Dogs in the store!

[LinuxRandal]

Talk about thread resurrection.

[dbhost]

I am a dog owner, and our dog is part of the family. I also know like other parts of the family, that his behavior can be unpredictable at times. So he stays at home when we go to the store...

[Russianwolf]

Talk about thread resurrection.

It was ONLY 4 YEARS dead.

[Cochese]

Uploaded with ImageShack.us


(not mine)

[cabinetman]

It was ONLY 4 YEARS dead.

So, the question is...are they ever really 'dead'?

.

[jackellis]

We just returned from a three week trip to the UK, where pets are allowed in restaurants. We ate at the same pub in York on two successive nights where a house cat roamed around hoping to be fed (we don't).

So long as pets are well trained and well behaved, I really don't care if they come into stores and other than really fine restaurants. The same goes for children. Yesterday I was ready to commit murder in the local grocery store when a toddler would not stop screaming for no reason other than to get some attention.

[unknown poster]

As someone who is alergic to dogs I avoid stores where the owner keeps a dog in the shop. I also avoid visiting houses where dogs or cats live. In business I choose a neutral location when meeting with people who have a layer of animal fur on their clothes.

I've never lived in a place where dogs were welcome inside many stores or restaurants. If I encountered such a situation I would leave, and probably let the manager know why.

Obviously I don't have pets, but I do have children. We did not take them out in public much when they were very young because babies cry, it's what they do, and no one wants to hear it. As they got older we went out of our way to ensure they were well behaved in public and we have very little tolerance for them being a nuisance in public. If they scream, yell, kick the seat in a booth, etc, we correct it and if necessary take them outside. I hope that others act with similar respect towards me and my family, but I've come to realize that not everyone will.

[Warren]

The Ace store I worked at part-time encouraged customers to bring in their well behaved dogs. I must say that not one dog ever put 1/4 20 nuts in the 5/16th bin. Why do customers do that? Just leave the nut, screw, bolt, or whatever on the counter rather than put it in the wrong bin. I'm betting that most of you learned to check the size with a test fit before leaving the store.

The pets were generally easier on the help than many of our customers, particularly some of the customers' children. I kept a box of dog treats and made sure that even the dogs which had to stay in the truck got one. Great customer relations!

[BobSch]

The Ace store near us has a sign on the door welcoming dog on leashes. You're right--dogs are better behaved than some kids I've seen in stores.

[sailor55330]

Interesting thread. I may some insight that others do not. I trained dogs professionally for several years including obedience, field trialing, and therapy dog certification. I have trained over 3,000 dogs of all kinds of breeds. I would consider my dog to be as well trained as nearly any I have come across and he was certified for therapy work so he was used to being in mulitple situations with unusual stimuli. With that said, I personally do not think dogs should be brought into traditional retail stores or into establishments were people are eating/drinking. Here are my reasons.

1. In my experience, the owners are ones I would worry about not being able to control their dog either due to no training of the dog, or no training of the owner. Not the dog being a dog.

2. Traditional retail establishments are not set up for canines unlike dedicated pet stores which have presumably taken some preliminary precautions to prepare the store for animal guests. If a dog relieves itself in a pet store, it gets cleaned up usually with little or no damage to the merchandise. If a dog relieves itself on a rack with long dresses on it, merchandise and the cost of it is possibly lost.

3. Eating establishments--I would defer to local health codes. With regards to the arguement concerning smoking vs. dogs, some people are allegic to dogs/pets, others to cigarette smoke. I happen to be highly allegic to smoke--even smelling a cigarette from the car next to me at a stoplight as it comes through my ac system is enough to set off an attack. Since I am so biased on this, I will refrain from saying what I think is right or wrong and defer to the local health laws as I mentioned

4. Your dog depends on you for safety. Unless you can 100% reliably predict how the dogs will react to every stimulus you might encounter AND predict how strangers will react to your dog--yes your dog is great to you but might be terrifiying to someone else--why take the chance of putting your dog in a risky situation.

The overiding rule to this is dedicated service animals, which are there to help and look out for people.

In general, I do believe the more stimuli you can expose your dog to early in life, the better adjusted they will be, but common sense should be used.

Whatever you do, be sure to love them 110% and don't take them for granted. When they are gone, memories help, but never replace the love or the emptiness left.