To think The Range has made a stupid decision

I have mixed feelings on this, as once upon a time this would have been very useful for me. I lived quite a drive away from my work & friends, so spent my life driving backwards & forwards up the A3. The convenience of being able to pop into the shops on my way home, rather than having to drop the dog off at home 1st, would have saved me a small fortune in time & petrol. I would probably have shopped in The Range a hell of a lot more as a result, despite not being terribly fond of the place myself.

However, irresponsible dog owners are disgusting, despicable a holes who should be forced to pick up their dogs' mess with their bare hands at the very least. I think it's unacceptable to leave dog mess on a path in the countryside, let alone in a shop, but it's becoming all the more common. My dog would never have dared do anything in a shop & I'd've been mortified if he had, fallen over myself to clear it up & apologised profusely, so the sheer entitlement of people who think someone else is going to clear up after them makes my blood boil. It's these people who ruin the world for the rest of us, responsible dog owners.

Well-trained dogs don't shit on the floor or bite either. Badly "trained" children touch things (often with grubby hands), open things, break things, leave things in a mess, squeal, run around, get under your feet etc.

I'd rather see a quiet dog on a leash following its owner around than all that.

Irrelevant what you think as the store has made a business decision. I mean heaven forbid they didn't consult you on it but there we are. You can choose to shop there or not.

Yanbu......a dog should not be dragged around shopping......and yes.....yuck.

Children don't usually shit on the floor and bite. Smelly dogs shouldn't be inflicted on the general public

I agree with you OP, but obviously the Range now has more dog owning customers than not, and more customers for whom hygiene is a non-issue. For them it's a business decision

The masses now regard a dog as the essential accessory. Can you imagine if they had 50 dogs tied to posts outside each shop, it would be bedlam.😁

The perfect reason to avoid them !

I don't like dogs and don't want to have to be near to someone else's stinky mutt when shopping. Typical dog owners who take them into shops are usually lazy and entitled and think everyone loves them. Some people can be quite fearful of dogs. Why should we inflict them on everyone.

I've had some bad experiences with humans but I can't avoid them anymore than someone who has had a bad experience with dogs can avoid them.

Service dogs were always allowed in so people with allergies will have pretty much the same choice to make as before.

I've been in the Range. Maybe dogs on the prowl will improve the behaviour of the feral children let loose in there.

I used to work in The Range and I’d have dogs in store rather than some of the customers that we used to get coming in 🙄 and we had humans taking a dump in store on the shopfloor and the car park on more than one occasion 🤢 so it’s dogs for me all the way

I like dogs. I had a dog growing up. She was my best mate.

My daughter however, not a fan. Unfortunately after an experience in a dog friendly pub where the dogs were not so friendly, pulled over a table right next to us, as lead wrapped round it, plus having a random dog off lead jumping on her and pushing her over, I don't blame her tbh. I just wish she'd been able to meet my old bestie, but alas..

As a PP said what about people with allergies? No longer allowed in?

IMO seriously?!?

I saw something the other day about a church that now has dogs to welcome people in...

F

Responsible dog owners are just as annoyed if not more so by bad owners.

I work as a poll clerk at the elections. This year we saw an increasing number of dog owners trying to bring their dogs into the polling station. This is an absolute no if we are using school premises . I understand possibly walking the dog same time but one of you stays outside with the dog while the other votes then change over .

I don't even know how you'd fit dogs in the range. It's already crowded with shelves and basket things in the aisles. That's apart from its busyness in general.
Our range has a toilet as it has a cafe.

I’d rather see peoples lovely doggies than their awful, feral kids

And just because you've said it, doesn't mean it actually happens.

I went to a big indoor craft fair this weekend where dogs were allowed in. One poor stall holder had a display of lovely scarves along the front of her stall, all selling at £29 each. One large dog cocked its leg up on them and managed to spray over 6 of them. The stall holder was furious and asked the dog owner to at least pay the wholesale cost price for them. The dog owner just laughed and walked away.
Despite complaints from most of the stall holders, the event organisers will not ban dogs.

It is disgusting, I agree.

I was not very professional it has to be said! When I saw them with the plates I just went up and said "YOU CANT DO THAT!!" and the woman genuinely said "Why not?! Whats the problem?". Blew my mind to be honest!

Well you haven't seen it and I have. What of it? Dogs shit and pee. Just because you haven't personally witnessed it, doesn't mean it doesn't happen?

Well a lot of The Range stores are in out-of-town shopping centres, so I doubt they get a lot of casual passing trade?

Well I've never seen it and I've lived in several places so have visited a few different stores regularly for years.

Ideally, yes, but the reality is that shops and restaurants will lose casual, drop-in custom. Dog owners might decide to travel all the way home, ditch the dog, and then travel all the way back. More likely, they will just walk past the shop, and then buy shopping online at home later on.

Same with cafes, restaurants and pubs. It just becomes easier for people to end up ordering takeout online at home or going to the drive-thru, which doesn't force you to go and drop the dog off at home and then go all the way back. There was an article about the States a while ago which suggested that pandemic surges in American dog ownership were a factor behind the increasing popularity of people choosing to get food and drink in drive-thrus and then eat alone in their cars, rather than approach a restaurant on foot and sit in-store to eat. This is pretty bad news for those of us who don't want shuttered high streets, cities clogged with cars and drive-thru, and increasingly atomized and isolated ways of life.