I've just come back from a week in Italy (without my beags, unfortunately) and can't believe how different peoples attitudes are to dogs in Europe.   I saw dogs in many shops, including food shops, and no one seemed in the slightest bit bothered.  The biggest problem was the pigeons which were all over the cafe tables.  Why are we so hung up on hygiene and dogs in this country?

Hit the search menu above and type in 'Nation of doggie haters', this is a similar debate that took place earlier on in the year.  Some interesting points ranging from hygiene, to smoking and unruly kids.  Personally I think a lot of it is to do with owners.  My husband runs a food pub but has on occassion had to ask owners not to let their dogs roam the bar and keep them off the seats etc.  If more people kept control of their dogs it would make it easier.  However, I do still believe that a lot of people do believe dogs are dirty and simply do not understand why we would have them as pets and would not frequent premises that actively encouraged dog owners I'm afraid.   

i suppose it would also make things difficult for people who have severe pet allergies as they wouldn't be able to go anywhere

but it is a shame we can't take them more places :(

sarah
x

I love my dogs and they are well cared for but I would not like to see dogs allowed in restaurants etc.Its fine when dogs are clean and healthy but there are many that are not .I recently went to the park with the dogs and a lady had a dog off lead which approached mine.I made a rapid retreat when I saw the dog had an obviuos flea allergy was covered in bites and had mess encrusted round its back end.If dogs are allowed into restaurants etc it means ALL dogs and something like that would put me off my dinner!! Sorry.
I think maybe I am an intolerant person because despite having children myself I cannot sit and eat a meal with peoples screaming brats running around being a nuisance.My children are expected to behave and not interfere with others...is it too much to ask of others?
Archer

I am with you 100% on this Archer :D

I agree, a scabby, smelly dog would put me off my food as much as a snotty nosed kid (I think the snotty nosed kid would win hands down though - I hate snot :D ).  But then those owners with smelly/scabby/ill dogs surely wouldnt bring them into a pub ?? of course they would - silly me :rolleyes:

and me :)

Daisy

I can't imagine a restaurant-owner allowing a smelly, mangy, ill-trained dog in, just as I can't see them admitting a stinky, scruffy, foul-mouthed person.

Clean well-behaved dogs, like clean well-behaved children, should be allowed everywhere. If any of them misbehave - out they should go, whether adults, children or dogs!
:)

I agree with you totally J/G, if only everywhere was like that :)

A favourite pub of mine allows dogs but not children! Seems pretty sensible to me ;-)

I think the 'no dogs in shops' has got a lot to do with the attitude of the British in general. We have become a nation frightened of just about everything, desperate to have our lives dictated by the findings of the next scientific study, and terrified that we are going to be sued by anyone and everyone.

As above - one of the many reasons for not letting dogs (and children) in shops, is that a lot of owners have no control over dogs and let them wee anywhere. I've watched dogs in Pets At Home wee on merchandise while the owners pretended not to notice :(

Daisy

My real favourite - when dogs pee on the fruit and vegetables outside the greengrocers! 

Must be tall dogs, or maybe that is why all the fruit and veg around ehr is up on tallish stands :D

You lot should have been around a few years ago. The local corner shop (in the days before Supermarkets) had no rules about dogs. The had tins of loose buscits open at floor level. The bacon was always on the bacon slicer ready to cut whenever anyone wanted some. Cheese has on the board uncovered ready for cutting with the cheesewire. Cakes were never wraped but were loose on cake plates. When I used to cgo along the shops I invariably took my old boy with me. It was normal even to take him with us when going into the town! No shops had any restrictions! Of course, there were almost no home freezers of fridges then either. Meat was kept in the perforated steel "Meat Safe" hanging on the wall outside the back door!

For all that, no matter how it sounds, I believe wee healthier in those days. The old saying was, "You have to eat a peck of dirt before you die!"

Best wishes, John

Ooh John - you've made me feel old :D I remember before we had a fridge at home, there was a meat safe hanging on the wall, part way down the cellar steps. I remember the tins of biscuits too :D and the loose butter ready to be patted up, weighed and wrapped in greaseproof :D

Daisy

OK, so maybe not everything was perfect in those days but certainly not everything was bad. As soon as we got home from school it was off down the fields. Around this time of year we would be up on the hay waggon. The farm hands would be using pitch forks to toss the straw up to us and we would stack in on the waggon. No "Health and Safety Execetive" in those days, Or for that matter the "Jobs worth"! And if we caused trouble it was a clip round the ear from the local Bobby! Tell dad and it was another one, so we soon learned to behave ourselves.

