Cafe Canines - Is it Actually Appropriate?

\We’ve talked often about how there seems to be an ‘ideal’ picture of the dogs we live alongside. One of those many factors, and what we hear a lot when someone is asked what they would like to train their dogs, comes the response, ‘I just want to be able to take them to a cafe’. 

We can all picture it. The calm, easy going pooch dozing under the outdoor table, or watching the world as it goes by - owner sipping on their latte and chatting away with their friend.

However, last week our team took that expectation and put it to the test. We made it a little harder, visiting a cafe with four dogs - each with a separate handler, and we wanted to share our experience. This is to make sure you take some pause, remove your rose-tinted glasses for a moment, and think about how to set you and your dog up for success. Spoiler: it may involve less ‘cafe’ than you expect.

THE CREW

We had a range of dogs to choose from with Estelle’s van, but not every dog was going to be suited for the space we were headed into. We settled on the following dogs to accompany us while we had a meeting over coffee and cake.

Luna - Heading Dog Cross - 4 Years Old

Whilst Luna is mature and has very solid learning history, she can be wary of men and dog selective, meaning we had to be aware of people around her and potentially other dogs coming into her space and making her uncomfortable.

Hope - Beardie Cross - 2 Years Old
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Extremely people social, wants to be friends, however, can be very wary of novel things and unsure about the world at times.

Rusty - Terrier Cross - 8 Years Old

Confident about life, small in size BUT very cat and bird oriented at times. Also likes to wee on things.

Stumpy - Terrier Cross - 14 Years Old
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Social, but vision and hearing impaired. If anyone was to approach him, he could easily startle - also could not eat beef due to pancreatitis (this information is important to know for later).

​THE PREPARATION

Not only did we make sure to select the most robust dogs from Estelle’s group, we knew we couldn’t go in without some things to help the dogs settle and keep themselves entertained. Remember, we were trying to make sure the dogs didn’t become stressed and had an idea of what we were going into, through a dog trainers perspective - so set up was key.

Here’s what we made sure we had on hand, before we even went through the front doors.

• Stuffed cow hooves - for the dogs to chew on. Stuffed with Possyum dog roll (so no cow hoof for Stumpy!)
• Lickimats and baby food - another food item to keep the dogs entertained
• A bed for each dog - concrete is not very comfortable, so it’s unrealistic to expect a dog to settle on there for a long period of time
• Poo bags - just in case
• And a heck load of more treats so we could reward engagement and the behaviours we wanted to see more of.

With each handler stocked up and ready to go, we made sure to toilet the dogs - and then the adventure began.

THE ADVENTURE ITSELF

First we had to figure out which dog was going to head into the cafe first. We settled on Rusty, since he thinks he runs the show - to provide confidence for Hope, a scent trail for Stumpy, and give us a chance to scope out what the set up and lay out in the cafe was for the other dogs (and their people). We had to make sure that Rusty didn’t mark his whole way over to where we wanted to eat as well - lead management was essential!

Luckily, there was outdoor seating, big enough to spread out. The cafe cat was inside, so no troubles there, and while there was a dog at another table, there was enough space for us to settle in. It probably took a solid 5 minutes to lay out mats, set up leads properly, and not entangle one another, but we got there! All dogs were supplied with their enrichment - and the spare human took our orders into the cafe (the idea of getting up once we had found our spots was less than ideal). 

We soon realised that Hope was unsure about the windbreak wall, so there was a little bit of a shuffle around - and she wasn’t so sure about all the people looking around at the plants with hats on (the employees). When the other dog at the table and their humans got up to leave, Luna was not impressed by the younger dog coming a bit close, and Rusty kept trying to take the cow hooves that weren’t meant for him. In short - multiple dogs did make it a bit more difficult because we had more to monitor BUT the monitoring was really important. The dog’s couldn’t just be left to watch the world and make decisions on their own, they needed to be worked, or rewarded for good behaviour, when we noticed they might be placed in a position to make poor decisions.

If it had been up to Hope, she would’ve got up and left the space. Luna would have tried to remove the strange dog. Rusty probably would have got up so he could pee on every statue in the outdoor area that was up for sale.

Bless the waitresses when the food and coffee came out. The dogs were nosey and wanted to be underfoot, and we were happy enough to just tell them to pop the drinks at the closest table and we would delegate accordingly. This added another thing to keep track of - we didn’t want any of the dogs sneaking up to have a taste of what we were having (coffee is toxic to dogs!)

At about the 40 minute mark, it was time to take the dogs for a bit of a leg stretch around the outdoor garden - one at a time - but they were getting antsy being asked to sit still, and enrichment items were running low on lickiness. 

All in all, the outing lasted for an hour. Coffee finally got finished, cake crumbs were on plates - and the humans were definitely ready to go home. To say that we had a productive team meeting would have been a lie, at least on the administration side of it. We all certainly learned a lot breaking down the process of having cafe dogs!

OUR OBSERVATIONS AND THOUGHTS

It starts with the set up. Just like you would if you were taking a toddler to the cafe - you need to have things to help your dog stay entertained, comfortable, and relaxed. Don’t expect your dog to just be able to lie on cold, hard floors with nothing but the world to watch without somehow trying to experience it… and keep in mind that super exciting things could lead to a table or chair getting pulled over if you attach a leash to it!

You may have to forgo the idea that you will be fully able to enjoy a chat with your friend, and perhaps you’ll struggle to enjoy your cabinet treat as well. Isn’t it a little unfair to expect your dog to sit and watch you, while you eat and drink delicious smelling things without giving them something too? 

Passive supervision doesn’t work in these moments, either. From out of nowhere, a child may come up and try to pat your dog - and many dogs would not appreciate it at all. You don’t want your dog leaping up to try and taste the eggs benedict going to another nearby table, so you have to make sure they’re not overly tempted.

The environment is crazy busy. You don’t realise until you are trying to perceive the world from your dog's point of view, but the variety of people coming past, potentially dogs, an unfamiliar space - all of those things can contribute to a lot of stress. This is especially true for dogs who might not get out much, and are suddenly put into what they find a VERY novel situation… Which leads up to the next point.

It’s not ‘just’ sitting and being a cafe dog. The dogs we took for this experience have each had years of reinforcement and training history with us. They have been taught how to settle at home, how to engage with their handler around distractions, and other basic manners on lead and around other people and dogs. It’s HOURS of work, to get a dog ‘just’ to lie down in a busy environment.

CONCLUSION

It really is a large goal to think your dog will be a relaxing addition to a coffee-catch up. If you have achieved that, a very big kudos to you. For those of you thinking about preparing your dog to be a cafe companion, take a moment to think about what your dog may actually think is fun. Lying under a table, basically ignored while the world rushes around them… or going out with you on a hike and being able to sniff and move and explore.

You can still go out and enjoy a coffee with friends! But you may find it a lot less work if you leave your dog at home. And it means you won’t get dog hairs on your nice going out outfit!


Authored by Sarah Endres
With assistance from Michelle and Brylee Davis, Ash Stephens, Brooke Rapira, Estelle Leyshon and the Allsorts Dog Crew!