To think The Range has made a stupid decision

WHAT, I pay my bloody pension, how the hell do you think pensions work, do all the unborn kids pay it from their future pocket money, you just sound bitter!

Don't forget about all the idiots that post 'People kill more people than dogs do, so I'd rather ban people' whenever somebody is killed by a mutant XL Bully, Cane Corso, etc.

Personally, I'd be more concerned about the mice/rats/bugs that will have been around the products in a warehouse than I would be about the possibility of a dog being within a few inches them.

Some of the comments here make it sound as though as soon as a business announces they are dog friendly, every single dog owner will go there - this is not the case, there may be a slight increase in those people who take their dogs inside but I doubt it will be a considerable increase.

For those who have allergies, the service dog anecdote still applies, you need to be careful, for some it does not matter if their allergy is from one dog or many dogs, sadly the onus is on you to mitigate.

There are some who treat their dogs as children, there are some who would not - I would not leave my dogs outside a shop just as I would not leave them in a car if the weather was warm or hot. There are times when I will have my dogs with me as it is more convenient to take them with me to walk them, and do other things I need doing. I have a lockable cage in the car, so can leave the door open to ensure they do not get too hot, but if I have to park further away from where I am then even with the locks I will not leave them, in that instance I am grateful I can take them with me and go into businesses - it is peace of mind for me.

The weather in the UK can change very quickly, if it is too hot I will leave the dogs at home, but like today it was very cold this morning, but now it is very warm, too warm to leave dogs in a car unless somewhere close to where I need to go.

There are people who are anti-dog, there are people who tolerate dogs, there are people who like dogs but do not want them inside and of course there are the very entitled people who want their dogs to go everywhere, but to say it again, it is the business who decides their dog policy and they will monitor the effect it has on their business. They may also take notice of correspondance sent to the for and against the policy - it really is as simple as that.

If you do not like a business which allows dogs then do not support them.

Because one day they’ll pay your pension so you can keep that little rat you drag around at the end of a bit of string in “doggie” treats.

Yeah but why are kids important beyond people’s own vanity to have little versions of themselves, it’s not your national duty to keep the population going. Dogs and any pets are good for people who are lonely, having another heartbeat around the house, something to care for, I don’t like the term fur babies, but equally don’t like lots of phrases, even though we were all one once, we don’t all like children or can’t all have them anyway, let people have other creatures they love and mind your own business if they spoil them!

Well you'll have to resort to shopping online then I'm afraid, because increasingly it's something most chains and department stores are embracing. It's frankly quite daft though, to say you will refuse to frequent a particular shop if there's a chance a dog might have rubbed against the stock. There's a massively greater chance that no dog has been anywhere near it, but how will you ever know?

That's cutting off your nose to spite your face. If the stock looks clean and free of dog hair, mud, slobber and wee then it probably is clean and free of all those things.

👏 Agree with you and I have more dogs than I have children!

My dogs are dogs though and I don't think of them as furry people ffs. This is one of the many ridiculous problems we face nowadays. Fucking furbabies.

I avoid dog friendly places like campsites because too often dog friendly = wanker friendly. Too many dog owners are just wankers.

I applauded a campsite recently that declared due to ongoing problems with dogs and their owners, they will be dog free in future. Cue all the dickheads shouting about how much business they'll lose. Think those same dickheads were quite taken aback when their opinion was not shared widely.

Not everyone wants dogs EVERY-FUCKING-WEAR.

We have them in NI, I wasn’t aware that they weren’t a thing throughout the UK!

Interesting to me… I am pretty surprised dogs are in supermarkets in the USA unless they are service animals. This is against the Food and Drug Administration laws to have dogs anywhere that serve or sell food. to my understanding, unless it can be proven the dog has to be there as the owner has a disability, the owner/dog can be asked to leave.

The range has a large pet section. Brought a dog coat from the range and the label said dog coats can't be returned. So maybe it's so that they can sell things and owners can size things up better. Not try on but guesstimate better. So maybe corner the pets at home market

Reading this thread makes me realise how much money we save. On holiday in a popular UK place earlier this year, not one cafe or pub was dog free so we spent no money there.

Several indie shops in my town have recently started welcoming dogs whereas they didn't before. So I'll either not buy the goods, or get them from Amazon which is generally cheaper.

A wander round a local NT place, or similar, used to be pleasant, and we would spend a few pounds on coffee etc. Now they are infested with dogs so we go elsewhere for free and take a flask. We are lucky to have a beautiful place to walk where dogs are banned. Other times I take a hefty walking pole and my police-approved laser dog scarer for the "Oh, he's just being friendly" mutts.

It really is just impossible for dog obsessives to not try to compare dogs to kids, isn't it?
I can almost feel that vein bulging in their foreheads until they've made that comparison.

