Morning Poll: Dogs at Farmers Markets

charlie

1. most dogs in arlington have poorly behaving owners who think Fido is just too nice. i hate dogs and they stink and smell and have no manners.
2. dogs do not belong where food is being served. period. state law.
3. but why are service dogs allowed? are they more clean? less likely to pee on the vendor table? no, they aren’t. so if these dogs are okay to be around my future food purchases, why not all dogs. (I understand the need to make the market accessible to people, but it is still a dog). The intellectual arguement is a health and public safety one — and it should apply to all dogs.

CW

PLUS ONE HUNDRED MILLION
- John Fontain
  
  You’ve now used up all your ratings points for the day.
  - CW
    
    I’ll go sit in the corner.
Hope

Charlie, How can you ask why service dogs would still be allowed? Matter of fact they are cleaner, they are not allowed to run rampant in the yard. Service dogs aren’t usually playful or behave badly. They are trained for one job to keep their owner safe. Even Public Health officials realize this or they would be banned from Supermarkets and restaurants as well.

I love my dog, but I would also prefer dogs were left out of open air markets, however service dogs are welcome anywhere.
- CW
  
  I once saw a service dog “in training” take a dump and a leak simultaneously in the middle of the Pentagon City Costco. It was awesome.
  - SGPB
    
    I have seen homeless people doing the same thing.
    - charlie
      
      my favorite is the homeless people doing their bathing in the water fountains (the ones the rest of us drink out of) in the various parks.
- charlie
  
  i’m sorry i have too many ideas.
  
  first point, i think dogs should be band.
  
  second point, why are service dogs allowed. they provide the same health risk that a regular dog poses to uncovered food.
  - http://www.exactcom.com.au/proofs/KombiPics/Wrecks/bayBushOvergrown.jpg Overgrown Bush
    
    A dog band. Now that would be cool.
    - charlie
      
      thanks. these auto-correct devices are annoying. very.
      but i’m smiling.
  - One time…
    
    If you disallowed dogs at farmers markets, wouldn’t they just become band camps?
- Amen
  
  Finally, some fact-based reason.
Mike

Agree on the bad owner comment, there are more bad owners than bad dogs. But service dogs are mandated by Federal law and can go anywhere a person can go which is why the statement excluded them. They are needed to assist the disabled to live a better life. They are highly trained and about as likely to pee on the vendor table as you are.
Maria

Well… right, but odds are good that there *might* be one service dog in an establishment at any given time, maybe a couple more if we’re talking farmer’s markets (and I honestly am having a hard time thinking of even one instance that I’ve seen a service dog inside a restaurant). If regulations change to say, well if service dogs can do it, then all dogs can, that would likely change dramatically.

And I would guess that, since service dogs are generally very well trained, they’re less likely than the average dog to jump up on a table or stick their faces into the crates on the ground. I also think they might actually be less likely to pee on a vendor table (though I’m not sure if “where to pee” training is part of the process, haha…).
shades of gray

Nice nuanced thinking there, Charlie. Why allow service dogs? Because someone who is blind and relies on his seeing eye dog to get around needs them. And since there are relatively few people who are sight-impaired (2.6% of the world population according to wikipedia) and still fewer of them have dogs, there are not going to be many — if any — service dogsa t the market. That means a policy of making an exception for service dogsl presents a negligible impact on the cleanliness of the market.
You Jerk

Charlie, YOU have no manners, not to mention grammar and spelling. And I wouldn’t be surprised if you “smell and stink” too. (Stink AND smell?)

Federal law (the ADA–look it up) requires service dogs to be allowed wherever their owners go. Including airplanes. Including farmers’ markets. And no, service dogs are not going to pee on your food. They are trained for months and cost tens of thousands of dollars.

People with disabilities have the RIGHT to have access to the same things as the rest of us. Our society is better for it. And if that means they need a service dog, then you have to get over it.

