My husband has a sign in his shop-    Pets welcome Children must be on a leash.

You should hear him go on about the children who must touch everything despite the constant telling off and threats- which are neber carried out- from the parents.

He welcomes dogs but dreads children coming in the shop.

I personally DO NOT TRUST PEOPLE WHO DONT LIKE DOGS! Every person like that,that i have met have been sour,miserable folk i would want nothing to do with anyway,i couldnt be friends with someone that hated animals and especially pooches!

My biggest pet hate is parents who shove their fear of dogs onto their kids and let these kids scream and run around whenever a dog passes by,there are some kids who would love to pat my shih-tzu's but the parents act like they are a pack of rabid wolves! Not only should us dog lovers teach our dogs how to behave in public but i think it is even more important that parents teach their kids how to behave around dogs! The onus always falls upon us,most dogs automatically want to play with or chase a squaking kid and then we get chastised for it with the usual comment "those dogs should be on leads(in an off leash area) to which i reply "maybe you should put your kids on a leash and teach them how to behave around dogs!" Which usually shuts them up quick :D

Guest good on you for wanting to take your dog into shops,i wish more people were willing to take their dogs everywhere with them instead of leaving them home or in the car,maybe then this ridiculous "no dogs" law will be scrapped! Your dog laws are nothing compared to the strict no dog laws here in Australia,no matter, i still take my dogs everywhere,except in food shops,just like i do with my kids,my dogs are my kids and i defend them the same!

Mine come most places with me, and often travel on the buses and trains and are totally bombproof.  I get a kick out of peoples comments when getting off the bus or train with them, as people aren't even aware that they were there.

My freind goes on holiday with a group of doggy freinds each year and they stay in holiday cottages with around 20 dogs.

They have references from the places they stayed previously in order to get their booking, and always leave the places tidier than they found them.  I have a lovley Group photo if someon wants to see!  Sure Michelled has too :D

what about when you are walking down the road & a child sees your dog & has a FIT,only to be  made worse by the parents screaming NASTY DOG.....talk about teaching the child to be scared!
i often feel like saying,"keep your child under control,their behaviour is worring my dog"-but of course i dont

My dog would have been far better behaved and less messy then the two children we were sitting near to in a restaurant the other day. 

Badly behaved children in a restaurant really is a bug bear of mine, it completely spoils my enjoyment.  I am not saying ban them as I have met some perfectly behaved children in restaurants, It is badly behaved parents that are the problem, they have no thought for others

Sandra

It bugs me too :( We made a point of NOT taking our children into restaurants until they could sit still long enough for us all to finish the meal. When we want a quiet meal, we get deafened by people with young babies who scream or children who are allowed to run around and get under everyone's feet :(

Daisy

We did the opposite - we socialised our children to eating out from an early age, and the sort of behaviour we expected.  And although I don't like to brag - I've been compliemented on their behavior several times, AND we got upgraded to first class on the way back from the States earlier this year, apparently this is almost unheard of if you have children........

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I know what you mean!!  My neice came round to visit me the other day - I hadn't seen her for about 2 years and she's now 15 years old.  She came in and met Glazby and totally froze, absolutely petrified.

Its totally because my Sister has brought her up to be afraid of dogs.  Her fears are totally unfounded - she's never had a bad experience with a dog in her life!!

I find that sometimes a softly softly approach is in order however I was actually quite firm with her.  She asked if Glazby could be shut away whilst she was there and I told her no, he hadn't done anything wrong and would associate being shut away as punishment.  I also told her that her fear was unfounded (harsh I know - bad Aunty) and that she was old enough to be able to deal with this kind of thing.

Glazby was as good as gold and by the end of her visit, albeit timidly he sat next to her whilst she stroked him and she had a giggle when he did a stinky parp next to her!!

my son is a car salesman. the other week an elderly couple went into the showroom. they asked if their albie could come in as he didnt like sitting in the car on his own. thinking it was their grandson my son said yes of course.in ambled in my sons words the biggest ugliest bulldog he had ever seen! lol.he sat snorting and farting beside the desk whilst my son filled in their paperwork. when he told them we had bulldogs they were delighted and he spent ages chatting about dogs. albie also enjoyed the attention of the salesforce and other customers.

After reading all these threads, i went on a visit to the usual dog carrier websites (they never make one big enough to take my almost 9kg lump of a scottie) just to see if they have any new ones.  OMG petlondon have just launched the 'doggy wheel' - like a pull-along suitcase that can also be used as a car seat and backpack.  Now I know a Scottie shouldn't need to be carried when they can walk, and I can't imagine for one minute that Millie would put up with going in one - but I love it, I want one!  It comes in pink!  I could take her out on the train in that!! (because she won't walk near the train station anyway).I could get to town and back in half the time with that!!  Its lovely, but its £99, oh I need a job!!!

http://www.petlondon.net/acatalog/Doggy_Wheel.html

(okay, I'm just about to take my pills and I'll be fine in about ten minutes, and normal service will resume...)

