Doggy Manners in Public
I just spent five days in an all company meeting, it was exhausting but also very inspiring. We had workshops, reports from all our departments, a great speaker- and dinners every night at a different posh restaurant.
One of the handouts in our packets was on table manners. Ha! We all needed some coaching on that topic! We don’t often get together as a group and it was a reminder to all of us that we need to be aware of our behavior around others. Our company is a dog friendly one and I have to admit it- as a former trainer and dog nut it is hard at times not to say something about other folks and their dogs! I am an admitted “dog snob”, my standard of care and behavior when it comes to dogs is well, a little outside the box. So when folks bring their dogs to work- and they behave like dogs I sometimes have a hard time. I am used to a standard of behavior generally reserved for service dogs. Dogs in public just should not be noticed; they need to be out of reach of feet, and well behaved and quiet. It is a work environment and in general our office dogs are very well behaved.
I was genuinely surprised and intrigued when folks brought their pet dogs to some of the dinners. When a dog goes to an outdoor restaurant and they are a service or guide dog, they are tucked away under the table. Yes, they are allowed as they are doing service work, they need public access and when I brought my own dogs in training no one would even know they were there. I would not ever bring them to a restaurant and feed them or pass them around to folks. My job as a dog person training a young guide was to make the dog relax enough to just sleep at my feet. No reactions, no movement, just quiet calm control while out in public.
These days it seems that if a restaurant allows dogs (say at an outdoor patio) the folks that bring those dogs are pet people-generally not trainers or dog fanciers but your average pet owner. These owners seem to have a sense of entitlement, afterall the establishment allows the dog why should they (or anyone!) care what the dog does? I wonder if these same folks allow the dogs to eat off their plates at home? And do they allow their children to lick the plates at resturants? What is normal behavior of a family and dog at home may not be so “cool” out in public.
I asked one of my co-workers why she would want to even bring a dog to a boring work dinner? She replied that she felt guilty leaving her dog again after being gone all day. Okay- fair enough but we knew for months that the company meeting would occupy the whole week. I did not have the option as only small dogs are allowed at the dinners, I had to hire a pet sitter.
I just can’t imagine bringing a dog to a restaurant and then sitting them on a chair or feeding them tidbits from the table or any manner of disgusting behaviors that people do with their dogs while in their own homes. Yikes, please folks – not in public! Okay and here is where the dog snob in me comes out- if your dog is groomed to perfection and smells like a rose w/o any eye buggars or ratty looking tail fur then hey- bring them along and show them off. Show dog grooming comes to mind. Enjoy their company. Bringing a dog that is un-groomed and then to sitting them on a chair or feeding them from the table, that is just not okay. In fact in my guide dog group if you showed up at a meeting with a dusty or dirty puppy, you got sent home! Guides are always taken out clean, shiny and well groomed. They are ambassadors for the whole dog world and need to leave a good impression. Should pet folks be allowed a lower standard while out in public? It is an interesting question.
Maybe it just comes down to common sense?
Here are the basics and a minimum standard in this dog fanciers opinion.
* Do make sure your dog is comfortable. Bring a mat to put under your table for the dog to lie on.
* Don’t allow them on restaurant furniture- dog should not ever be on the chairs or tables!
* Don’t feed them at all, a small drink away from the tables is okay but no drinking from the dinner glasses or eating while at the table. If they are noisy, put them in a carrier- the dinner is not for the dogs. You are not at a family BBQ.
Bottom line, we are not in Europe, it is up to the restaurant if they want to allow dogs in a patio area and maybe if we are all great responsible educated folks dogs will continue to be allowed.
At a group dinner there are going to be folks that are just not dog people at all sitting around you. What you do at home-that is none of my business but if you are in public with your pet it might be good to become aware of what good “public” people/dog manners consist of. I started researching some articles on line and did find a website that had some good tips. They are very close to what I have already outlined so I am not the only one thinking this way!!! It feels that way at times as the only true dog fancier (show person) in the company.
So if you want to read more you can check out this website:
http://www.dogfriendly.com/server/newsletters/dining.shtml
I worked hard for many years, 15 years overall teaching folks about taking Guide dogs out in public, there are some restaurants that do allow guest with dogs, so that is my point here- the guest is with a dog, the dog is not the guest. It only takes a few oblivious (no matter how well meaning) owners before a restaurant swings back to a no dogs ever policy and that is hard on everyone especially the owners of hard working service dogs.