Using public toilets when out alone with dog?!

[Moirarosesgarden]

I’m going on a daytrip next week on my own but taking my dog with me. The weather will be much cooler by then so one option is to leave him in car in shade while I nip to the loo, but not ideal. Do you take your dogs in to public toilets?! Or dog-friendly pub toilets?! He can be reactive to a few other dogs so I’d rather not leave him with a member of staff for example. I’ll be out all day mostly in small villages so not motoway services type facilities. I don’t fancy a she-wee either! 🤣

I would never take my dog into a Public loo with me!

I drive on the motorway and always leave my dog in the car,with windows slightly open,he lies down until I get back.I am only gone a few minutes!

I also stay in cottages where you are not allowed to leave a dog unattended,so he waits in the car when I shop as well! What a terrible ordeal for him!

I would never leave him in the car in hot weather,I holiday in the early Spring or Autumn.

Ridiculous where people think it is acceptable to take dogs these days.

my dog is nearly 11 so i guess i will have been doing this for 10 years - never noticed, ninja

You would probably get random vigilante types smashing the windows in to 'save' the dog.

You can leave the window open a bit. Nobody would worry for 10 mins. What do people with dogs do at motorway services?

I'd be with DH and we'd go in separately while the other waited with the dog. I wouldn't go alone if I wasn't able to take the dog with me - he'd either stay at home or I'd pick another route where I could keep him with me/park right outside the loos.

This is positive.

I guess we just need more clarity and for organisations to state 'no dogs' in certain places.

The etiquette around dogs has significantly broken down due to the behaviour of too many owners. I'm hopeful more shops and venues will start to ban dogs going forwards. It's sort of a shame for the reasonable owners but it needs to happen. Will probably improve the lives of many dogs who are subjected to unsuitable days out in city centre shops etc. The number of highly anxious and hot dogs on our Park & Ride buses is so high now, I feel sorry for both them and all of us passengers having to deal with them.

Not in the time it takes to visit a loo.

You could leave a note if concerned.

But its not just in the locked cubicle is it,,? It will have to also be by the sink, by the dryer, in the entrance etc.
My GC is petrified of dogs because a dog off a lead in a public park knocked her over she isn't keen on the noise from hand dryers in public toilets either so it's hard to get her in there to begin with , she would have a meltdown and probably wet herself rather than go into a public toilet if she saw a dog go in.

But its not just in the locked cubicle is it,,? It will have to also be by the sink, by the dryer, in the entrance etc.

Depends on the toilet, surely? Plenty of our local ones are all fully enclosed cubicles with a sink etc. so you don't see anyone else. If you're queuing, you just wait outside in the open air.

Bumping this question as the outrage of Kensington haven't answered

i asked the same sort of question @Clymene

It’s the same as all those dogs jumping up/stealing sandwiches/circling viciously every time people leave their houses. It doesn’t happen but it’s bloody well unacceptable regardless.

Well not in the parks I go to. I have already posted the rules about Royal Parks. In my local park, not royal, you can’t take the dog to the toilet because the toilets are in a building tear doesn’t allow dogs. I have however, seen a dog take food from someone sitting down having a picnic.

These replies are hilariously dramatic 😂😂😂

”I’d be too scared to ever use the toilet again” and “the thought of a dog’s paws on the public toilet floor make me feel sick” are personal favourites. With the latter, I wonder if they are aware that the public pavement is just as disgusting…

However, I don’t think dogs belong everywhere either, if I’m going somewhere that isn’t explicitly marketed as ‘dog friendly’, mine stays at home. He’s more than happy with this.

The one time I have ever had to take him somewhere he shouldn’t have been was when I had to run into a corner shop for some tissues due to a surprise torrential nosebleed, I couldn’t leave him outside even for 2 mins because the area I was in is notorious for dog theft (even mutts like mine are stolen on a daily basis!) and even then I carried him in so he didn’t put his paws on the shop floor. For context, he is similar to a greyhound in shape/size so I must’ve been a sight to see, awkwardly carrying a large bag of elbows with my nose streaming with blood! Although I’m sure the MN anti-dog brigade would have tutted at me and/or run screaming from the shop.

Right so that's a no then @Flossflower

Yes it is a no. The fact that I haven’t probably means in is socially unacceptable. I certainly would challenge anyone who took a dog into a public toilet unless it said that it was allowed.

No you wouldn’t 😂 you might give them a disapproving look behind their back but I bet you wouldn’t say a word.

It must be terrible being a dog owner nowadays because they all seem fearful of theft. Dogs used to be routinely tied up outside shops and cafes, now people are scared to do that? The barriers have gone now. Every cafe and shop seems to welcome them, it's very noticable.

You don’t know me! My husband worries someone is going to get nasty when I confront them.

Gosh yes, I’d love to be able to tie my dog up outside a shop or cafe for an hour or so instead of bringing him inside with me. Terrible times, just terrible.

Who's buying all the dogs then? Must be other dog owners.

Dogs are routinely tied up where I live. 9 times out of 10 they are barking, screaming or pulling to get to their owners. I’ve seen children hugging them. I’ve seen people feeding them. I’ve seen other people encouraging their own dogs to approach. A stressed dog is an unsafe dog.

Personally I’d leave my dog at home rather than tie it up. Anywhere. But on a day out if I need the loo and OH isn’t with me then I will take her in. In time when she grows up a bit I’d leave her in the car (if not too hot) but at the moment she’s too immature to do anything other than come in with me.

It’s not entitlement. It’s risk management on the very odd occasion I have to use a public loo in an area that will more than likely have many dogs around anyway.

Some of the replies to this thread are hysterical. Can I assume you never go to areas that might have dogs around to be so enraged by one in a usually already filthy toilet?

How do you manage when you go to work? Not every dog owner wfh?

I think you're mistaking me for another person, @Newpeep . I'm not enraged by anything.
I've not commented on dogs going into public toilets.
I've merely expressed surprise that dogs now have to go everywhere with owners.
Do check before you start accusations.

That’s in a calm, safe, secure environment they are familiar with. Not a busy area with lots going on and unpredictable people.

Two totally different scenarios.

Easy enough for someone to accuse your dog of making them feel threatened which is all it takes to have a dog control order slapped on your dog these days. I’ve personally known it to happen to two people. Never worth the risk.