Are you really this small minded, or are you just expressing your frustration and loneliness on the Internet?
- charlie
  
  i’m glad that someone just went and flamed me without standing back and thinking about the issue a little more broadly.
  
  i’m very familiar with ADA, thank you.
  
  if you would calm down for a second and THINK instead of react…
  
  if federal laws over rule state health code for service dogs… then what is the point of not allowing other dogs into the market? a service dogs has excellent training, etc., but it is still a dog and STILL poses a health risk to open food — which is the basis for the state law.
  - http://www.exactcom.com.au/proofs/KombiPics/Wrecks/bayBushOvergrown.jpg Overgrown Bush
    
    I’m not totally against your point here. But, there are a lot of other things that pose a risk to your health from a farmers market food. Do you wash the food before you eat it? You should. There are quite possibly (likely) chemicals on that food which are hazardous to your health. If it is up on a table, dogs or not, I’d guess there is little chance of fecal coliforms on it unless it came from wildlife from where the food was grown.
    - charlie
      
      agreed, dogs are the least of the health problems at the farmers market.
      
      the farmers market in Alexandria is a haven for resellers — they have food for sale that has UPC stickers on it and you can see the shine of the wax preservatives on the squash, cucumbers, etc.
      
      since you asked, i generally don’t wash my food and i eat most of the skins (potatoe, cucumber, carrot) that people often remove.
    - http://www.exactcom.com.au/proofs/KombiPics/Wrecks/bayBushOvergrown.jpg Overgrown Bush
      
      I’m not so great with it either.
      
      I would not bring my dog to a farmers market. Not because he isn’t well behaved. He listens well and I know how to handle him. It is the DBs who don’t like dogs who worry me, and the owners or poorly behaved dogs. Both of them are risks to a well behaved animal because they are either arrogant (the DBs) who will challenge, or negligent (the crappy owners). I just don’t want to put my fantastic dog at risk with all those maniacs.
  - AllenB
    
    Really? You’re upset about being flamed when you just flamed “most” dog owners in Arlington? You really have no clue about what you’re talking about in regards to dog owners. You meet a few misbehaving dogs and assume “most” are rotten and smell?
    
    You deserve the flaming.. and then some.
    - charlie
      
      yep, including the ones who have dogs but haven’t bought houses with yards and then force be to subsidize a “dog” park.
      speaking of flamers…
    - AllenB
      
      I don’t have kids but I’m “forced” to subsidize schools. What a dumb comment.
    - charlie
      
      i’m forced to subsidize schools too, but at least that helps with our triple AAA bond rating and makes Arlington a great place to live.
    - AllenB
      
      And you don’t think that the potentially thousands of dog owners in condo’s think that the dog parks make Arlington a great place to live? Please, think before you type…. you’re embarrassing yourself.
    - charlie
      
      yeah, but they mostly don’t vote, so who cares. right?
Runaway Train

Curmudgeon residents in Arlington suck the fun out of everything. Get over it and get a life. (Charlie you have 8 post over a 5 hour period, find something more constructive to do with your time). Life isn’t that serious. Are you really that inconvenienced by someone standing next to you with a dog?
- charlie
  
  yo, runaway train, thanks for counting. And to think that you suggest I need to find something more constructive to do.
  
  if you have been attacked by a “friendly dog” walked on a leash down a sidewalk by an owner who said “oh, my dog won’t hurt you” then you might feel differently. I was pushed over and the dog straddled me and the owner thought it was cute. It wasn’t.
  
  I am more challenging why some dogs are okay and others aren’t. I understand the need for service dogs. But don’t service dogs pose whatever health threat other dogs pose? If yes, they too don’t belong. If no, then all dogs should be allowed.
  
  It is an inconsistent policy due to the impact of special interest groups. Dogs are either ok or not.

brendan

Courthouse one definitely does not love your pet… Had no idea that an open air market on public property could ban dogs and was walking through picking up some stuff when one of the organizers thoroughly bitched me out. haven’t been back since.

i understand that you don’t want to contaminate food and some people are extremely poor handlers of their dog/children but kinda defeats part of the fun of open-air, local markets… hopefully they can find a balance and not turn into the jackasses that make up the courthouse group.

HaulinOats

Thank you for the “children” part of your comment. Children seem to run wild, touch things, and generally get in the way at these things, too, but nobody ever mentions that!
- JamesE
  
  I do, I hate children!
  - normal
    
    Rest assured, they hate you too.
    - JamesE
      
      no, they are too busy crying/screaming and running wild to notice.
    - HaulinOats
      
      Agreed, JamesE. When I was a kid, I was a stationary being that was seen and not heard. #getoffmylawn
    - Skeptical
      
      +100 James E.
      
      The same people who don’t train their dogs think their children are Just Lovely and the Everyone Should Share their screaming, stampeding, snot and prattle. And the law doesn’t even require them to be on leashes. Apparently teaching children manners, and giving them a swat when they forget to behave or (horrors!) taking them home if they can’t, all have gone the way of the water clock.
      
