Little bit of a rant here, sorry in advance - obviously this is a small minority of parents doing this!
I have been walking a lovely dog for a few months every weekend- and I often take him to the Skylark Cafe where he will quietly lay down next to my table.
The last few weeks, every time I have been in there I have had parents shoving their child at the dog - this boiled to a head last weekend I was mid conversation with my friend and a lady came over and literally held her two year old over the dog ( who is fine with children but not a massive fan - displayed by him crawling under the table) and encouraged the child to reach out and pet the dog.
PLEASE ASK. YOU SHOULD ALWAYS ASK BEFORE PETTING A DOG YOU DON'T KNOW.
I quickly said excuse me you should ask before you pet a strangers dog but was completely ignored and she took the baby to another dog.
You have no idea if dogs are fine with being poked and prodded by little people, it is just good manners to ask. I would hate for anything to happen due to parents having a complete lack of awareness around this!!!
