To think dogs shouldn’t be allowed in shops

[RedCandyApple]

Has anyone else seen that wilkos are now allowing dogs in their stores? I’m not keen on dogs as it is and wouldn’t really want other shops to start allowing dogs in. What about people that are scared of them? Seriously why do you need to take your dog shopping? I hope no other shops start doing this.

I will think twice about shopping in there now frankly.

Oh no, I can hear the share price crashing as we speak!

Always makes me laugh that if someone has a dog phobia they are told to get therapy but if a tiny spider is in their house they need to "burn the place down".

My dog phobia is very specific in that it is large dogs running about off a lead or any dog jumping up at me. I already avoid country parks, large nature type reserves etc. I shouldn't have to avoid shops and cafes too.

Ffs 🙄 can't ppl go shopping for 5 minutes without taking their bloody dog?! No I don't agree with it I don't like dogs but I have family members with bad allergies and also phobias of dogs.

All shops and cafes should be assistance dogs only for hygiene reasons if nothing else.

I worked in a large supermarket a few years ago and would see the same guide dog (woman wasn't even partially sighted, but that's a different story)it often had its nose in the loose fruit and veg. Absolutely gross.

Absolutely not on.

Retail workers must not be expected to pick up after dogs that use the shop as a loo and that will happen.

Plus who'd want to buy the stuff on the bottom shelves if it gets peed on.

You wouldn’t want to live near me, nearly all the shops and cafes/restaurants/pubs in town welcome dogs, including the butchers!😱. They know the value of the furry pound!

@PineappleTart

There is just no need for dogs in shops other than official assistance animals. And that includes people who think if they carry it then somehow that's ok. Pet shops fine but everything else? Nope.

There is no such thing as an "official assistance animal" in the Uk. Guide Dogs for the Blind are the best known assistance animal providers and they keep a register of their own dogs but don't have a UK monopoly on provision of dogs for blind people. There is no national register of assistance dogs and dogs can be assistance dogs without any kind of assessment or registration. The Equality Act of 2010 says that any dog that the owner identifies as an assistance dog IS an assistance dog, including those who support people who have mental health problems or are neuro diverse, dogs who recognise when diabetic people are about to have a hypo and similarly dogs who can predict epileptic fits....so baseline is that if I say my dog is an assistance dog and can come in the shop then the shop owner cannot refuse. Notalotapeopleknowthat. Not withstanding all this, the person who is in charge of the assistance dog is responsible for its behaviour, the same as any other dog.

@Teaforme123

Ffs 🙄 can't ppl go shopping for 5 minutes without taking their bloody dog?! No I don't agree with it I don't like dogs but I have family members with bad allergies and also phobias of dogs.

All shops and cafes should be assistance dogs only for hygiene reasons if nothing else.

I worked in a large supermarket a few years ago and would see the same guide dog (woman wasn't even partially sighted, but that's a different story)it often had its nose in the loose fruit and veg. Absolutely gross.

@Teaforme123 see my post!

And yes it may come as a shock to some, but I can’t be arsed with dogs being everywhere and their entitled owners expecting me to engage with them @bluechinavase

I 100% don’t want you to engage with my dog. It will be busy being good and I don’t need you distracting it (and me from my shopping). If you happen to see me and my dog in Wilkos just ignore me like you would every other shopper. I’m small, as is my dog who stays close at heel in shops. We’re not taking up space and there’s really nothing for you to ‘be arsed’ about.

I don't think children should be allowed in nice restaurants. I'm paying to eat out in peace, not to listen to whining, crying children. How's that for a similar point of view?

TBF, it'll be so rare that badly behaved dogs will be brought into shops. Not necessarily because the owner is thinking about other people or the shop staff/products, but more because a badly behaved dog in a new, small/enclosed environment is a hell of a lot to handle. If the owner is in the shop looking for something or browsing trying to manage an overly excited dog/nosey/noisy dog is just too difficult and will stop the owner from doing what they need/want to do.

The dogs that will be brought in will (probably) be calm, older, well behaved dogs. Yes they'll still shed and still have saliva, but those who are soooo concerned about dog hair, how much of a problem do you realistically think it'll be?
For starters it'll mainly be on the floor. If it is on products, it'll be a few hairs here and there. Simply select an item from the back if you're that worried about it? Same with saliva. Yes dogs do have it. Yes some dogs are slobbery (see boxers etc) but other dogs are not. I grew up with bearded collies and the only time slobber was an issue was if I was eating something and they were sat watching me or if I was playing fetch with a toy with them. By just there being a dog in a shop doesn't mean suddenly everything is covered in hair and slobber

@RedCandyApple

I really don’t see why they think it’s needed, lots of dog owners won’t clean up their dogs poo around where we live so I imagine they wouldn’t bother in a shop either!

Dogs have been allowed in John Lewis for years Ive never once seen a poo in there

Yanbu, dogs other than guide dogs should not be allowed in shops or restaurants imo. I saw a dog in John Lewis around Xmas time, crap for people with allergies as it will shed into the air and stick to the clothes and soft furnishings. Hate going to a pub and having to sit at the table next to a stinky wet Labrador.