      The grocery store, post office, small shop and movie theater loby are not playgrounds but you wouldn’t know it from the way people allow their children to run amuck, so why should we expect anyone to control a dog at an open air market?
    - CW
      
      Yep…agree 100% it’s the same people…dog on leash in one arm, 20 feet across the boulevard p*ssing on a passerby, cell phone in the other hand while the kid runs out into traffic, 4-foot-wide monster stroller right in front taking up 75% of the sidewalk.
    - Bluemontsince1961
      
      Ain’t that the truth! The Harris Teeter at Lee-Harrison is a good example of what you are talking about.
- bobco85
  
  You could always make children wear leashes at these events. (please note the sarcasm)
  
  That said, whenever I see a child on a leash, I seriously have to turn away from the parent as I hide my face and try not to burst out laughing. The best one I’ve seen was a child with a leash that was covered in fabric to make it look like he had a monkey tail!
  - brendan
    
    sometimes crate training doesn’t always work…
  - 1stTryAtImage

CW

This is a public service announcement: Not everyone wishes to be licked, lunged at, or jumped upon by your filthy, slobbering mutt that just finished a meal of roadkill and cat crap. Nor do we want to have to walk 20 feet across a sidewalk to avoid it as it is straining at the end of its 20-foot retractable leash while you obliviously drink your starbucks and talk on your phone while wearing your workout clothes and visor. We also do not wish to have to avoid your dog while it is tied up outside Whole Foods, or left free to wander the entire width of wilson boulevard because its 20-foot leash is tethered to the leg of your restaurant table. Having a wild animal that you have chosen to take into your home is a privilege that you may enjoy, but others may not enjoy your thrusting it upon them in EVERY FREAKING ASPECT of their lives. I just want to walk down the street without having to move out of the way for everyone else’s dogs or getting covered in slobber. IS THAT TOO MUCH TO ASK?

Ok, rant finished.

JamesE

Don’t insult my precious !
robble

robble.
Bluemontsince1961

GASP! You MEANIE, you BRUTE, you dog HATER, you heathen, you PHILISTINE! You…..you……COMMUNIST!

(The above is totally tongue-in-cheek and is not meant to be taken seriously). CW, I understand what you’re saying. There are good, responsible dog owners who have very well behaved dogs, and then there are the others, who seem to let their dogs do whatever and get huffy when someone doesn’t appreciate some strange dog jumping on them, etc.
- CW
  
  lol
WestoverAndOver

Pretty much sums up my feelings. Thank you!
http://www.exactcom.com.au/proofs/KombiPics/Wrecks/bayBushOvergrown.jpg Overgrown Bush

I suspect my dog would not like you either. LOL. Then again, I could spew your rant at quite a few people I see on the street every day about those people (and not their dogs). These are the thing we encounter in life and all share the same space. Get on with it! I don’t want to move out of the way for your dirty filthy a** when walking down the street, but I do.
- Bluemontsince1961
  
  Overgrown Bush, from your postings here and at other discussions on dogs, you sound like a responsible dog owner that has a well behaved dog that is great to be around. I interpreted CW’s comments to be about people unlike you, who don’t have well trained and well behaved dogs. Like the analogy of parents who have well behaved and well disciplined children and those that let them run crazy (see Lee-Harrison Harris Teeter for examples of the latter).
AllenB

Get over yourself… no one likes you either.
- CW
  
  The irony is that my post only targets and singles out certain behaviors. It never even mentions “dog owners”. So therefore, in order to take umbrage to my post, you must be guilty of the behaviors which I specify.
  
  But that probably went over your head since you seemed to have learned your argumentative skills in preschool.
  - AllenB
    
    You post on a thread where there are several people criticizing dog OWNERS. Who do you suppose is hold the 20 foot retractable leash you are talking about? I’m not sure why the word “obtuse” is running through my mind when I think of you…. hmmm…..
    - CW
      
      Actually, if you look at the timestamps, only Charlie had posted before me really. In fact, he posted his while I was typing mine. So I actually posted without having seen any other comments.
      
      That said, I’m only talking about the owners performing the behavior I’m talking about. If I say that I’m sick of people spitting used chewing gum onto the sidewalk, and you’ve never chewed gum in your life (but still have a mouth), do you get offended?
      