Best wishes, John

And the butcher used to have sawdust on the floor to catch the drips of blood from the hanging whole animals. This was not in the back room but at the customer entrance. I remember being jostled as a child and being pushed up against them. Never thought twice about it. Oh the memories ;)

Kay

I'm a bit young to remember that!  BUT I have to agree with the points John raised.  A little dirt never killed anyone.  My dogs (& friends dog's) lick my face etc.   I have yet to have a case of anything awful caught from them.   I have no c/h, am out in all weathers walking dogs.    Too much of a cosseted society now.

John's comments did make me smile, although just a little too young to remember 'the way it was' , I do agree that we seem to be too overly clean these days.  It makes you wonder why more youngsters than ever have conditions such as asthma.

I agree, there are to many good bugs being killed by antibacterial products.My kids have been brought up to enjoy getting dirty when playing and it's done them more good than harm.
why shouldn't dogs be allowed to go into non food shops,then we could take them with us and not worry about ripped up houses.
It would be good if we could 'apply' for permission, say from the council,so the dogs get a clean bill of health,then we could take them anywhere(wishful thinking)

Also, there seem to be far more unsocialised (and therefore badly behaved) dogs nowadays, when they're not allowed to be taken anywhere, than there were before, when the dog went everywhere with you. It's noticeable that Guide Dogs, etc, who are taken everywhere, are much better behaved than many pet dogs. I'm sure that the amount of practice they get out and about plays a major part in this.

Finny you should say that, as my lot come with me on all errands, and everywhere that I posssibly can take them, including into town to get the train etc.  I don't drive so we walk everywhere.  The dogs from an early age are very bomb proof, and when travelling abroad, on coaches and trains are very good.

This was brought home to me most forcibly when one of my pups who livews close by wouldn't walk on her olead down her owners road.  Their other dog is nervous around traffic, but walks where she is told, but madam picked up on her fears and having more gumption redused to co-operate.

They live paralel to their local high street, yet never took the dogs there, even though some of the shops are on a lovely squae with big flower beds with benches, ideal place for one of them to sit with the dogs while the other shops.  It had never occured to them to do it!

From 20 weeks on I took her and their other dog out for socialisation, sometimes oh their own, sometimes with some of mine.  I was shocked that neither of them looked for attention when people stopped to talk to me about them.  My lot vie for the attention :D

Gradullay even th rather introverted 10 year old thgey have started looking for the attention as mine do.  The owner says she is much happier now, though the silly youngster still digs her heels in walking the first 20 yerds out the front of her house.  You have to literally drag her, and once you do she suddenly seems to say Ok, off we go then.

I had her to stay with me for a week, and she did the same outside my house, up to the corner, but once in the busy high streeet was perfectly happy, as she was being taken out on trips with my freind in her car to go on interesting walks.

Think the same goes for childrens behaviour in restaurats.  dining out as a family seems to be far more prevalent in europe, and the kids behave well, and are made welcome.

I like to take mine out for a meal , and sometimes it is a job to find somewhere kids are welcome other than fast food outlets.  Thankfully they are older now.

That would be a good idea - getting a clean bill of health and then, for example, the dog having to pass a level of the good citizens award.   All the dogs I saw on holiday were very well behaved.

Hey John, I bet you also remember when aniseed balls were 8 for 1d and shrimps 4 for 1d.  You could get an awful lot of sweets for 6d. I think the Beano used to be 2d.  My brother once saved all his pocket money and went in the sweet shop for 2s 6d worth of aniseed balls, the shopkeeper was NOT amused  :) :) :)
Lorna

I do indeed remember those days Lorna, and Gob Stoppers for 1d! Firework night with 2d cannons and 4d cannons!

It's less than 30 years ago I was on holiday on Exmore with my two Labradors Mandy and Kate. We went in a restaurant for a cream tea and the dogs laid under the chairs while we ate. It was normal in those days and no one dropped dead!!

Best wishes, John

Healthy lot - us baby boomers!! We used to go on the ferry to Wales (across the Severn) no bridge back then.  It was like going abroad.  The dogs always accompanied us on holiday, on beaches - no problems.
Lorna

Nostalgia time. Does anyone remember montpelier drops? I think a lot of you have hit the nail on the head. I was told by an old friend that my children were a credit to me when we went out and this was also reflected in the way my dogs behaved. I am not boosting myself here but I do think that children and dogs should be brought up to behave in public and at home when visitors call. Thank goodness there is a dog friendly pub where I live. We always go in there, especially after we have finished classes on a Saturday afternoon, with more than a couple of dogs. :) My children are grown up now so, I think maybe getting to the age where I start to remember the good old days.:) 

Well my dogs behave an awful lot better in Pets at Home than the majority of  brats that go in there!   Don't get me started on kids in supermarkets!  :(

My local large pet store (not one of the big chains) has a sign saying "Unaccompanied children will be sold as slaves"! :D :D

Jeangenie, what a good idea.:)