[nagdu] Out of the way in public

[Jenine Stanley]

Darlene asked if anyone had ever heard of a fire martial rule about dogs
having to be out of the walkway in restaurants. 

Though I've never heard of this and though I realize some dogs are large and
many table and booth setups aren't exactly dog friendly, I hate to be a
giant prude about this, but your dog shouldn't be in the walk way period. If
you have to move a chair to give the dog space, do so. If you need to sit in
a particular place because your dog is larger, do so. I know there are
places where dogs just can't fit under the table, but most times there are
ways to keep them out of the general walkway. 

It's dangerous not only for people walking, who are usually not looking
down, but for your dog, who could be tripped over, have hot food or liquid
spilled on it or be bothered by the many children I encounter more and more
often, unsupervised in restaurants. 

Gee, I really do think I am becoming my mother here, but I don't recall ever
being allowed to get up and wander around during a meal, at home or in
public. <grin> 

I know that at many guide dog schools, Southeastern included, they do make a
big deal about the dogs being out of the way and several schools have a
variety of seating options in some of their lounges to practice this chore. 

I'm not yelling at anyone here or saying that the fire martial stuff is
correct. It's probably not, but my guess too is that someone has tripped
over a dog there and hence the warning. 

Sadly, I've been to my share of conventions where dogs are just sort of
everywhere. This is due in part to hotels choosing to make tables at
banquets and luncheons rounds of 10 with chairs packed together so you can't
really make room. <grin> Not good, but even when there are a lot of dogs,
most hotel style chairs can accommodate a dog under them. 

Again, showing my "Old Fartedness", does it seem as if there is less stress
being put on dog awareness than in past guide dog training? I realize it's
not politically correct, or exactly helpful, to yell at people, play tricks
on them, etc. during class, but I recall during my first several classes at
2 different schools, having the fear of Instructor put into me over where my
dog was and what it was doing. Sometimes, the dog just disappeared. I have
to say proudly that this never happened to me, but certainly I got my share
of public and private admonishments to pay attention to my dog's
whereabouts. This extended to how the dog was positioned under tables. 

When I first went to GDF back in 1990, we had a dining room setup that
looked very much like one of those little country restaurants. There were
tables that sat 4 people plus a seat on either end. The tables had the long
braces at the bottom in an X shape so they crossed the space under
everyone's feet. The chairs were those little wooden country seats with the
bar underneath. This made getting a dog under the table extremely
interesting. We had a system where people sitting diagonally across from
each other brought their dogs to meals. As you can imagine, by about the
third week, no one could remember whose turn it was to bring his/her dog to
lunch and things could get ugly. <grin> 

One thing it did teach though was how to get a dog under a table like that
and keep it there while another, equally uncomfortable dog was doing the
same across the way. 

Now we have round tables that seat 4 regularly but can seat up to 6. Chairs
allow for dogs to go under them easily, if not readily, and all dogs come to
each meal. 

I've had 50 pound dogs and 80 pound dogs and both were able to fit
reasonably under things. Some did so with a lot more grace than others.
<grin> My current guy is big. He's tall and bulky but he can curl up under a
chair fairly neatly. 

Even when going out with both of our dogs, my husband and I try extremely
hard to keep them out of the aisles and walkways. They are both around 75
pounds but his Golden is a bit lankier. 

Sorry for the rant here but Darlene's question sparked a topic I've been
fussing over for ages. 

 Jenine Stanley
Sorry, I don't have the authority to save the world today.
jeninems at wowway.com