      If you need help understanding my analogy, mouth = dog, spitting chewing gum on sidewalk = allowing bad dog behavior.
    - AllenB
      
      Interesting… I guess you don’t understand that people read this as the quotes appear and are not looking at each timestamp. Again, great thoughts of self-importance on your part.
      
      And, you state about 3 posts up 152pm (you seem very hung up on the time of posts so I kindly provide that for you) you’re not talking about owners but in your last post at 320pm (again, just catering to your time stamp fetish) that you ARE indeed talking about owners and not just the dogs.
      
      How embarrassing for you.
    - Lou
      
      You’re having the equivalent of a hissy fit on the internet. Who should be embarrassed?
    - CW
      
      Allen, you really do need to think before you post.
      
      “read this as the quotes appear”. You know what makes them “appear”? The passage of time!! So there was no history, as you had implied, of people complaining about dogs or owners when I wrote my first post. I wrote that out of the blue.
      
      Secondly, yes, in my 1:52 PM post I stated that my 10:04 AM post had no reference to owners, which is a true statement (even still by the way, since you seem to have trouble with the concept of the passage of time). Then, in my 3:20 post, I made a reference to a SUBSET of owners.
      
      Of course I was always referring to owners, just not explicitly! What I was saying and you are failing still to grasp is that I was only ever calling out the SUBSET of owners engaging in the described behavior.
    - charlie
      
      CW — take it outside. I’ve given up as well. UNCLE.

John Fontain

I walked through the Courthouse “farmers” market with my mellow dog once (not knowing dogs aren’t allowed) and had several market-goers literally scream at me about it. It was the kind of reaction I’d expect if I were walking a lion through the “farmers” market.

TJ

Why the scare quotes around farmers? That farmer’s market has strict producer-only standards.

They may not all work a farm, but none of the goods were purchased at Safeway that morning.
- John Fontain
  
  I think we all know why. It’s more of an outdoor yuppie goods-market that happens to have a farmer or two than an actual farmers’ market.
  
  I’ll see you there Saturday, as I buy my artisan brioche, pains-au-chocolate, crab ravioli, and key lime pie flavored goat cheese ice cream, and other things that “farmers” produce.
- charlie
  
  TJ: I think your assumption is fair (I’ve made it too) but that it is NOT correct. There are resellers at all markets.
  
  Arlington’s rules seem ok, but I’m not sure I feel that they are enforced:
  http://www.arlingtonfarmersmarket.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=8&Itemid=5
brendan

yeah same here.. they were absolute dicks. outside of being rude jackasses, selection at Courthouse isn’t that great either.
- david
  
  Well, not sure I agree with this but I wouldn’t be shedding any tears if the sorbet guy stopped coming.
- SaveDaveMcKenna
  
  No pickle vendor at Courthouse.
  
  Pike > Courthouse

ArlG

The City of Falls Church Farmer’s Market doesn’t allow dogs either. It’s crowded enough as it is, would be a nightmare having to maneuver around dogs as well…

mlk

Huh. I’ve never seen that rule enforced there. Even saw one woman pushing her dog in a stroller!

Olivia

I love dogs, but all the commenters have valid points. Another issue I’d like to bring up: fighting. I saw two dogs almost go at it at the Crystal City Farmers Market. The owners were pretty distracted…several bags in hand…browsing the stands….chatting with vendors. They did not have full control of their pets. Just one strong jerk and it could have been ugly!

Thes

Puppies!

CW

I was going to reply with a picture of roast dogs (skin on) at an open-air market in China, but I was afraid people might actually get upset.
- JamesE
  
  I go to the Eden Center for my roast dog fix.
- Theakston
  
  you could always put it on a sign and hold it up on R50?
- Bluemontsince1961
  
  They go especially well with Hoisin sauce!
- johnny b
  
  Next time at a Korean restaurant try ordering Kagogi….after awkward silence, say ‘excuse me, meant to say Bulgogi’.
  
  [Kagogi is for virility and energy]

JamesE

They should only allow English bulldogs because they are amazing.

steve85

Oh boy…. another dog story. Can we go a week without one of these… I suspect a story about a tree will follow. I hope not.

Grateful

You must cut down the mightiest tree in the forest… WITH… A HERRING!

brendan

So when’s the next bank robbery? been a couple days, aren’t we due?