They're not the same thing, huns. Soz.
Not even slightly comparable.
You can all stop making the same pathetically predictable comments now.

This is very true. And all this chat about dogs loyally coming to funerals is mad.

If a person dies alone at home, there is a very high chance their beloved dog will consume parts of their corpse (Swiss scientists studied this phenomenon).

Mmm, loyal family members eh !

Remember, dogs are not people. Tie them up outside the shop. But not like the ones who get tied up outside my local shop on the access ramp because you are forced to walk right past them, unsupervised. No escape.

Agree wholeheartedly.

I won't be buying anything from The Range, unless online shopping now.
I cannot stand dogs and I don't want to be around them.

People used to leave dogs tied up outside shops or in cars. increasingly unacceptable now.

Actually, in some of the older, more rural villages, the norm in the community is to walk down to the village centre, with your dog, pick up bits you need, meet your friends etc.

My grandparents did it, they said their grandparents had always done it and so on.

In higher population areas, I wouldn't want to take my dog shopping because it wouldn't be enjoyable for any of us, her included. Way too over stimulating for her, having to keep an eye on whether she needed the loo or wanted to eat things, or was in danger of tripping people up etc makes it harder for me. And so on. But in a relaxed, smaller community where people have the time to chat and browse, it's not unheard of.

It can be that bad, yes. Certainly the doctor in A&E was considering an EpiPen for DS2 when we ended up there. They decided it wasn’t anaphylaxis this time but warned he must be kept well away from dogs because there’s no way to predict what could happen and next time it could be worse.
Which was a shock to me. We’d been brought in by ambulance after a category 1 999 call where I was told to get the nearest defibrillator for my wheezing, blue child and they’re telling me next time it could be worse!

Physical contact is not needed for DS2 to react. Years ago, a panting dog stood next to him in a park for a few seconds before I got him away. Minutes later he had a face covered in hives and eyes swollen shut. He reacts to the dogs saliva and it’s fast. A room with a dog in it lead to our trip to A&E. Didn’t need to even be close to the dog. He’s developed another allergy and asthma and now his reactions to dogs are far worse.

So needless to say, we don’t go to shops/cafes/pubs/holiday accommodation etc that allow them. We can’t. Antihistamine didn’t prevent his last bad reaction. He has asthma medication now and, while we hope that would prevent the breathing difficulties, we don’t take the risk. We avoid all places with dogs in them; anything else feels like playing Russian roulette. So I’ll add The Range to my ever increasing list of places we can’t go.

How can it be unavoidable? Dogs have existed longer than shops and it’s never ever been unavoidable to not bring your dog in a shop so far in the history of retail. You just don’t go in.

Locally there are a couple, one blind, one partially sighted, both have guide dogs. It is lovely to see them out and about and that means in the shops in the local town and village. Just as you say only once a year for a service dog, I can say I see this couple once or twice a week.

The Range, and other shops who have made similar decisions, will check their end of year figures, if they are higher, one of the reasons may be dogs have been allowed - if figures are down, they may change their decision.

Everyone will have opinions and anecdotes but the decision lies with the businesses in question.

Well, someone has to start….or are we going back millennia to when the first dog peed on that spot?

My dogs are members of my family, that doesn't mean that I don't realise they're not human, can't be trained to stay in the house happily when I go out or to generally not be a nuisance to other people by being trained and owned responsibly. Nor does it mean that they need to go to The Range.
Someone said it on another thread that there's a kind of pride in the people who take their dogs absolutely everywhere, I've noticed it too, and harsh judgement of those who do leave their dogs alone for more than 10 seconds at a time. Part of that is the drive for better treatment for dogs, but people taking it to the nth degree, like don't leave a dog alone for more than 4 hours - many people are fastidious about it, when leaving the house, yet will shut them downstairs for 8 hours overnight alone, without a second thought. I'm not saying that doing that is wrong, just that it's odd to me that some are horrified at the thought of leaving their dog alone during the day, for 4.5 hours, yet because they don't want them upstairs will leave them in a kitchen overnight, alone, for longer.

I agree re dog licences. It would also mean the RSPCA could stop having to spend donation money on prosecution cruel and negligent dog owners, people who should never come near a pet, because otherwise there’s no way of stopping them.

Yes, and then councils could reinstate their dog wardens to deal with neglected dogs.

Although could you imagine the outcry? The winter fuel thing goes on and one. I can just imagine all the emotional posturing about poor Great Aunt Ethel who loves her dog but can't afford the £100 a year dog licence and it's so unfair etc.

I see a service dog in a shop about once a year. If that. They are not a problem for people with allergies.

It's completely different to people taking their pets everywhere.

Anyway I don't think I've ever been to the Range, so it won't affect me!