Tying a dog up outside a play centre

We had our play group party today, at a play centre.

It was mid morning, until lunch time.

Some time shortly after we arrived, some people arrived with a dog. They tied the dog up outside, about 1.5 metres from the door, and left him there a with a mat and a toy. A couple people from our party commented on the dog being tied up right by the door (one of the other children at our party is scared of dogs, two have allergies, etc) and they'd arrived only a few minutes after us - but he certainly wasn't there when we arrived.

The path where the dog was is quite narrow, and the mat for the dog was about 2/3 of the width of the path, and there's bushes on the other side, you can't skirt around him. No one suggested that the dog was snapping or barking if you just walked past in the narrow gap.

You can go around the other way to go to the wider path, but because of how the car park is, if you had a pram you would have to back up several metres, and then go around about 30 cars to get there. Doable, but a nuisance - but what you'd have to do.

My DH went to check on the dog, saw that there wasn't any water there, but the dog appeared to be happy and cool (there was some shade, and the temperature was mid-late 20s) and his only concern was about the position of the dog, and the implications for prams and kids (or adults!) who are scared of even innocuous looking dogs.

It had only been maybe 5 minutes, and some of us were debating whether to say something to the manager (to handball the situation and let them decide what to do about it, if anything) when a woman went up and did just that.

Not sure what happened - the dog was still there an hour later (DS1 went to wave at him!) but he wasn't there when we left about 2 hours later.

I know plenty of people who take their dogs to the park, and just make sure they don't jump on other people, or bother them, etc.

And I know people walk their dogs to the shops and leave them outside while they pick up things - but I would be surprised if people left them there for an hour ... I guess because if you were doing enough shopping for it to take more than a few minutes, you probably wouldn't be wanting to carry it home, if nothing else!

But I don't think it would ever occur to me to take my dog for a walk somewhere we intended to be any real length of time, if they were going to be by themself, and where there would be lots of kids - and in fact somewhere specifically designed for kids ... but perhaps I know a disproportionate percentage of people who are frightened of dogs.

Is it normal for people to bring dogs to the play centre and leave them there?

I think leaving the dog right near the door, where you cant avoid it is a inconsiderate. Play centre = prams and young kids, plenty of small kids aren't comfortable around dogs.

I don't really have a problem with this; better the dog was tied up in the shade than left in a hot car. Perhaps it made it more difficult for people to get inside the play centre if they wanted to avoid the dog, but there was another way for people to enter. Was there another shady place the dog could have been tied up that wouldn't have inconvenienced anyone? As long as the dog was settled, not barking or jumping on people, I think it's ok. Maybe the owner had tradespeople at home and couldn't leave the dog there but needed to take the kids out and entertain them? Or perhaps the dog just likes an outing!

If the play centre owner refused to put out an announcement asking the owners to get their dog I'd have called the rangers.

Any dog will snap when provoked and with no owner around to run interference with passing toddlers it's a huge risk, not only to passing children but to the dog.

Def not something a responsible dog owner would do.

to me, i'd rather a dog be tied up in the shade then in a hot car.

it wasnt snappy or anything. so be it. kids dont like dogs; pick them up or walk past it with out acknologeing it.
If you're alleric again one of those things. its a PUBLIC place, and unless its signed that dogs cannot be tethered up whats wrong with it?

If it was a snappy dog yeah, get some one to put an announcement over asking if the dog could be moved. but as OP said it wasnt. do its a non-issue for me. perhaps its a good learning point for kids who dont like dogs that they are around and they arent always a threat? JMHO.

I agree with Ms Fi. There is no way that any dog should be tied up where small children will be near it potentially unsupervised. The dog may be perfectly behaved and used to being around small children but it's a dog at the end of the day and noone can ever say for a certainty that a dog is 100% safe. The owner was putting themselves at great risk also. If something had happened, even if the dog did nothing but say a scared child saw the dog and ran into traffic- the owner could be seen as liable since they deliberately placed the dog in the path of children.

Pretty irresponsible I think.

And of course there's always the risk of someone stealing the dog or hurting it.

I think it's pretty inconsiderate to the poor dog to leave him there for that long if you know you're going to be inside for an hour or two. I know it'd be torture for my dog to be by the door seeing people to play with for that long, he'd wind up annoyed and bored. I'd just leave him home.

I also think it's inconsiderate to others leaving him that close to the door and taking up that much of the path. It is a public space, but in that particular space it would be reasonable to come across young children who may a) be scared of dogs, b) be allergic to dogs, or c) come running out and do what kids do - maybe get rough with the dog and have him react. C) is what I'd be most worried about. If the dog's been there bored for an hour you don't know what a child may do and how he may react.

I'm going to go on a different path (pardon the pun) and say that I have an issue with the matt. It sounds like it became a trip hazard - which becomes an OHS hazard - which becomes an issue for the centre if it is on their property...

With regards to the dog - I have no issue with it being tied up. Although I do have a bug bear about dogs being tied up to block door ways or walking paths regardless of the facility (play centre, supermarket, pub etc). I just dislike walkways and doors being blocked in general (bike, dog, rubbish etc)

I don't see anything to get worked up about. It's a little different but if the dog was unhappy that's something that would have been obvious. If people leave their children unsupervised outside playcentres/beside car parks then there are larger concerns than the potential for them to annoy a dog.

I occasionally tie my dog up outside a shop when I call in to buy something - given that's usually only 5 minutes or so, but would you that be considered a problem too? Dog owners can't take them into the shop with them, so that's the only option if you're walking.
There can be people with allergies anywhere - they could walk past you on the street....if it's a public place, like previously mentioned, without signage stating otherwise, I think the people were within their rights to tie the dog up. I am concerned about no water for the dog though and someone taking it.

i think if the dog was happy and they were checking on its welfare occasionally, then no, i wouldn't be upset about it.

Thanks for the responses, ladies.

ausgirl - I don't think that the general act of taking a dog (and then needing to leave them somewhere for a short while) would have raised any eyebrows within the group I was with, and indeed the owners of the dog had seemed to be quite intentional in trying to make provision for the dog - it was more the length of time, and the venue which some were concerned about.

But in general, the attitudes seemed to run from Ginger's to Ms Fi.

Thus my interest in what other thought. :)

I wouldn't have a problem with it.