JamesE

An aggressive dog entered the BB&T on lee highway, barked implying a weapon and made off with $20k.
- brendan
  
  Possibly wearing a Favola shirt, tho that could have been a ploy to lead police into believing the suspect was from Lyon Village. The suspect lost police by running into a David Lynch film fest at Artisphere, Arlington’s new $956 million dollar temple to ‘teh geys.’ Police believe the suspect panicked when he came outside after only “seriously, less than five minutes” parking in front of the mildy-afforadable and publicly subsidized luxury condos next door and found his car had been towed by Advanced.

CW

Tree down in Donaldson Run.

steve85

Lol. Good one

Mick Way

I’ll agree to banning dogs when it becomes a crime to sit babies on counters while mom searches for her wallet. Yuck.

The real sam

Right there with you. The point that people forget is that there are very few diseases that we can get from a dog unless we’re licking their snout and running our food along the ground to capture their germs. Dogs aren’t coughing or sneezing with their mouths uncovered so it lands on our food.

Moms sitting babies (which we all know, don’t always have total contol of their bowels, on a counter where our food is), has a far better chance of giving us some kind of illness.

Saying it’s a health concern is disingenous. Unless you ban birds, make sure the farmers scrub and disinfect their food prior to coming to the market, make sure no human touches any food with their bare hands (which we all do), banning dogs for this reason is just silly. Ban kids then as well. I can catch a lot more diseases from mom sitting her kid on the counter in a diaper than I can from a dog on the ground. ICK.

For the record – I wouldn’t take my dog to a Farmer’s Market, but would like the choice to be outside with my dog. If you want to ban my dog from inside locations, that’s fine, but don’t ban my dog from being outside. Require short leashes, good behavior and compensation from anything that might be ruined due to my dog.

charlie

i think arlnow makes this stuff up to get the hits generated for his advertisers.
next question:
should dogs be allowed in Arlingtons not-yet built Wal-Mart?

steve85

Boycott the all the dumb topics about dogs and trees. Hopefully he will stop writing so much about these topics.
- Maria
  
  Okay, you start.
  - normal
    
    streve85 is not going to stop posting about dogs and trees until he stamps out posts about dogs and trees! He’s on a mission to stop talking about dogs and trees, and he’s going to talk about that mission that he’s not going to talk about until everyone stops talking about it! So don’t not not talk about not talking about dogs and trees unless you want him to talk about it, because he’s not talking about it while he talks about not talking about not talking about it!
brendan

there is a formula and you will notice some content is basically red meat but at least it’s more relevant than other local news sites such as TBD.

Featured Story at TBD today:
“(High) Stepping in: Terry Burrell takes over in ‘Oklahoma!’

Allbritton’s black eye keeps getting worse.

JimPB

We have a well-behaved Australian cattle dog, but keeping her at hand and out of the way of others in the bustle and swirl crowd at a Farmer’s Market and while we look at and buy things is asking too much of us. There’s also the potential problem for others and us if she answers nature’s call with a BM. And urine on the grounds, although not the problem and challenge of a BM, isn’t appealing.

From our dog’s perspective, while her genes dispose her to keep track of her herd of two-leggers, she dislikes coping with the heat in her omnipresent fur coat and relishes positioning herself in the home barn so that the A/C air blows over her.

CW

“the problem and challenge of a BM”

Try upping her fiber intake.
- AllenB
  
  Try upping yours.

http://www.arlnow.com Lauren

I love dogs and do not mind them at all in the market. Not hard to believe that people will scream and shout about it – lots of people love telling others what to do.

I also agree the strollers and kids are a bigger obstacle for me. People say dog owners have no manners around others? Try parents with 1-2 kids and a 500 pound stroller that takes up the entire length of the stand.

I love kids just as much as dogs but those strollers are a joke.

Dallyn

I think it should be treated the same as other food establishments: service dogs only. I love dogs, but there’s no good reason not to simply leave them at home when you’re doing your shopping either at the farmer’s market or the grocery store. Tripping over leashes, I’ve seen them urinate on stalls. I have yet to see a strong argument for why they need to be there.

johnny b

If dogs were really a health risk around food, wouldn’t everybody in France be ill?
What about at home…who hasn’t had their dog around the dinner table begging for scraps, not to mention the kids slipping their veggies to them.
The health issue just don’t fly.
Let the dogs in…ban the nitwits with runny noses coughing and sneezing all over everything.

As far as unruly goes, it ain’t the dog….ban the owner!

