Dogs in shops

[eejitgothurt]

Today I went into a pet shop to buy something for dd's hamster. Id never been in this pet shop before but had seen the item in the window and decided to buy it. I opened the door and two dogs ran over to me barking. There was a woman in the shop and I don't know if she was the shop owner or owner of the dogs but I just backed out quickly and closed the door. I'm quite scared of dogs I don't know, more so since being bitten earlier this year and requiring surgery. One dog would have been bad enough but two was scary.
Are dogs permitted in shops like this? I always thought not but I might be wrong as I'm not familiar with rules around dogs.

My dog would like to go to Sainsbury's meat aisle. But we compromise with Pets at Home. I don't take her to see the rabbits though.

I love that dogs are allowed in John Lewis and the like. Makes my day to see them!

But yes, always on a lead.

Dogs are allowed in John Lewis?! Spreading their fur, a common allergen, throughout a store full of clothes and soft furnishings? JL really have lost their minds.

@girlmom21

a dog doesn’t need to browse homewares or lingerie so leave it at home.

Neither do you...

They do need to be there if they want to buy something. Pretty sure the poster is more likely the target market for homeware and lingerie than the dog is

@girlmom21

a dog doesn’t need to browse homewares or lingerie so leave it at home.

Neither do you...

Last time I was in JL I was buying a bed - an item that really needs me to be physically there to try the product. To a lesser extent the same could be said for lingerie.

Why do you think a dog should be in John Lewis then? How far do we take it - can I bring my pony? Kune kune pig? Tarantula?

Well, now, don’t be ridiculous. A Pony or a pig can’t be trained to shake paws for a treat whereas a dog can and thus as far superior! Bring your spider though - seeing one of those on a lead would be cool!

@TuftyMarmoset

Dogs are allowed in John Lewis?! Spreading their fur, a common allergen, throughout a store full of clothes and soft furnishings? JL really have lost their minds.

For the last two years. I guess they know their market. Most of the shops in our local high street do. People won't leave pets tied up outside any more after the thefts so I suppose with so many people having a dog, it keeps footfall higher

Hmmm, it's very probable that the dog either slipped his owner or they had taken the collar/lead off to look at/try a new one and that's why he was free (all dogs are boys in my head).

Most owners wouldn't take them in with no lead, especially if the dog was 'spirited' as they would have had to walk across a car park before entering the shop.

Yes in every pet shop I've been in, but they should be on a lead - or at least trained not to bark and run over to customers.

DD was in a hairdressers the other day and they had a dog - and for some reason the owner thought it was hilarious when it started humping a customer's leg (customer was not impressed with owner or dog). Way to turn customers away.

More weird is the number of dogs in shops/shopping centres in Europe. And don't get me started on dogs on planes. Had a 2hr flight recently with a yappy dog a few rows back!

l am a huge lover of all animals and l absolutely love seeing dogs in shops, l wish more shops would allow dogs in.

Here’s the article re dogs in shops:-

www.google.co.uk/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2021/oct/31/sniffing-out-a-bargain-how-dog-friendly-are-britains-shops

I don’t mind and quite like dogs but I do think there should be limits over where they go. In JL and other shops suppose dog hair gets on clothes or dogs drool on them? And owners have to keep an eye on them on leads, I don’t want a random dog I don’t know sniffing me or approaching me, it’s bad enough they do it in parks when I’m alone but I accept that dogs use parks. Owners should keep tight hold of dogs on leads and expect to pull them away from other people unless other people express an interest in their dog.

I saw a lovely little Dachshund in a smart jumper doing his shopping in John Lewis last week. Made my day!

a dog which isn't under control is more likely to be a problem

Generally I tend to find it’s mostly people that are out of control. But hey ho.

Dogs in shops are fine, espwcially pet shops - but as long as they are well trained - and that doesn't include dogs that bark at other dogs or customers.

My cat has occasional forays into waitrose - inside her carry-back-back.
When she was a kitten used to love going into a tiny local branch of Blackwells to say hello to staff and have a wander. sadly the btanch has closed now.

*carry-back-pack.

@Mercurial123

Every other person seems to hate dogs or cats on MN. YABVU.

Eh? Are you saying that someone is unreasonable for not being comfortable around dogs? How in God's name can that possibly be deemed unreasonable?! It's actually you who is being unreasonable by your comment!

@Gonnagetgoing thanks for the link. So she takes her dog to 3 shops and in 2 of them it damages merchandise and she calls it a howling success! Crazy mindset. I wouldn’t want to try on those trousers after her either as they would undoubtedly have dog hair on them. Hopefully this will fizzle out in a few years - and in the meantime I no longer feel bad about shopping more online than in store.

@TuftyMarmoset

Dogs are allowed in John Lewis?! Spreading their fur, a common allergen, throughout a store full of clothes and soft furnishings? JL really have lost their minds.

Of course. Guide dogs are allowed everywhere.

@Lockheart well yes - clearly that would not come as a surprise to me. I was expressing surprise and disappointment that all dogs - which are mostly not as well trained as guide dogs - are apparently allowed in JL. A guide dog is helping someone’s severe medical issue (being blind or partially sighted) which outweighs allergies. But allergies and indeed phobias should outweigh people’s wish to bring Fido with them to look at towels.

In my experience dogs are allowed into pet shops usually but should be on a lead. It doesn’t bother me but I can understand why you weren’t happy about it given you’ve been badly hurt by a dog recently.

YABU to be surprised at dogs being in a pet shop.

It's a small shop and I think they were the owners dogs. I didn't see any other humans.

[quote TuftyMarmoset]@Gonnagetgoing thanks for the link. So she takes her dog to 3 shops and in 2 of them it damages merchandise and she calls it a howling success! Crazy mindset. I wouldn’t want to try on those trousers after her either as they would undoubtedly have dog hair on them. Hopefully this will fizzle out in a few years - and in the meantime I no longer feel bad about shopping more online than in store.[/quote]
@TuftyMarmoset - I did notice that 2 shops didn't seem to mind if the dogs damaged merchandise...

I think there's a big difference between a well trained e.g. Dachshund going into e.g. Sainsburys and a huge Great Dane in a department store - say ground floor. Why would dogs would have any enjoyment of shopping I don't know, apart from being with it's owner and socialising - but it's certainly not for the shop owners or other customers benefit.

Dogs are also allowed in John Lewis