The Lemon Fool

I generally don't mind if restaurants permit dogs into dining areas, but I don't want staff petting dogs. They should keep their hands off while they're on duty serving or prepping food. I was in a restaurant few days ago, and a waiter was stroking a dog and giving it a good scratch; I'm not happy about that (am I just envious that I didn't get the same treatment?).

I suppose its whether having touched the dog the staff then handle food/plates/glasses/bottles etc before washing hands.

I'd agree it may not be the best "look".

bruncher wrote:I generally don't mind if restaurants permit dogs into dining areas, but I don't want staff petting dogs. They should keep their hands off while they're on duty serving or prepping food. I was in a restaurant few days ago, and a waiter was stroking a dog and giving it a good scratch; I'm not happy about that

Doesn't generally bother me. As with kids in such places, they're welcome so long as they're not too noisy or badly-behaved. And come to think of it, that doesn't apply just to dogs and sprogs ...

(am I just envious that I didn't get the same treatment?).

That's a minor bugbear of mine. If I meet a dog who is keen to say hello, I can have physical contact. If I meet a human who wants to say hello, I can't. Of course I know it's all in our upbringing and serves a social purpose (I'd instinctively recoil from a human who tried physical contact with me), but it still seems bizarre discrimination against our own species.

UncleEbenezer wrote:

bruncher wrote:I generally don't mind if restaurants permit dogs into dining areas, but I don't want staff petting dogs. They should keep their hands off while they're on duty serving or prepping food. I was in a restaurant few days ago, and a waiter was stroking a dog and giving it a good scratch; I'm not happy about that

Doesn't generally bother me. As with kids in such places, they're welcome so long as they're not too noisy or badly-behaved. And come to think of it, that doesn't apply just to dogs and sprogs ...

(am I just envious that I didn't get the same treatment?).

That's a minor bugbear of mine. If I meet a dog who is keen to say hello, I can have physical contact. If I meet a human who wants to say hello, I can't. Of course I know it's all in our upbringing and serves a social purpose (I'd instinctively recoil from a human who tried physical contact with me), but it still seems bizarre discrimination against our own species.

Depends on the human you've met surely? (And I think the technical term is allo-rubbing )

I make a point of talking/actively communicating with almost every dog I meet (eyes and voice-wise at last) but also engaging with the human that's with them before I move to the point of touching/scratching them (or the dog )

It just seems polite to do so - and otherwise I'm assuming more than I probably should about how the creatures involved feel
- I obviously don't then go and pull pints or serve food - that's for the kids of folk who failed them

Call me antisocial, but I'm not keen on dogs in restaurants if they yap or jump up at me, or attempt to lick my face. Or anybody else's, for that matter. I read somewhere that when dogs slobber their owners' mouths, they're sending some primitive message from their ancient wolf ancestry that says: "Feed me, mummy. I want some of what you've just eaten. NOW!"

And then there's humping a stranger's shoes under the table, and then there's farting. I used to have a colleague whose Irish setter would come to work with her, and which would wander the building all day, sitting under people's desks and letting off the chemical weapons. You always knew where to find it, by following the direction of the shouting and the doors slamming.

Happy days.

BJ

The thing that puts me off is when the resident dog walks out of the kitchen.

TJH

tjh290633 wrote:The thing that puts me off is when the resident dog walks out of the kitchen.

Me too. If the mutt won't eat the kitchen's food, is it likely to be safe for humans?

BJ

tjh290633 wrote:The thing that puts me off is when the resident dog walks out of the kitchen.

TJH

Waiter, waiter! This hotdog isn't cooked.

tjh290633 wrote:The thing that puts me off is when the resident dog walks out of the kitchen.

I've just been watching Clive Myrie's BBC series on the Caribbean, where one famous restaurant in Cuba had a small pig running around the kitchen.

Fed on scraps, I'm sure, until its day eventually arrives to be the main event. Listen guys, there are limits to good taste, you know. Even if it does.

BJ

The dog may be a delicacy on your plate in South and (given the starvation rations prevailing there) North Korea, Vietnam and a few others.