+1 on banning baby bottoms on the counter.

http://www.exactcom.com.au/proofs/KombiPics/Wrecks/bayBushOvergrown.jpg Overgrown Bush

If a dog takes a crap on the food table, it is a health risk. Having the dog around food is not. Having a dog around a person is not. (All of this presumes the dog is healthy and has their shots…. just like any person you encounter.) If being around a dog and having a dog near your food were a health risk, I’d be 6-feet under!

Novanglus

One of the local dog-walking companies should set up a “we’ll watch your dog” area just ouside the market. (Kind of like the bike parking area outside the fair this weekend.) Great way to promote their business.

John Fontain

And if they call it a “canine accompaniment lounge,” the yuppies will line up around the block to pay twice what you’d be able to charge if you called it simply a dog watching service.
- Liza
  
  I’m in!

CK

I don’t understand the need to bring your dog with you where ever you go. I’m a dog owner, but bringing fido to an outside eating establishment, & tying her up to the table leg, is not going to enhance my dining experience. Walking her through a farmer’s market is not going to be fun for her…she’s a dog, she wants to play, not watch me buy produce. I’ve actually seen people walk their dogs into department stores! This trend of having your dog be your 24/7 companion is so odd!

The real Sam

For some people, they enjoy the companionship, they enjoy the opportunity to get exercise for themselves and their dog on the walk to the restaurant and on the walk back.

If you don’t want to take your dog with you, then you shouldn’t. It’s ok that you don’t understand it; some people don’t understand those who just hate it so much they make ugly comments, stare and shake their head, and otherwise make a big deal out of a dog sitting on the ground 4 feet from them while a bird takes a poop on their table – but they’re disgusted with the dog on the ground….

For those that hate the idea of a dog being with their owner in an outside eating area – if you don’t like going to a business who allows dogs to sit with their owners outside, you don’t need to go to that restaurant. It should be up to the owner of the business to decide what kind of clientele it wants to encourage to patronize their business.

If you don’t like going to a Farmer’s Market with dogs, go to the many who don’t allow dogs. It’s simple.

I’m not a big fan of kids screaming and running around, so I don’t often patronize restaurants like Red Robin, or Chuck E Cheese – it should be the choice of the organizers of the market, and the choice of business owners to allow or not allow pets in their establishment.

It’s ok if you don’t understand it

Me ke

Most dog owners??? Geez that takes cake for all time stupid generalities. Really if you are going to have any legitimacy in your argument at least say “many” or “enough” dog owners. It’s like saying “everyone knows” when you are trying to intimidate someone into agreeing with your opinion

Dogs aren’t human

My husband and I moved here about a year ago. I have never seen so many dogs in my life. They’re everywhere. I like dogs, but good lord people here treat them like human beings! In fact, I think alot of people here like them better than human beings – definitely better than they like kids, judging by the posts on here and other message boards on this site regarding whatever dog-related story is running that week. I just want to say one thing – and this may get me some flack, but here goes. Dogs are not humans. There, I said it. They may be cute, provide loving and faithful companionship, and even provide people with the ability to get around, but they can not give back in the way that humans can. They are not going to grow up to be productive members of society, cure diseases, or return love in an intelligent or heartfelt way, or using any method that requires opposable thumbs or use of a language. I understand there are some parents that are clueless to the point of being obnoxious, but their kids are human beings. Every message board on here that has some negative topic about dogs invariably leads into bringing up how kids are a pain in the rear, too. It’s tiresome. Don’t compare kids to dogs. On their worst day, they still have the potential to do more than a dog will in its lifetime.

The real Sam

Hmm, I’m pretty sure no one was equating them to humans so you can relax. Arlington happens to have a lot of dogs, as do quite a few urban areas, because of the number of people. Fortunately, there are a lot of people in our area who take in dogs (and cats) that many people in other areas of our country have either dumped off or abused. So, in a lot cases here, people are a lot nicer their pets, which some might consider to be too nice – while a lot of pet owners would consider it to be payback for the mistreatment the dog (or cat) had before it got here. Many local rescue groups regularly bring dogs/cats from rural shelters knowing they have a better to chance to live a decent life here instead of being euthanized.

The point for some of the people on these boards is that a dog might bother you, but a child bothers others. Some people can’t stand being around obnxious “brown flip-flops” either. Humans can be quite a bit more irritating than many dogs, because, they can use language skills, they can use their opposable thumbs – and often, they aren’t doing anything good with either.