Are you saying that dogs are allowed in buses and trains? WoW,talk about lucky! No such luck here :(
Up until a few months ago dogs wernt even allowed to sit in outside dining area's,thankfully, enough dog owners kicked up a stink and the law was dropped.

I dont visit anywhere where my dogs are not welcome and that includes my brothers house,he has a horrid,unsocialised maltese that attacks my dogs if i dont watch her constantly,easier just not to go! The dog belongs to his kids,he doesnt really like dogs and the wife cant stand them which has put me right off of her,it's a shame that i miss out on family gatherings and such when he has it at his house,but i stand firm on my "dogs not welcome,then neither am i" policy!

Maybe I've just been lucky but we've been allowed to take Cashie most places (local shop, hairdresser, bank, travel agent).  We did this from day 1, carrying him before he was vaccinated  and I'm sure it has helped his socialisation enormously.  Without trying to boast, he's a really friendly, well-balanced puppy (not perfect, obviously :-) ).  It probably helps that he's a small dog and looks like a wimp!

Are dogs completely banned from public transport in some places?  That's awful - what are owners who don't have cars supposed to do?  Here dogs are allowed on the Tube but must be carried up escalators so I'm not sure what people with dogs too big to carry do - presumably use the fire exits or use stations with stairs.  They are allowed on buses "at the driver's discretion", and I've never had a problem there.

I took Cashie to Edinburgh on GNER this week (four and a half hours each way), and when I was booking the tickets asked the chap on the phone if dogs were allowed on trains.  His answer (obviously from a company script) was "If they are on a lead and not a nuisance to passengers or staff."  He wouldn't give me any more information, e.g. if they are allowed on seats etc but just kept spouting that line.  In the end I took Cashie's blanket with me.  I was at a table with 2 seats each side and the one next to me was empty.  I asked the 2 girls opposite if they minded him and they said "no, he's lovely", so I covered the seat with his blanket and he slept all the way.  I wonder what the company would have done had he been a nuisance - chucked us off at Newcastle?

It did bother me that while I was under obligation to make sure that my charge was clean, quiet and under control - the same rules did not appear to apply to the parents of the many children screaming and charging up and down the train!

On the Continent one sees dogs everywhere and nobody bats an eyelid, I don't know why we can't have a similar attitude!

Sorry ozzie72, just looked at your profile and realised that you're in Australia, not England, which would explain the different rules regarding public transport.  Incidentally, I was in Perth in February and noticed that there were very few dogs around?  Are they less common in Oz per household than here, if that makes sense?

No worries Mary-caroline :)
Youd'e be surprised to know that Australia has one of the highest pet to home ratio's in the world,cant remember the exact figure,will look it up later.

To be honest i'm ashamed of the Australian pet owning public :( Most ,but not ALL keep their dogs in the backyard and thats where they stay till they die,it makes me so angry,i have neighbours on either side of me who's dogs have never been inside,lettalone been taken for a walk,and the food.....please dont get me started about the garbage they get fed! I have 2 dogs that live with me and 5 other ones from the neighbourhood that i feed(decent food) and walk,the owners are all the same,dogs are second class citizens and are too dirty to be let inside lettalone have money spent on good food and veteranary care. There is one common factor that connects them all...Please,please dont slam me for saying this BUT they are all Italian,the italians and greeks here in Oz treat their dogs absolutely dispicably,I dont why and dont know if it's like this in the rest of the world but it is 100% true here.I know all races have their bad seeds but the above stick out,in my neck of the woods anyway. The true blue aussies rate a close second,it doesnt help that our laws are so strict,it just reinforces the dog is dirty mentality,which begs the question why do these people get dogs in the first place??? I have had this argument over and over with my neighbours and can never get a decent response,i have never got a thank-you for the food i give or the walks i take their dogs on,they think i'm stupid for treating a dog like that,not that i really expect a thankyou,but it would be nice,i am not rich and scrape by each week,but i just cant let these dogs live like they do.One of the neighbours dogs i look after is a precious little tibetan spaniel,he deosnt even have a dog house,i have given them blankets etc. but he just rips them up,through boredom. There will be a time very,very soon when this little dog will up and disapear and be taken to a family that will love him and treat him like one of their kids as i do mine!I doubt they will even notice him gone,i am in the process of finding him a home,yes i know it's called stealing but my heart just cant take anymore of him crying at the fence all day and night.

Sorry to go so off topic,but this subject really makes me angry! Like i said dogs are not allowed on public transport,taxi's etc. so people have to leave their dogs at home,you guys are so lucky. Another issue that burns me is the pet food that's available here,or should i say not available! We have the usual garbage of pedigree,science diet,eukanuba etc. The food i feed (holistic kibble)has to be imported from the U.S under our strict quarantine laws,it costs the suppliers and arm and a leg,a pet shop wanted to import Burns over but our customs made it too hard,they wanted her to fund a trip over to Britain so one of their guys could inspect the burns plant,knowing full well she couldnt afford it.

Better ewnd it here before this turns into a book.

Christine