Quote:
Originally Posted by carolinabay
My dog has a legit medical necessity to have me with her at all times. It's a joke, but also totally true. I am her support human. As a huge aside, ancient armies had dogs in their medical sections because their saliva actually has antiseptic properties that has been confirmed in modern times and they licked wounds. They are cleaner than we are.
OK. Are there really that many people for whom cleanliness, or lack thereof, is their biggest concern with dogs? I'd be surprised if that was many people's major concern.
Quote:
Originally Posted by carolinabay
Why does stuff like this bother so many people? That dog isn't bothering anyone. There was a guy at Harrah's Cherokee at my table in a circuit event that had a dog twice or three times that size that was not directly on the table, but jumping up a lot and in his lap. It tilted some folks. It was a nice dog. Didn't bother anyone except in their own minds.
I have a couple answers for you here.
1) "Why does stuff like this bother so many people?" - dog owners who think like this are a problem. Not everyone - just those who allow this kind of thinking to direct their actions. Like the people who let their dog run around off-leash, because their dog is great and friendly and would never hurt anyone. Of course, their dog might be perfectly fine, but not everyone's is. So you have people who have had bad experiences, and are justifiably afraid of dogs. Or children who are afraid of dogs. Or people who just don't want dogs coming over and snuffling away at them, jumping at them, etc. You might know that your dog is the most well-behaved dog ever, but no one else does. For a whole variety of reasons, not everyone else is as excited about encounters with a dog as their "Why does stuff like this bother so many people?" owner thinks they should be, and that's when we have problems.
2) The combination of bad dog owners and bad hotel policies/policy enforcement has poisoned the well. Barking dogs I fortunately haven't had many bad experiences with, but it has happened from time to time. Extremely annoying to be next door to a room with a yappy dog. Accidents are going to happen - this could be greatly reduced by limiting the rooms where dogs are allowed. If you allow dogs on every floor, you're now opening yourself up to accidents on every floor, in every stairwell, on the elevator, etc. And this applies all the more to hotel rooms, and this is where allergy issues kick in. My wife is allergic to pet hair/fur/dander, and we once ended up in a hotel room that she simply couldn't stay in. The room had been cleaned, but some dog hair can be extremely difficult to get out of carpet, furniture, etc. This is where limiting the rooms/areas that accommodate pets would again be helpful.
I'm not suggesting that this means that pets can't be allowed in hotels or other places, but it needs to be done strategically, and pet owners need to realize there are legitimate reasons that everyone isn't as enthusiastic about their pets as they are.