“You can take your dog to movies and bars. But does he want to go?” On WaPo

[tass]

@williamsnodo I feel this way all the time!!!! Was at a bar where someone had brought their golden after a softball match. He was panting, pacing, jumping up on them, it was awful to see.

 

[tasky]

@williamsnodo I worked at a college where they had therapy dogs come in for the students during finals, and currently work somewhere where therapy dogs come in to the space.

I ride the bus out with the therapy dog folks after their shift and .... those dogs are TIRED. Completely emotionally and physically spent by the end of their shift (which is usually only a couple of hours). I realize there is more human interaction for the therapy dogs than for a dog going to the store with its owner but the stress they feel with all the sights and sounds and smells must be similar.

I rarely see dogs that look like they're enjoying events or stores. Most look completely overwhelmed.

 

[childman]

@joshuawithmartin Good article.

I remember someone told me once that my dog would be a lot happier if he could come along with me to breweries/farmers markets/etc (they were implying that if I used more balanced methods he could do those things). It was interesting to me because 1) there is zero chance he would ever enjoy those places, even if he could quietly exist there and 2) I really don’t spend a lot of time in those places, either, and I really would prefer to leave him at home anyway. It’s just easier.

I think we may soon see an interesting juxtaposition of more dog friendly places, so more dogs out in public, but there is also a rise in dogs with behavioral challenges who probably don’t want to be there anyway, like the article says, or they can’t be there safely.

 

[saharali]

@childman I saw a dog at the farmer's market clearly having a bad time. He was shaking, tucked tail, hyper vigilant, etc. And of course he was on a prong collar which was probably the training they did to get him to stop protesting his involvement in these situations. That's the result of people thinking using these balanced methods will allow them to bring a dog there. And for what? What a sad life.