I’ve been in Central American towns where many eateries live behind a roll-up security door - so they’re open for walk-ins. Stray dogs often enter looking for scraps in a well-behaved manner. Well-behaved, because bothersome dogs aren’t tolerated and don’t survive. Think of it as evolution in action. Birds may fly in, but no other ground animals, who don’t survive the dogs. I did not people walking their own dogs into eateries.
I didn’t see cats in public in towns where dogs run loose. Some towns lack stray dogs - they didn’t survive the last purge of bothersome animals. We preferred eating in places without dogs wandering in.
Yes, well-behaved non-humans are preferable to badly-behaved humans of any age. But dogs aren’t people. IMHO some spaces, especially indoor eateries, should be PEOPLE spaces. That’s my position and I’m sticking to it.
If it’s not a service dog and there’s not a sign explicitly inviting dogs in like at Petco and Home Depot, it doesn’t belong in a store. I really wish store managers weren’t so spineless about this, especially when people bring dogs into places that sell food.
I’m not sure what the exact rules on dogs in food places are here, but I’ve worked in places that did allow dogs and places that didn’t. The kitchen was entirely separate and the floor was tiled at the dog friendly place, at least in the section dogs were allowed in. They did have an ‘any trouble and they have to leave’ policy, but it was pretty rarely needed. The dogs just stayed under the tables 90% of the time. At the other place, outside tables were fine, but not inside. The regulars would just knock on the front window to request takeaway coffees and things.
The little grocery store I worked in officially did not allow dogs, but we kinda did wind up with one exception; after staff didn’t notice a tiny dog being carried round but one of the regulars did, the regular somehow got it in his head that dogs were OK if carried. He then showed up every few days with this honking great black labrador and would stagger in carrying it every time he came in to grab some cigs. It looked so funny that none of the staff ever told him that wasn’t OK. It wasn’t as though it was on the floor sniffing the bakery items after all.
On the other hand, I did work in a zoo with a free-ranging animals section, where we were desperately trying to find a legal way to exclude even guide dogs, because every time the free-range animals saw a dog in what should have been their safe area, they’d freak out, like hide for several days, refuse to go near the food level of freakout. We were pretty sure we even had pregnant animals miscarry due to the stress, though luckily it wasn’t common.
Also while there, I did once have a family there walk up to me at the entrance desk and ask ‘Is this allowed in?’, produce a handbag, and open it to reveal a teeny baby bunny, which they were handrearing. We decided baby-buns-in-bags were permitted if they couldn’t jump out, but I never would have known they had it if they hadn’t said. Always made me wonder what other animals people are wandering round with.
My local paper has a section today called “Life and Pets”. There’s a story with the headline “Companies embrace pawternity leave” (about businesses that give employees paid time off when they adopt a dog, a one-time deal). Another discusses firms that let workers bring their dog to the jobsite.
And there’s a full-page ad by Red Roof Inns proclaiming that pets stay free at all locations. That would be a plus for us, but on the other hand I’d wonder about the likelihood of noise, not to mention potential fights on the elevators when Bruiser and Fluffy get on at the same time. :dubious:
I really don’t think you should be privileged to bring your animals everywhere you go, but they’re not consulting me when making the rules. I do like seeing therapy dogs and even Security’s German shepherd making the rounds in the hospital. I guess whatever infection control issues exist are minimal compared to the germs humans spread to each other.
Dogs in the workplace would be an absolute dealbreaker in any sort of office job unless for some reason I was working at Petsmart corporate headquarters.
My previous job held a pooch parade and a pet Halloween contest but those were out in the courtyard, not the office itself.
The sad fact is, there are a lot of irresponsible dog owners. I run into this as a Wag! walker. A lot of my clients are in a couple of very dog-friendly apartment complexes. In these complexes there are free bags and bins to dispose of poop and they are, like, everywhere.
Also everywhere, piles and piles of unpicked-up dog poop. I mean, the bags and bins are RIGHT THERE and they are FREE.
There was a really wonderful off-leash area that closed down because people weren’t picking up the poop. It also had free bags, although not so many pet poop stations, so you might have to carry your bag full of poop for half a mile. But it was a great place, with swimming holes for the dogs. And now it’s gone because people couldn’t be bothered to pick up the poop.
