Is your railway dog friendly ?

As always its down to owners not controlling their dogs, Like parents not correcting an unruly child, if you don't use correct parenting skills a child will try to get away with what they can, it's the same with a pet, Mine is not allowed to go on seats, and certainly not on tables, she normally lays down on the floor, and waits for people to come to her, if they ask, can i stroke her, I actively don't encourage anyone to just go up to her without asking first, she won't snap, or growl, but not every dog is friendly, and people, especially kids have to be taught that.

 

That's certainly true. I lived alone in my current house for several years and hardly knew anyone other than my immediate neighbours. Within a few weeks of Sonia and her dog, Amber, moving in I knew most of the local dog walkers in the park opposite.

 

My Dad’s the same, although he doesn’t have a doggo, he knows a lot of the regulars in his local through their Dog’s and his hobby of walking.
I know a fair few canines in Bewdley c/o of my Dad, I’ve no idea what their hoomans names are though!

 

At church, we have a policy that dogs are allowed in with well trained owners on a lead. As well as raising a smile, it quite nicely covers the need for owners and their animals to be responsible.

 

For troublesome dogs, I find steel toecaps are quite useful. For trouble free dogs, a gentle pat on their head and some kind words.

 

No doubt they take great interest in a @Dead Sheep

 

" They" being the police / RSPCA If said troublesome dog is hurt by contact with said steel toecaps, then @ Dead Sheep Would be saying its Ruff Justice

 

IF you are using your steel toecaps to deter an uncontrolled, aggressive dog trying to take a lump out of your leg, or your pets, I think that is permitted in self defence.
However, if it is a police dog trying to take you out, and you use said toecaps, then the police will definitely not look too kindly on you...

 

No need to be defensive, that is exactly the information l was looking for. It is a bit of a minefield though because to be truly inclusive you then have to make provision for those who prefer a dog free environment, particularly where food is served.

 

Whats the saying, " If you want to upset a Police Dog, Hurt it's handler, If you want to upset a Police dog handler, hurt their dog " both end up in a world of pain for you,

 

Just toddle down to your local 'Spoons, they don't allow dogs so problem solved. . In all seriousness, nobody should expect every outlet to pander to their individual needs. As a dog owner I respect the decisions of individual businesses as to if they allow dogs or not. For example, me and the wife like to visit Whitby. Some pubs and cafes are dog friendly, some aren't so obviously we base our decision on where to take sustenance on what the sign says outside the establishment. Same for those who want a dog free environment.

 

Not trying to be defensive, in all the places I’ve worked they’ve always tried to be dog friendly, the last place I worked (and that was a bit more food oriented) we had a simple rule of no dogs in the restaurant.
But in 20 odd years of working in hospitality I’ve only had one instance of having to tell an owner to keep their dog under control because it was bothering other customers.
I totally get that some people aren’t keen on our four legged friends (my mum being one) but I’m very much of the opinion there’s no such thing as bad dogs there’s just bad owners.

 

It's not as clear cut as "just bad owners" - a nervous Springer with a behavioural problem is a challenge for any owner! However, that does take us back to the owner's responsibility to manage their dog, and the circumstances that it's put into - when we had Loki*, there were simply some things we didn't do because we knew that we couldn't relax and enjoy them because he'd be too anxious to cope. All the expert advice we had was that this was a matter of nature rather than nurture, and that the best we could do was contain it.

* - it ended up with him having an episode of Spaniel Rage, "fortunately" on me and in the home, which led to a late night one way trip to the vets. My toe has recovered.

 

That’s a fair point, I didn’t mean to have generalised so much.

 

In most 'spoons I've been in, most of the local dogs were in there. There were single, double and treble baggers in evidence. Canines, however, were sadly missing.

 

Epping Ongar is my local line and our well behaved sproodle loves it there. He's always well received and made a fuss of by staff and some other visitors as well, if I couldn't take him I wouldn't go.

Others we've visited that are welcoming are Bodmin Wenford and the North Norfolk

 

Yesterday, I was out for a cycle on shared cycle paths. There were, as usual, few problems. One dog in particular was highly trained to sit as we approached. One owner with two small dogs however allowed one to amble across the path, causing me to brake sharply, otherwise no harm done. I got a muttered ‘sorry’.

I did a stint on SVR comms and we had a gent who proudly posted a photo of his dog which was sitting on the seat. A member pointed this out: the response was the owner trashing the railway across social media (‘my dog’s cleaner than children’ was one line, ‘don’t go there they victimise people’ was another).

What I’m coming to is perception. I’ve no doubt the ‘wandering dog’ owner, the owner permitting his dog to sit on the seat and the man shouting fruitlessly across the park for his dog to come back all consider themselves to be responsible owners. I’d guess few say ‘my dog doesn’t behave’ and fewer ‘I’m a bad owner’.

Also, by advertising as overtly ‘dog friendly’ to me it has the risk of imbuing some owners with a heightened sense of entitlement (dogs on seats, dogs in food areas, dogs’ behaviours). I think most heritage railways seem to have it about right in having balanced policies and not going after the ‘pooch pound’.

 

As with everything it's a balance I could fill a whole thread with tales of inconsiderate, rude cyclists I've encountered when out walking our dog showing no regard for people on footpaths, bridleways or roads.

 

I agree, but the discussion isn’t inviting/encouraging cyclists to bring their bikes into compartments and tea rooms, or putting bikes on the seats

 

You shared your experience of being on a cycleway which is irrelant also on that basis