During the Bank Holiday weekend I was refused access to two separate places because I had one of my small dogs with me.  The first was an (outdoor) garden centre and the second was the garden area of a pub. 
Is it just me or can anyone else remember a time when neither of these types of places would have blinked at the presence of a well-behaved dog ? 
It's strange how, in a society that's increasingly promoting tolerance, equality and inclusiveness, dog owners are often still treated as second class citizens.  Quite sad really.

It is a shame. In terms of pubs, if they sell food, dogs are not allowed in an area where food is being consumed, by law.
I can understand why dogs are not welcome at garden centres. I was at a Blooms garden centre over the weekend and they allow dogs. When I went outside there was a little jack russell cocking its leg up a bambo plant for sale. The lady was fully aware of what he was doing but didn't stop him then just walked off. It's unfortunately the same old story of a few people spoiling it for the rest of us.

I was refused entry to a pub once because I had my young baby with me, the baby was asleep in her car seat and it was raining hard, I was told to sit outside.  We went there for a meal and were told no babies or children, there were dogs in the lounge and bar :rolleyes: and food was being consumed   Needless to say we didn't order a meal and told everyone we knew ;)

There are loads of places in Wales which ban dogs, it's best to check first before going :( :( 

Pubs that serve food are allowed to have dogs in at the owners descression but not in the main eating area. We allow dogs in the pub and garden just not the resteraunt(SP?) but you can choose to eat where you like ;)

For a great list of dog friendly places try the dogs trust web site. All are recommended by dog owners. We always check it before a day out. 

Actually, i dont think there is a law stating that dogs are not allowed to be where food is being eaten, ONLY where food is being prepared. So your dog is not legally allowed in a pub kitchen for example.

Em

I thought the rules were where food was being prepared, otherwise why are dogs allowed in restaurants on teh continent (same EEC regs).

That happened to us at an outdoor garden centre when Poppy was just 11 weeks old, OH was carrying her and we assured the assistant that she would not be put on the ground as she hadn't had her second vaccination, but still we were not allowed to take her in, so OH stood outside holding her while I went in to look round, then we'd planned to swap over, but to be honest, I was so P'd off that when I came out I told OH we were going and that we wouldn't be buying our plants from there.

Round here dogs are not allowed in pubs whether food is served or not. I only know of one, near the airport, that will allow your dog in even though its part restaurant. In Devon no one refused us entry and even supplied bowls of water for them. We go into town once a week for socialisation and none of the shops allow dogs so we take it in turns waiting outside if we want to get something.

Hi Tyby,

I have been reflecting on this very thing recently.  When I was a child in the 'fifities in Liverpool, dogs were part of the fabric of the neighbourhood.   Basically, the kids played out with the dogs and vice versa and we got to know each other's characters.  Some dogs were mates and others were left strictly alone. The right to wander was accepted and the occasional loss to traffic considered sad but unavoidable.  I wouldn't advocate going back to this as it was far from a 'golden age' (our family never had a dog from puppyhood to old age because of my dad's habit of 'letting him out to do his business on someone else's step') but there wasn't the hysteria about dogs there is today.  We learned early on that dogs should be treated with respect because if a dog bit you, the first question you'd be asked was, 'And what did you do to the dog?'

This was brought home to me by a recent holiday in Pembrokeshire, which I haven't visited since my late teens.  The reduction of dog acceptance was very noticeable as was the level of hysteria from children when a dog walks past them. (Here's an idea for parents: If your kids are frightened of dogs, don't use the 'dog friendly' bit of the beach and then get upset when dogs run around near them.) 

Very sad, as is the categorisation of dogs into 'safe dogs' (GRs, BCs, Labs, spaniels etc. and anything small and/or hairy)  and 'dangerous dogs' (GSDs, Rotties, Staffs or anything that resembles a 'pitbull'). 
We are becoming (have become?) a tabloid, knee-jerk, sound-bite nation and it's sad that dogs as well as people suffer for it. 

Sorry to rant but that's how I feel.

