Public Facing Dog
sarahendren.com
sarahendren.com
Did the Grinch steal all your internet connections and leave you with shoddy mobile 3G?
Am I alone in thinking this is rude and inconsiderate? If you bring an animal in public around other members of society, you should supervise and control it. Not doing so is at a bare minimum irresponsible.
How well-behaved the animal has been historically is not relevant.
Liking dogs is not a universal trait, not everyone wants them near. It’s the owner’s responsibility to the rest of society to supervise their animal and make sure it doesn’t go near people who don’t want it near them.
Hm, except the many cases of them attacking and sometimes killing hikers? I don’t have any specific expertise in the matter but these dogs are famous for being aggressive and attacking anything they deem too close to the cattle, incl humans
But there's also a question of what we want to optimize for: maximize the average pleasure of the people nearby, minimize the worst-case displeasure of anyone nearby, or some mix.
I.M.E. people differ on what that ideal balance is.
Imposing your preferences on the world leads to a gray, dull uniformity as people race to the bottom of inoffensive, unobjectionable sameness. Find some other salon where you fit better instead of insisting that other people's lives be made worse in order to accommodate you. It's not all about you. Let other people be happy and leave them in peace.
You really, quite politely, hit the nail on the head here. I have sort of struggled with my thoughts on this for years at this point. On one hand, I empathize that others don’t want to be uncomfortable. But the process of systemically removing everything remotely objectionable leaves the world soulless.
(And now, suddenly, this is no longer about dogs) I used to be brash and opinionated. I have friends who have always accepted me for who I am, and was generally comfortable with my self. Sometime in the mid 2010s I found myself being more sensitive to the offensiveness of everything. I became more aware of a wider range of faux pas, and began to feel a self-consciousness that I might say or so something that would make others uncomfortable.
I found it easiest to just say less. Reveal less of who I was, what I felt. In a lot of ways I think this was social anxiety. But not just mine, this is a collective effect many of us seem to have suddenly developed on similar timelines. I don’t think this has been a good change and I do feel like part of me is just gone.
I see a lot of raging against woke culture. I don’t ride that train, but in some ways I do get it. If something is offensive (within reasonable limits), I think the world is a little better when we encourage people to cope rather than implore the institutions of the world to cater to universal comfort.
It's hilarious, really, to draw a parallel between this and generally 'offensive' stuff. Nobody is 'offended' by a lose dog. I see way more people being offended by other people pushing back against the current dog culture by just asking folks to obey social norms and even laws and regulations (just watch downvotes - or the equivalent - pouring in pretty much any online community when you say something even remotely critical). I mean just look at this thread. OP just said it's rude to bring a pet into a public space and not supervise it and got philosophical-level pushback trying to convince everyone that being polite may lead us to a sterile souless society. I'm not sure who feels more offended here.
And this is going to get worse as modern society is using pets as a pacifier against the loneliness crisis we're all facing.
You're arguing semantics. Replace public place to 'place open to the public' which is what a salon is. Private business or publicly owned spaces, people do have access to it, unless asked to leave. This is why we regulate these spaces as well. The public has access to them, so we have the local government sometimes sending inspectors and such to make sure it's all safe and 'up to code' regardless of how private it is.
If I have a private business, say a store selling candy and toys to kids. And inside my private business, I allow people to smoke and vape freely. Would that be a nice escape from the protected bubble? I think it just adds the little bit of chaos making life interesting.
Another aspect which will spice things up and make life interesting is the premium for the general liability insurance of the business. I mean you only need one person to get mauled and everyone (alive) will learn a very expensive lesson.
I kind of hear your point about smoking and the fact that we do sometimes regulate certain aspects of these spaces, but I'm not aware of any leash laws, at least in my area, that apply to indoor private spaces.
And I don't mean that just in the sense that "it's not against the law, so to heck with you." You draw a parallel between smoking and a wandering dog (with more snark than was necessary, IMO), but "one of these things is not like the other" as they say.
Not entirely sure why you wrote this, it does not invalidate what I said ("Private business or publicly owned spaces, people do have access to it, unless asked to leave").
More details here: https://www.dmlp.org/legal-guide/access-private-property
For this conversation, it does not matter. Everyone is free to enter the salon (there is no guard at the door, there is no entry fee, there is no key access, etc..) until asked to leave.
> "one of these things is not like the other"
I agree. One has the possibility of killing a person in a couple of years, another one can kill a person on the spot.