And honestly, it is A LOT more disgusting for a human’s poop to be on a location where my food can touch it, then for it to be on the ground. And, even on their best day, a human can do a lot more to sicken another human than any dog could.
- dog aren’t human
  
  Hmmm, then why are kids being brought up at all? It is a comparison — why are you talking about human poo as opposed to dog poo? You yourself are doing exactly what I was talking about! lol!
  - The real sam
    
    Kids were brought up because people are talking about things that annoy them. Human poo was brought up because of the mothers who put their diaper-clad baby on a counter where food is served within the context of a discussion of the health risks of a dog on the ground in a Farmer’s Market vs. a child’s diaper-clad bottom on a counter.
    
    The issue at hand is the health risks associated with dogs in a Farmer’s Market – people are commenting that there are less health risks associated with that than a child.
    
    Read the comments from the top to the bottom and you will see. No comparison of dogs to humans – just people saying what things annoy them, and comparing health risks of one thing to another. ” lol! “
    - dog aren’t human
      
      “Humans can be quite a bit more irritating than many dogs, because, they can use language skills, they can use their opposable thumbs – and often, they aren’t doing anything good with either.”
      
      Yea, no comparison.
      
      Have a nice night.
dogs aren’t kids

Yeah, there are more than a few people here who think their dogs are their children, either because they haven’t had kids yet or never will.

No – Dogs are superior

And will not grow up to be entitled little pricks

Dogs aren’t human

hahahaha – that is pretty good, I have to admit. and true. But why would they grow up to be little?
- No – Dogs are superior
  
  it’s the pricks that remain little
  - Dogs aren’t human
    
    LOL!!

Lauren

interestingly, I’ve seen dogs at the farmers’ market and have not seen any of them have accidents or get near the food. Maybe I look at the wrong time and I am in the wrong place but I have not seen one misbehave at the market either. Owners have taken good care of them. These are my observations at Courthouse.

Agreed, dogs are not human but they are more trustworthy and faithful than most humans and a heck of alot less selfish too.

Dogs aren’t human

maybe you need to hang out with some nicer humans.
- Dogs aren’t human
  
  although I have felt the same way myself at times…
  anyway, i have to say I have been at farmers markets and I can’t even remember if there were dogs there. So, either they weren’t there or they were well behaved.
  I wash all my food from those places – from the supermarket, too – you never know who has had their dirty hands on it.

Barbin

No dogs at the Farmer’s market. Service dogs, ok. Arlington is very dog friendly (too much so in my view), but one place they don’t belong is the farmers’ market.

nota again

Keep the dogs away (except service dogs) at the First Saturday Sale at the I-66 garage.

Roquer

Why is this even asked about? Dogs have so much unhealthy ornamentation ready to pop out at any given time: who wants to take a chance of walking in it? Hair, saliva, urine, poo….why do the rest of us have to put up w/that?

TMP

Because the yuppies who have decided to have three large breed dogs instead of kids and live in a two-bedroom high-rise condo feel the need to tote their Cerberus-like-pack everywhere they go. Since they feel bad about no back yard for their dogs, and apparently the multiple dog parks Arlington has aren’t enough, so they feel the need to take them EVERYWHERE. You can’t sit outside at a restaurant, go to a farmer’s market, etc. without people and their dogs-being-treated-as-surrogate-children.

And don’t get me started on the yuppies who do have children and don’t want to deal with the fact that they’re parents now, which means they can’t do everything they want to. These are the people who insist on bringing their horde of malcontents to a nice restaurant then sit idly by as they misbehave, or bless the rest of us by bringing their tired, cranky kid to a bar at 10:30PM at night then complain on Yelp that bars don’t have changing stations in the bathroom.

Mick Way

BTW there is no standardized state or national certification program for service animals and an establishment may not require proof that an animal is a trained service animal. They must take the owner at their word. ADA regulations also trump local health department regs.

You think I’m kidding, right.

Nope:

http://www.ada.gov/qasrvc.htm

So if you say your dog is a service animal, it is.

Liza

I patronize markets that allow dogs, and rarely do the ones that don’t. A big vendor at several Arlington markets told me that when Dupont Circle banned dogs many of ther patrons stayed away and he was all for dogs (well-behaved ones, ,of course) coming. He said he rarely had any trouble with them.

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