Animals in a formal business setting are unprofessional and a noisome distraction. No one, including the owner, has any idea how an animal is going to react from one minute to the next. Having to keep one eye out for uncontrolled animals everywhere I go is ridiculous. I should not have to change how I do business to accommodate a stranger’s decision to accessorize with a live animal.
You seem easily offended and horrified. :eek:
Was the dog Bailey the Personal Banker?
Were you bitten by a dog as a child?
I’m only kinda sorta kidding;do you have a fear? Obviously opinions and outlooks differ but I’m having a hard time understanding how, unless they’re badly behaved, you would even notice someone’s dog or why it would bother you if they were just sitting there minding their own business.
Right, you don’t get it. Referring to dogs as “mutts” (#1) and as “livestock” (#39) and claiming that being in the same business facility as a dog is somehow the same as someone entering your home with a herd of goats shows a disconnect from reality apparently brought on by an extreme aversion to animals. One can only imagine how you would react to being in the presence of a guide dog for the blind. The thing is, the world is full of animals, and among them dogs are exceptionally domesticated and dependent, and the dependence is frequently mutual between dog and owner in amazing and wonderful ways. Dogs have needs, believe it or not, including the need to get out, exercise, and socialize. We all acknowledge that people can be assholes and so can their ill-behaved kids and their ill-behaved dogs, but that doesn’t justify being a misanthrope or a child hater or a dog hater and directing that vitriol against the rest of us.
Your particular problem sounds more like a phobia than a legitimate complaint, and if you’re going to tally up responsibilities and obligations as you seem to like to do, it’s not the world’s responsibility to accommodate your phobias.
I got 4 dogs and never do any of the stuff mentioned in the thread.
I’m still and idiot, though.
Your sense of ‘unprofessional’, seems to no longer be the norm in lots of places. Such is life. What once was, is no more the same.
The point is, if it’s not barking or jumping, you don’t really have to care about it at all.
The OP’s posts are getting so worked up and irrational (“Having to keep one eye out for uncontrolled animals everywhere I go”? Really now? :dubious: Because you saw a dog in a bank?) that I would almost think this is supposed to be satire about something else. Except I remember from past threads that he just really really hates dogs and thinks every place he ever goes should change their policies to suit him.
(I remember him questioning the existence of dog parks because he figured they would be nothing but dogfights all day long, and result in hundreds of lawsuits every day.)
And also, businesses are run to make money, and those that allow dogs do so because they have determined that being a dog-friendly place will get them more customers/money in the long run. Complain to them all you want, you’ll just be the crazy guy who hates dogs. They are not going to create a “safe space” (and this is where the OP runs into being satire) for you that costs them money.
I don’t think you do get it. The reason dogs are allowed in more places now than they used to be is mainly because more customers want it, and relatively few agree with you. There’s nothing to ‘howl’ about really either way. There’s no general fundamental reason dogs should or shouldn’t be allowed in eg. banks. There’s just the weighted effect of the people who really oppose it v those who really want it, v. those who don’t much care either way, and establishments trying to please that weighted avg of ‘the customer’.
Note, this doesn’t include cases where establishments say ‘no dogs (except service animals)’ and people violate it daring to get called on it. It doesn’t include abuse of the ‘service animal’ title. Also doesn’t include cases where the health code says it’s not allowed (food serving or selling, most places) and it’s really not up to the store, but they look the other way. But, the original example was dogs in a bank lobby, presumably without a sign saying they shouldn’t be there, and that wouldn’t fall under health code. If your position was really that common, they wouldn’t be there. More likely than not you’ll have to learn to live with it.
If you’re going to take your dog with you, fine. I have no problem with that. However, in Austin (and probably a few other towns), you need to make sure that you can take him in everywhere you go on your walk. It’s illegal to tether a dog or leave him in a hot car. That means even when you’re going to pop into the convenience store for a few minutes. It’s already in the high eighties here. 90 degree weather pretty much runs from March to November. I can’t stand seeing some poor dog tied up outside a store for a “few minutes”. It’s YOUR responsibility to make sure your dog is welcome everywhere you’re going to go. Don’t get mad at some poor clerk who is enforcing the store policy by not letting your dog in. And don’t get unwound when you get the tethering ticket, either.
I have no problem with dogs, as long as they are where they belong and under control.