'Granny Grunt' from Brum.

we have just come back from a weekend away in Devon, near salcombe, obviously stayed in a dog friendly hotel and i have to say that everywhere around there was dog friendly except for one beach but the one next to it was dog friendly, and all the cafe's etc we went to all accepted dogs, as did the pub we visited on the way home in Exeter - they dont seem to be allowed in many places in coventry where we live or northampton where we work - although i havent asked in most places, ive just not seen them

I dont understand why some people go on the dog friendly beaches tho as there was a lady in front of us who quite clearly didnt like dogs but chose the dog beach instead of the non dog beach.... altho the dog belonging to the lady next too us did cock his leg up this lady lol

I think to some extent with the increase in car ownership that dog owners have allowed this to crep in.  I take my dogs absolutely everywhere where there isn't a specific notice prohibitn them from entering. 

This includes Banks, all around the high street and shopping centres ,buses, trains etc. 

I have to road walk the dogs to their favourite excersise areas, whereas a lot of people I know just bundle the dogs in teh car take them to the country park and let them run.

This means that peopel in the street are getting less and less used to seeing well behaved dogs.  Interestingly the best behaved and mellow dogs I see belong to the homeless in the City centre.

Hi GreatBritGirl, thats where I was talking about, Cov. After Maddie got her  kc silver we thought we would celebrate with a drink after all our hard work :D But we couldn't find anywhere that she was welcome! Have since found out that the Oak, I think thats what its called, allows them as long as they are friendly and kept on leads.
We were in Devon last week, Dawlish, very dog friendly and what I noticed, which we lack round here, were plenty of dog-waste bins.

I totally agree missthing well said! :)

Were we live now i take our dogs everywhere the post office, local shop even the pub to have a meal they do say we are not allowed inside but they have a fantastic covered terrace that we are allowed on.

We went to a dog show in July and we stayed in a hotel that was hosting the show the day after and it was absolute heaven, dogs everywhere!

We have found Cornwall to be very dog friendly, we have been carrying on to Newquay from Paignton Show for the past 7 years, they have dog friendly cafe, pubs and beach's it is a dogs paradise, even on the main Towan beach, we found a good kennel that do day boarding, for a couple of days when we want to visit non dog places.

Lynn

90% of the fishing clubs I joined last year refused permission for me to take my loved one with me for a days fishing. One was on a footpath running along a canal and I was told you can walk him along the path but can not fish with him :( I've had every reason under the sun why he can't come onto some land from barking, making a mess and upsetting his lordships birds that he shoots !!
This year I saved £700 and did not join a single club that said NO to me and my buddy. Thankfully one hotel on the Thames said yes (very nice people) and he even is listed in the membership papers.

We've just come back from a holiday on the Isle of Wight and I was actually suprised at how many places let us take our dog in.  With the exception of National Trust beaches most had an area where dogs could go and a lot of thes attractions let dogs in (on a lead of course).  We found that with one or two exceptions we could take the dog to all the places the children wanted to go too.  It's also a great place to walk the dog.

Steve

Also if you get the AA guide to best pubs or the guide to best B&B's it states whether the dogs or B&B's are dog friendly

Get yourself a Cavalier king charles there is an old law that gives them (is it called)  "freedom of the land"  By law they can go into any place dogs are normally prohibited from.

Yep, it actually applies to both the Cavalier King Charles and the King Charles as the law was actually decreed BEFORE they were split up into their separate breeds.

You could also pleed ignorance and state that at the time of purchasing your dog it was advertised as a Cavalier and the fact that it has grown up into a brindle, wrinkled face dog weighing in at 70 lbs is not your fault :D

We do pride ourselves over here to be dog friendly - however, us dog owners over here are noticing that more of our beaches that we used to be able to go to are now being classed as 'out of bounds' which is very sad.

Glad you enjoyed yourselves though, it really is a magical place :)

I've just come back from a camping trip to Dog-Friendly Woolacombe and took my youngest cocker.  We had a fantastic time (I usually hate going away dog-less) and he was very well behaved and came everywhere with us.  There were three parts to the beach (dog-less, dogs on leads and dogs running free).  We did sit outside to eat but didn't have a problem with that.  We stayed on a farm campsite and although it said dogs-on leads, the owners said he would be fine to run free (he doesn't go far from me anyway).

The only downside was that he was attacked by a greyhound he ran up to on the beach who badly cut under his eye and tore his lip too.  The woman had a go at me for allowing him to run up to the dog (who was on a lead), I suggested she was on the wrong part of the beach (this was the dogs running free part), then half an hour later her dog was muzzled!  If only he'd been muzzled earlier it wouldn't have caused a problem or a trip to the vet!