Dog stops owner by pub and won’t budge – exposing ‘other half’s walking route’

A pooch who is apparently quite partial to the pub has been caught on camera dragging his owner into the local boozer and refusing to budge.

Kate Torney had been out walking her Airedale terrier Grenson around Exeter city centre when the 7-year-old dog tried to make his way inside sports pub, The Stand Off.

Solicitor Kate, 41, can be seen pulling “wilful” Grenson by the collar in a desperate attempt to get him to budge, much to the amusement of chuckling onlookers.

Determined Grenson then firmly plonks himself down in the doorway, while Kate strokes his head to try and get him to move, tugging on his lead and dragging him away along the pavement.

Refusing to give in quite that easily, Grenson can be seen flinging himself dramatically to the floor several times, at which point Kate ended up half-carrying him away, forcing the hilarious pup to tip-toe away from the pub on his hind legs.

According to Kate, she’s taken Grenson on the exact same walk on many occasions, and she reckons he was most likely tempted in by ‘”a lot of good smells”.

To the best of her knowledge, Grenson has never placed so much as a single paw inside The Stand Off, leading many to joke that the stubborn dog had “exposed her other half’s real destination” on walks.

A two-minute clip of Grenson’s protest has since gone viral, clocking up more than 1.9 million views, 77.8k likes, and 1,454 comments on TikTok.

One person joked: “If he stops at the betting shop there will be hell to pay for the other half.”

Another laughed: “So now we all know when your other half says they’re going for a long walk, this is the real destination.”

Kate, from Exeter, Devon, said: “He’s never actually been inside that pub – to my knowledge. If my husband was taking him to the pub secretly – that’d be quite funny if that was the case, but no.

“He does go in other pubs, which he likes so he probably just thought ‘this is a lovely place with a nice atmosphere. It’s a fun place with a lot of good smells’.

“It’s probably all the people in there interested to see him and he knows the response he’s going to get from me. Half of it’s playing a game with me, I’m sure of it.

“He probably wants the attention, the food, and he just loves social places. It’s embarrassing, and you’re aware and conscious people are watching you. You don’t want to look stupid and be more embarrassed.

“I can’t pick him up and walk off with him that easily but to be honest, I quite enjoy the comedy. I enjoy those moments, he’s a clown. He came on home quite happily after that and just trotted home.”

The mum-of-one continued: “Grenson’s particularly charismatic. He’s a big character and crowd-pleaser, he makes people smile every day. He’s just a happy boy who loves attention.

“I take him on big long walks around the city and he loves it. He loves doing big city tours, partly because he can go past lots of places and meet new people.

“He quite often stops outside pubs and pet shops and even the vets. It’s always on the way home. He tries to get into places and puts the brakes on.

“He wasn’t stressed or thirsty, he’s just a sociable dog. He loves people. He’s a stubborn boy and anyone who has an Airedale would say the same, they have a mind of their own and are very wilful.

“You’ve just got to go with it, he likes to embarrass me. He’s a healthy, happy, boy but he just chooses to do it because he loves the attention. I love him, so I’m not going to tell him off.”

After spotting the rib-tickling footage, owners of The Stand Off have promised to treat Kate to a free dinner, with a juicy steak on offer for ‘star’ pooch Grenson.

Co-owner Matthew Reynolds said: “When the weather’s not bad it’s nice to have the doors open. My managers and some locals were sitting at the bar side and the dog just decided as it was walking to have a stand-off outside The Stand Off.

“It’s quite ironic because of the wording obviously. That was what made it even more funny, the wording with it. The dog saw the open door and just decided to plant itself into the pub, wanting to pull the owner in.

“Everyone was laughing. Our manager was saying ‘just bring him in’. The pub was laughing a lot. We’re going to try to reach out to find the owner and offer the dog a dog’s dinner of its choice on us, whatever it wants.

“Obviously we’ll offer the owner a meal as well. To have the star of the show come in and have its dinner on us, whether it’s steak or whatever the dog likes, we’ll have a bit of fun with that.”

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