Mary Allen
Sitting in a restaurant with the dog is a matter of course for many. But the darling is not always welcome there. Find out everything you need to know about this topic here.
Preparation for Dog and Owner
Before you show up in the restaurant with your dog, you should clarify whether dogs are even allowed in the restaurant concerned. You can simply call in advance or ask spontaneously whether your four-legged friend is allowed in. Incidentally, there are also websites that list restaurants without a dog ban. It’s worth stopping by here, also to find new dog-friendly restaurants.
In general, most restaurants in Germany are very dog-friendly, and taking your four-legged friend with you is no problem. Incidentally, it is up to the shopkeeper to decide whether the dog will visit. There is no general judicial regulation here. However, this looks different when you enter a restaurant where food is open, even behind a counter. Examples here are ice cream parlors, butchers, or some takeaways. For reasons of hygiene, dogs are not allowed here.
A big step towards a relaxed visit to the restaurant with your dog is, above all, that you teach your dog a command to put it down in advance, such as “down” or “down”. If your darling masters this exercise, then you are a big step closer to the perfect four-legged café visitor. After all, he should lie quietly under your chair or table the entire time in the bar and not disturb you or other visitors. This makes the stay relaxed for everyone involved.
Before you go to the restaurant, you should give your dog plenty of exercises. Whether you’re exercising him through fun and games or going for a long run, he should be tired so he can relax in the café to rest. Going for a walk beforehand is also important for another reason. The dog should be relaxed and not have a full bladder when choosing a table. This is particularly important for puppies and young dogs, as they sometimes tend to lose water when they get excited. One last important point is that going to a restaurant will be easier the sooner you get your dog used to it. If such a visit is part of the puppy’s socialization process, it won’t pose much of a challenge later in life, as there’s absolutely nothing special about it. Only then can your dog behave calmly and relaxed.
With a Dog in the Restaurant or in the Cafe
Now the time has come, the restaurant has been selected! The dog is tired and you are full of confidence in a relaxed visit to the café with your four-legged friend. Be careful not to jump straight into happy hour, where every seat is taken. That would be an unnecessary stress factor – for both you and your dog. Pick a day and time when it’s less busy, such as weekday mornings. In addition, you should not choose the most popular restaurant in town, as it is likely to be quite crowded here at any time.
Equally unsuitable are shops with self-service or buffets, since walking around and getting up all the time doesn’t really help the dog to calm down. When choosing a seat, you should choose a quiet table on the edge of the restaurant or, ideally, in a corner. This is where the dog has the most space to stretch out comfortably and is not where the majority of customers walk past. Quite apart from the stress he gets when he’s lying in the middle of the approach path, he doesn’t run the risk of anyone stepping on his paws here. At the same time, make sure that your dog is not in the way. Climbing over a 100lb Rottweiler to get to the bathroom isn’t for everyone.
It helps many dogs if you take the blanket with you. If he already recognizes her as a resting place, he will find it easier to relax and stay in the assigned spot. You should also keep in mind that a visit to a restaurant is a certain temptation for any dog, no matter how well trained. Lots of delicious smells, things to eat everywhere, maybe other dogs – staying down can sometimes be really difficult. Therefore, forestall attempts to escape and secure the leash with your foot. Never tie the leash to a chair or table. There are probably enough funny movie scenes in which exactly this leads to tables being thrown over and dishes being broken.
By the way, going to the restaurant with your dog becomes even better if you bring it something to nibble on. So he is distracted and preoccupied with himself. For the benefit of the other customers, however, make sure that the snack does not crack loudly (so there are any beef ears) or have an unpleasant smell. Tripe smells too intense for some dog owners, so you don’t want to expect that from a dog-free café visitor. Even when the four-legged friend is finished with his snacks, there is a strict ban on begging and feeding. Other guests shouldn’t offer him anything from their plates either, because begging is, at best, just as forbidden when you’re away from home as it is at home. Apart from the fact that a begging dog is nerve-wracking for the master – it is also more relaxed for the dog when he knows that he is not getting anything: This way he can lie relaxed under the table without the hope of missing something.
If your dog behaves well and lies well in its place, you can praise it from time to time, but not all the time, otherwise it won’t get any rest. On the other hand, if he doesn’t behave as you want him to, whimpering, begging, or jumping up on the chair, stop it with a strict “no” or “off” (depending on what your dog knows as a “stop command”). Be consistent, only then can the learning process be successful – even if you get looks from other visitors. When your dog has calmed down and is well-behaved in its place, you can praise it again. Our last training tip: on your first visit to a restaurant with your dog, only stay briefly and don’t immediately overwhelm your four-legged friend with a five-course meal; a coffee is enough to start with. If everything goes well, you can then slowly increase the length of your stay in the café.
Departure and After the Visit
When the coffee is drunk or the dessert is finished, it is time to leave. It is important here that you as a dog owner determine this point in time. So you shouldn’t leave when the dog is restless and obviously wants to leave the bar: it has to calm down first and when it’s well-behaved and relaxed under the table, you can praise it and set off. If you were to leave when the dog is restless or disobedient, it would learn that bad behavior signals the time to leave. But since you are the pack leader, you decide when you leave. After the visit, you should give the dog plenty of praise, play with it, and reward it for being (ideally) a good dog. In this way, every visit to a restaurant or café remains something positive afterward.