Generally speaking, extending the scope of areas where dogs are allowed is a positive thing. It’s good for owners and certainly good for business given that approximately one third of people in the UK own at least one dog.
However, the most important consideration should always be, is it good for dogs? Obviously, dogs need access to suitable areas where they can enjoy time off lead and have an opportunity to meet other dogs, where this is appropriate. Here, there are more and more restrictions being imposed due to poor behaviour by owners who do not train their dogs and have poor control and/or poor etiquette. Commercial dog walkers can also cause problems by taking out multiple dogs.
Just as not all dogs enjoy being loose in spaces with lots of other dogs, not all dogs enjoy being taken everywhere that their handler goes. The stress that builds as a consequence can lead to dog-on-dog or dog-on-people incidents in the short term and behavioural and even clinical problems in the medium and long term.
Not all dogs enjoy cafés and restaurants. Small and nervous dogs can be intimidated by the forest of legs and people leaning over them. All dogs need to be able to resist the temptation of the smells and (potentially harmful) food that surrounds them and some may just be bored.
Even where shops allow access, confined spaces can be stressful for dogs and handler’s attention will be focused on shopping and not their dog so that the potential for spotting problems is limited.
Taking your dog to work undoubtedly means that you do not need to arrange and probably pay for help with your dog, but not all workplaces are suitable for dogs and not all dogs are suitable for workplaces.
Taking your dog on holiday even for a short period can disrupt the normal routine and might expose your dog to novel diseases and other risks even if not travelling abroad. This is a risk worth taking with a well-adjusted dog, but now a cruise line company is now offering dog-accessible cruises and no doubt more companies will be following suit. This may seem like fun at first glance, but is it really ethical to confine your dog with limited ability to eliminate and exercise and limited choice about mixing with strange dogs?
Similarly, cinemas are offering dog-friendly screenings which again may be fine for a well adjusted dog that will happily settle among strange dogs and tolerate the environment, but it is hardly necessary. A dog was even carried into the Royal Albert Hall for a carol concert last December which is absolutely not a suitable environment.
The impetus for welcoming dogs will undoubtedly grow as businesses grasp any chance of trade in an unfavourable economic climate, but it is rarely done with primary consideration for the dog. Owners are poor at observing stress signals in dogs which can mean that dogs escalate potentially dangerous behaviour when afraid or uncomfortable and appear to react “out of the blue” in other circumstances.
Lack of resilience in dogs is a common problem and, ironically, may be the reason that owners do not leave their dog alone, even for short periods. Unfortunately, exposing such dogs to even more stress in an unsuitable (for the dog) environment will only make the situation worse.
“Access All Areas” isn’t a good idea for dogs. Resilience and tolerance can be improved by positive reinforcement training from a qualified professional, but even then, sometimes it is better to leave the dog at home.
