Dining Dutch Dogs

We recently went to a pancake house in Katwijk, only to leave with more than we came in with; namely a coat full of dog hair. My husband had placed his coat on the bench next to us, not knowing that some previous diner had obviously thought it appropriate to seat their dog at the table with them.

Many a time I have been in a restaurant here and have sat eating my meal with the rear end of a dog staring at me from under the next table, and even after nearly ten years in the Netherlands this never fails to amaze and irritate me.

In England, in general, the only dogs allowed into eating places, and shops for that matter, are guide dogs, despite the fact that there is officially no law banning dogs from being in restaurants. In many US states, dogs are also not allowed in restaurants but recent new legislation allows them to sit quietly with their owners on outside terraces. It is a very different attitude to mainland Europe.

Here in the Netherlands there are no rules (either real or customary) on where you can take your dog in terms of dining out and people make the most of that. In some cases, it really would not surprise me if the owner settled their dog on a chair, tied a napkin round its neck and ordered from the menu for it - that is how far some dogs seem to be part of the family here......

What do you think about dogs sitting in restaurants? Is it different here to your experiences back home?