog hater I notice.....

And if you don’t have friends or family who can take the dog, or god forbid they are away with you? If you are going on a dog friendly holiday I don’t want to leave my dog behind in kennels- I got her so I could do fun things with her.
Yes inconsiderate people are annoying, but the vast majority of dogs cause no problems in dog friendly places. Complain about the selfish inconsiderate nature of society today, that is the problem not dogs per se, if it wasn’t dogs it would be inappropriate clothing, bad manner, playing music without head phones, screaming kids etc.

I’m a dog lover but I don’t think you’re unreasonable. Until losing my beloved dog I only took him to beer gardens, as I appreciate a lot of people don’t want to enjoy a meal with a furry beast in close proximity even if I do. Once I was at a restaurant and witnessed a fantastic situation where indulgent parents let their young daughter run amok between tables, screeching. She ran past the last one where a massive dog suddenly appeared from under the table, must’ve been surprised by the noise and closeness, so it barked at her. The parents glared, the dog owners glared, rather than both apologising.

Have you had toddlers? Would have happily put mine in a cage (I didn't) many times.

Your dog isn't more intelligent than a 5 year old.

I silenced an entire cafe the other day - oops. I was walking my dogs down the footpath, separated from cafe by a low wall, to go to the vet next to the cafe. Heard two dogs being very unfriendly. Guy goes to tie one on the footpath. I politely ask him not to as we were about to walk past. He took it back to an unoccupied table. Well this absolute mongrel goes ballistic trying to get to my dogs (small 10kg dogs) and attack. Guy has both arms around dog trying to hold it's mouth shut. I hate dogs barking and it was just a reflex when I went "shut up" in a growly voice that could cover a 20 acre paddock. Well the dog looked shocked and actually shut up, as did the entire cafe. The woman with the man tried to pick an argument and I told her she'd be fine if she didn't take vicious dogs to cafes.

My dogs are sweet and very friendly as well as well behaved. I don't take them to cafes. The dog could have been fear reactive. Totally get it. It had not clocked my dogs until the owner went to tie it up where it could harass passers-by. My dogs are trained to walk properly at heel and that's enforced particularly when I see other dogs or people nearby. However, the dog was determined to get to them and that is not ok. The dog should not be put in that position and my dogs shouldn't be at risk as result of idiotic humans.

So, as people are incapable of making correct decisions and keeping vicious mongrels at home where they belong, I am team no dog.

I’ll tell you what I saw a few months ago. A woman with her dog in a pub. She picked the dog up on her lap, gave it a drink from her glass.. and proceeded to drink from the glass herself. I had to leave immediately. I’ve never gone back in that pub since.

It's crazy isn't it. Dogs don't like crowds and noise, they don't like being tripped over and stood on yet some selfish owners insist on dragging their poor dogs everywhere with them.

I never see the 'dogs in cafe' owners briskly walking miles on popular walks round here just stuffing their poor pooches under tables in noisy cafes. Awful.

Why? How did that impact you at all?
It is not like she was offering you a drink from the glass too.

Dog owner and lover here.
not a fan of eating in restaurants full of dogs myself to be honest.

I live in a holiday destination so literally every pub cafe and restaurant now allows dogs in and it’s annoying.

dog hair in food and on tables,owners with no fucking sense or thought of others it’s a joke.

if people choose to own dogs and go on holiday get a fucking dog sitter or put them into dog boarding.

there should be a list of rules that’s law for places where dogs can go

No dogs on seats/sofas/chairs
I left somewhere the other day covered in someone else’s dog hair

kept on a short lead
had a large dribbly dog constantly at my table in another place while trying to eat and the owners were about three tables away oblivious

no more than 1 dog per table
if you have more than one dog either sit seperatly or take it in turns. Why should everyone else suffer because you wanted to bring your dogs on holiday

owners to be responsible for the clean up of dog wee or poo
witnessed a waitress in one place drag a dirty mop and bucket out to mop up a dog pee in the middle of a cafe then shove it back in the cupboard again then come out serving food.

fucking unhygienic.

and yes as above before I get hated on, I have dogs,I love my dogs,I’ve been rescuing and fostering dogs for twenty years.

but I’m responsible and don’t expect the rest of the world to tolerate them

I won’t eat in dog restaurants. I go elsewhere. 🤢

It impacted on me because it made me sick to my stomach. And I dont want to be given a glass a dog has drunk out of!

It's all well and good people saying don't go to dog friendly establishments but we recently spent a few days in Burford in The Cotswolds and despite there being many pubs and cafés not one of them was dog free. None of them even had dog free areas. I am terrified of dogs and our friend is allergic so we couldn't eat out at all. How is that fair? As other people have said you wouldn't discriminate against people with a nut allergy, gluten intolerance etc..so why is it OK to discriminate against a fur allergy.

The dog used to be man’s best friend. Now the dog is treated like a furry baby. It’s pathetic in all fronts.