You also seem to be assuming that I’m writing this from a place of personal preference to not have dogs near. I wrote very carefully; even if I liked dogs around, I would still consider it rude and inconsiderate, much like smoking indoors.
Not only is it historically relevant, but in fact it is the only thing that is relevant.
Small, well-behaved companion dogs have been allowed to roam free since medieval times, including indoors.
> Liking dogs is not a universal trait, not everyone wants them near. It’s the owner’s responsibility to the rest of society to supervise their animal and make sure it doesn’t go near people who don’t want it near them.
As long as we agree to do the same for little children, who are size and mentally similar to dogs.
The dog in question is not small. In fact, a pyr is one of the largest dog breeds.
The rest of society isn't present in the hair salon. Only a select few. If someone objects sure keep the dog leashed, but if no one does I don't see the point. You can't live your life placating hypothetical people who might possibly get upset.
That's the weird thing about dog people (mostly). They need this affection. They crave it. It's nearly the core reason they have a dog. As a cat person, begrudging tolerance on their own terms is the only thing I'd expect from a pet.
This mark of pride in not needing love, probably borne out of misanthropy or misplaced sense of superiority, isn't as cool as you guys think. You still synthesise happy love and bonding chemicals when you stroke your cat like everybody else, or you wouldn't get one in the first place.
Sincerely, one that loves the independence of cats and the empathy of dogs. I only wish I could have both...
Maybe it's co-dependence, and maybe it's the inverse of a human/dog relationship.
I think I might actually like this dog.
Great Pyrenees have radically different personality affect if they live in a human residence vs put out to guard livestock while young.
I just wish I could find a breed with that chill/aloof nature that didn't shed.
But for those of us who do NOT get energized by energy, but rather get drained by things around us being too energetic (music is oppressively loud, sports fans are happy or angry, games are too chaotic, everyone is talking over everyone else, etc.), a dog is more like a very small version of those things which grate on us. And, in the same way that I love a good concert but still find someone cranking up their stereo in the car irritating can't be boiled down to "loud music bad"; dogs can't be boiled down to "dogs too energetic/needy".
Personally, I'm a "friend of dogs". I will never own one (though I may cohabitate with one; I wouldn't dream of imposing pet limitations on my SO), I won't spent a lot of time with any of them. But I will always be happy to see a dog; I will always try to engage them and play with them; I will always be grateful that there is a dog around, so long as it's not my responsibility to attend to their neediness. Dogs are some of the greatest friends I've ever known. I'm just not the type of person who can responsibly care for one, so I won't.
Cats, on the other hand, are the inverse. For people who are bored when they sit in silence, or people who constantly want to be "active", or people who like to lead instead of follow - for extroverts, cats are such non-entities. It's like... why hold affection for something that can't clearly demonstrate any particular feeling about me?
But I'm 1000% with you; I like to live around animals and essentially let them live their own lives with the small exceptions of providing stable food and water. That goes for any kind of animal, but doing so with dogs tends to make neurotic and depressed dogs, so I don't. But I'd live with apes, rodents, avians, and reptiles, so long as they manage their own business and leave me alone. Hell, cows are delightful if you've ever been around them long enough for them not to run away from you. So it's a blanket policy of "limited affection available for temporarily-needy stoics" for my pet ownership (and most human friendships, honestly), which is pitch-perfect for cats.
Maybe the unconditional love and affection is a salve to the loneliness that introversion can bring?
That isn’t to say “replace people with dogs”, we all need human relationships. Just that it’s sometimes nice to have a furry friend who doesn’t judge you.
I think that's a great insight. It rings true regarding myself, but I never realized it until you mentioned it.
Have you done enough polling out on the street to determine the sole reason for people owning dogs?
Anecdotally the reason that I own a dog rather than a cat is because I prefer a playmate that I can physically roughhouse and wrestle with. Try tackling your 10 pound cat and see what you get.
My 80 pound half husky half great Pyrenees has zero issues with going out on a 5 mile run with me every morning too - she's like a drooling portable gym membership.
Also, we have a native central american dog, according to her DNA and Cornell Vet School's database, and she's basically like our cats.
She's not attention seeking, unless we're all playing, and she's very pack loyal, like our cats.
With strangers, like the local coyotes or bobcats(lynxes), she'll just stare observing the person but never be up in their personal space seeking attention. Just observes...