So yeah, these people shouldn’t be allowed to bring their dogs anywhere, and how do you screen them out?
I loved it when I had workplaces that had dog days. Even when I didn’t have a dog. I did comment to a coworker that nobody ever had cat days, and there were good reasons for that.
I would like to point out that there is an enormous difference between disease-causing and squicky. I point this out endlessly, so those who have heard it already can scroll past.
There are almost zero health risks in permitting dogs in public rooms. People are far more likely to catch something from another person, particularly a child, than from a dog. Why don’t we ban children from stores and restaurants? I am sure there are Dopers who dislike children as well, and find them annoying and gross.
Thinking something is annoying: not a sanitation risk.
Thinking something is smelly: not a sanitation risk.
Thinking something is gross: not a sanitation risk.
Dog hair and dog saliva are not dangers to anyone.
The main reason to ban dogs from public indoor areas is behavior. Very few people can and will train a dog to be well-behaved in public. Welll-behaved: does not randomly run up to people, chase things, bark, growl, lunge, pull on the leash, eat something not given to them.
I know such dogs and their owners but they are rare.
Employee-door security was fired after I snuck my well-behaved Doberman into the computer center’s machine room amongst fancy Big Blue devices. They only saw her as we left. Sloppy.
As mentioned earlier and directly relevant to OP’s question, health codes in most places prohibit dogs (animals) from places that serve and sell food, and distinguish those from other indoor public places. This could be partly inertia, those laws have always been there, but if a rationale were to be attached to it I believe it would be the health risks of dog shit, not of dogs’ smell, hair etc. This doesn’t seem to me entirely unreasonable, nor answered by saying a young child or crazy or incontinent person could defecate in a restaurant also. Laws treat dogs and people differently and most people still go along with that (including me, big time dog lover).
So I don’t think the reason for those laws is actually behavior. That’s not to say I reject your idea entirely if you think it should be all about behavior. But IME, which obviously differs from that of some others and particularly dog-hater types, it’s pretty unusual to encounter poorly behaved dogs inside public places, behavior to the degree it effects me much if I’m not being hypersensitive about it (some people are proud of their high sensitivity and complete intolerance of various things, the fashionable things to be intolerant of differ by tribe and change over time but some people’s feeling of self righteousness via being hypersensitive doesn’t seem to change). And I don’t especially mind dog smell, hair etc unless it’s overwhelming. So I agree with you there in doubting that as a reason to legally ban dogs from places. But again I think dog shit is the main health reason most localities don’t (at least on paper) allow them in food establishments.
He bought a Subway franchise and did very well. Whereas my myopic software team leader was pushed out because age and, last I saw, managed a roller rink, squinting.
Yesterday a guy in the store had a dog that was bigger than and probably weighed more than me. When the dog saw me as a potential target, he started to bark and strain on his leash. I told the guy “Please control your dog” and he took the beast out of the store.
On the other hand, a couple had a boy screaming for a toy and they kept that disrturbance in the store for 23 minutes. I know. I timed it.
I feel the same about other people’s children, but what you gonna do?
I come from a culture where it’s always been normal to take dogs into pubs. I have zero problem with it, and would rather see a dog in a restaurant or a coffee shop than a roaming 3 year old.
I have a friend who owns a pizza restaurant and had a great dane (RIP Henry), who had a specially made bed for him next to the bar counter. I swear he was their best asset. (Tripadvisor photo proof or it didn’t happen)
Assuming you’re talking UK, then they’re not allowed in food prep areas, but are allowed in eating areas if the kitchen is separated off. After that it’s down to the owner.
Not sure about food shops - supermarkets never let them in, but my local greengrocers has no problem whatsoever (Mind you, they’re still pricing things in lbs instead of kg, so I’m not sure they’re entirely aligned with trading standards in general).
What’s the difference between a supermarket and a greengrocer? The later hasn’t been used in the US with any regularity for decades and from descriptions in American books it sounds like a synonym for a supermarket/grocery store. Not in the UK, though, I take it?
I have a genuine phobia about dogs, to the degree that if I see a dog anywhere I will instantly retreat. Annoyance doesn’t begin to describe it, but what am I gonna do? You know that all of them’d claim they’re support dogs or something anyway.