I have never seen a dog in public that was under control. I don’t blame the dogs for this. I blame the owners. You’ll notice that the title of the thread isn’t “idiot dogs”. The incident that prompted this thread was an owner bringing their very large animal into a bank where it jumped on people, barked and was a general nuisance. On top of that the dog was actively egged-on by a staff person at the bank.
I see evidence on a daily basis that dog owners don’t give a rats ass about anyone but themselves. Their only concern is how they can get the rest of the world to accommodate their irresponsible behavior.
In the recent past I have seen a dog piss on a toddler, eat a passerby’s food, knock over an elderly lady and attack another dog, and of course this latest incident at the bank. All while the owner either looked on with a bored expression or was completely oblivious and had to be told later of their dog’s behavior. They all have this “not my responsibility” attitude. When they go out they aren’t even aware of what their animal is doing and if their dog causes a problem the victim is the bad guy for not loving dogs enough.
I am convinced that what I see going on is that people go out and get an animal without thinking about it. Just like so many things their thought is, “It’s my right to get a dog.” Nowhere is the thought, “Hey, maybe a dog is an actual responsibility.”
So they get the dog. And, damn, the dog is a responsibility. Now the dog is an inconvenience. You can’t just get rid of the dog again because your friends would hate on you. And besides “It’s still my right to have a dog.” But if you leave a dog at home and go out and do all the non-dog stuff you really want to do, the dog, left home alone, tears up your place.
Solution: take the dog out with you, ignore it there and let it tear up somebody else’s stuff. Win!
These ‘idiot dog owners’ probably have kids, too. The law doesn’t even require you to have a license for the kid.
Wow. I live in an especially dog friendly city. We’re talking dogs everywhere and I can’t recall ever seeing any of the stuff Pábitel mentioned. Once I did see a dog pee a little bit on the floor of a Tuesday Morning. I’ll admit I did look askance at that one. However the store owner didn’t seem *too *concerned, as the floor is just naked concrete and I think he might have been used to it as the store is next door to a PetSmart. My point is, where the heck does the OP live where no one knows how to handle their dog? And, as dog crazy as this town is I don’t recall ever seeing one in a bank or other professional setting.
I think this is your problem right here. A bit of confirmational bias.
If you have never seen a dog in public that was under control, then you are not noticing all of the dogs in public that are under control.
I will agree completely about some dog owners having poor discipline over their dogs, but the majority do much better.
Being a business that most certainly allows dogs inside (dog grooming would be difficult if I banned dogs) I see dozens a day. Some are pretty wild, pissing and jumping all over everything (this is why reception is dog friendly, nothing to break and easy to clean), but most come in well behaved on leashes, are very patient, and can be walked back with the leach held loose.
The wild ones certainly have no business going into public spaces like banks until they have learned some manners and their owners have learned better control, but for the majority of dogs, as long as the business is cool with them being thee, it shouldn’t bother you either.
This right here is why you come across as irrational. This is simply a flat out lie. There is not a single person who reads your post who will actually believe that you have *never *seen a dog in public that was under control. Honestly that is just utterly impossible and it makes it really difficult to believe you when you describe all the terrible things you’ve seen dogs do and not think you are simply exaggerating because you have a phobia.
So then it seems the bank *does *allow dogs after all…
Several people have beaten me to it, but holy cow, that’s some serious confirmation bias. I’ve seen dogs in public that are under control lot of times. I’ve also seen poorly-behaved dogs, but nothing on the scale of these terrible wild-nutso dogs that apparently live in your town.
I walk my dog in the woods every day, without a leash. This particular stretch of woods is favored by people who like to walk their dogs off-leash. I remember one day I saw this guy coming my way, walking two utterly gigantic pit bulls, without a leash (or pitbull-like breeds- I don’t know what they were but they were the most gigantic pit bull-types I’d ever seen). I tried to play it cool, but wondered if my dog was in danger.
But before I had a chance to call my dog back or do anything else, the owner let out a command and both dogs instantly dropped to the ground in a sphinx posture. They practically did it synchronized. The dogs stayed calmly in this posture until my dog and I passed by them and he issued a “release” command. It was jaw-droppingly impressive- that guy was a seriously excellent dog owner.
I’m not as talented as that guy, but my dog doesn’t bark or jump up on people. He also lets toddlers climb all over him and play with his ears. I don’t think his presence inconveniences people, unless they’re weird dog-haters.