Saturday 25 August 2012

It’s the dogs!

To be honest, I’m more of a cat person than a dog person. But I’ve been struck by an undercurrent in various comments that people really don’t like seeing dogs in pubs. So I thought I would create a poll to see what people think. And no, there wasn’t a hidden agenda about children in pubs, which one commenter seemed to suggest.

The poll shows a very clear majority of over four to one in favour of (well-behaved) dogs, which accords with my own view. To take your dog to the pub suggests that you see it in a positive way as somewhere for unwinding and socialising. Most dogs, in my experience, just hide under the table and keep out of the way. Only this lunchtime I saw a guy with a black poodle which I didn’t even notice until he walked out with it.

And, even if some customers object to dogs, surely the answer is to confine them to one room, not exclude them entirely.

On the other hand, some people see them as smelly and unhealthy and would want to see them banned everywhere.

12 comments:

  1. A very tongue-in-cheeck,but accurate anology by Joe there.
    However if you were a smoker and took your pet into the Government approved outside shelter there is a good chance you will be prosecuted for having it in a place which does not come up to the standard of shelter required by animals/livestock,etc.

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  2. Ban everything in pubs, fags, kids, animals, food, drinking, peanuts, old codgers, lager, old mans bitter. The lot.

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  3. I read that Joe Jackson article when it came out 18 months ago - funny-ish in a clod-footed sort of way. As it obviously has nothing to do with dogs, I'm not surprised that some people might think you have a hidden agenda.

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  4. So according to 62% its ok
    for a pooch to spread out in the bar but I have to wheel my 89 year old amputee veteran pal into the back yard ,between the wheely bins so he can smoke his Hamlet.
    " A land fit for heroes"
    Thay cannot be serious

    Anon (Still)

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  5. Totally off topic but I think that pubs have much less violance than they used to be. I remember when I was 20 going to work on a monday morning and we would all discuss who got beaten up by whom and for what reason (small town). I think that in the 90's all this thuggery started to diminish.
    Is this my imagination or is it just the location that I was at or the age I was at?
    Does anyone else think that there is less violence in pubs today than there was in the past and why?

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  6. Anon: I don't believe a word of your sob story.

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  7. But having dogs in pubs will put off the muslim drinkers.

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  8. How long will it be before someone accuses pubs of not being sufficiently "inclusive" because of the emphasis placed on alcohol sales?

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  9. Me and my OH have long used “dogs allowed” as a benchmark as to whether or not a pub is worth going into. Even if we are travelling without our dog we ask nevertheless. Without fail, all the pubs which say no turn out to be rather soulless, unfriendly places which we wouldn’t choose to visit again – no matter how nice they look, or how “reasonable” their excuses are for not allowing them – whereas the ones which say yes are always warm, friendly and sociable. Although it has surprised a few bar staff when we walk in, having asked if dogs are allowed, without said pooch in tow.

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  10. Martin, Cambridge4 September 2012 at 22:17

    Apart from it being the choice of the landlord, why should dogs be welcome into pubs and children not ? How come it's OK to esacpe from "kids" in the pub but not younger animals.

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  11. Martin, because dogs mostly shut up and sit underneath a bench and children generally do not.

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