The Wilkos near me are both town centre shops, one is in a shopping centre. Why would you even take your dog shopping with you? I can imagine they'd get as much joy out of the experience as a toddler.

I can understand corner shops out of town letting them in, as there's so much theft about atm, but town centre shops? They have no need to be there. Leave them at home, in peace, away from hordes of people.

@PineappleTart

Also everyone mocking those with phobias... I hope you'd feel the same if my pal was walking around primark with his pet spider on his shoulder

I would be terrified, but if most other people were fine with it and society in general accepted that a spider was a pet you can take out with you, then I'd have to suck it up and deal with it. It would be very much my problem, not theirs. One of best friends has a serious phobia of fish, to the point where she doesn't even like looking pictures, but she's not arguing that fish tanks should be banned from dentists' waiting rooms. Dogs are a ubiquitous part of normal life and have been for thousands and thousands of years. It's not remotely outlandish to take a dog into a shop. Plenty of shops, pubs and hotels allow dogs already.

The world does not revolve around the OP's fear of dogs. If people can walk past her in the high street with a dog on a lead, they can walk past her in Wilko's. Having a personal dislike of something does not mean everyone else has to pander to it.

I can also add that I've worked in several places that have allowed dogs and the number of times any dog relieved itself on the floor amounted to precisely zero. I have had to clear up after people's kids that have thrown up all over the table and the floor, though, or have wet themselves on their seat.

@InTheNameOfAllThatIsHonest

I don't think children should be allowed in nice restaurants. I'm paying to eat out in peace, not to listen to whining, crying children. How's that for a similar point of view?

Children are people. Dogs are not, much as some owners want to think they are.

There are a few places locally you can take your dog (shops) however I’m not inclined to take my retriever I want to shop not dog walk. He gets his walk down the river where he gets wet and muddy and has fun. Wilkos is not fun for my dog. Pointless and I also wouldn’t expect anyone to fuss him I don’t care what other people think of my dog he’s on lead and behaves.

I puppy walked guide dogs years ago pre my youngest 2 sons. One peed in a garden centre he was only little however I took anti bac spray/ wipes and kitchen roll in my back pack lol I did have a woman shout at me in Tesco because I wouldn’t allow her to fuss him - he was a golden retriever so very fluffy and cute but also on an assessment at the time - even as pups whilst on lead out and about they are working dogs. They live within a family and are loved and cared for and fussed plenty. They also go into shops, cafes, work places, hospitals etc I took pups on the train and bus 2 out of 3 are now working guide dogs

Wilko sells food, pick n mix, they have low shelves with things like bath sponges on and they sell things like towels, I didnt know dogs were allowed in I will think twice about shopping in there now frankly.

Oh no...not bath sponges?!

Are you suggesting that a dog might chew them? Like somehow remove one from a shelf and ruin it without owners or anyone else in the shop realising until it's too late? Why? Not all dogs just chew everything they see.

Surely you'd rinse these anyway before use? If they're on lower shelves in a shop and unsecured they've probably fell on the floor, been kicked under stands and or handled by prospective buyers repeatedly? If you don't rinse these as they're in a bag, why does it matter if a dog has walked past them?

@smolcat What makes you think I would be doing anything to distract it? I'm not known to dress up like a sausage and spray Eau de Kennomeat over me. I do partake of the odd bacon roll though and would like to do so without some dribbling hound pulling on it's owners leash and whining to get at it. And I generally do try to ignore dogs, kinda difficult when one is humping your leg under the table (yes this did actually happen).

I'm sure your pooch is wonderful and you are a responsible owner but there are many pooches who are badly behaved with twats for owners and sadly I've encountered too many of them to be overjoyed at more public places being accessible to all dogs.

www.independent.co.uk/travel/news-and-advice/miniature-horse-emotional-support-animal-service-american-airlines-plane-travel-a9088246.html

The story is in the text of the link for those who wisely don't click on strange links.

@Lockheart

I’m not referring to guide dogs, it’s open to all dogs now. Guide dogs are completely different.

Do you think guide dogs magically don't shed fur, have muddy paws, shake, produce saliva, induce allergies, or are some sort of strange breed that people aren't scared of?

Guide dogs are still dogs.

What? It's clearly obvious with guide dogs if they shed, slobber or whatever else dogs do can't, be helped because they are GUIDING people who need them. Having a dog shed, slobber, bite etc for no reason in a shop because the owner doesn't want to leave it at home is a different matter.

Dogs are allowed in basically all department stores in London these days, Selfridges, John Lewis, Liberty. Never caused any issues!

@Shiningpath

Bike theft is rife where I live. Should I just start bringing my bicycle round the shops with me?

This is completely different. If my bike gets stolen it's an inconvenience, my bike does not have feelings and I'd put in an insurance claim. If my dog was stolen we would be devastated having lost a member of the family, most likely the dog would be treated very badly by the person who stole him.

@godmum56 that's not true. The law requires only that a business make "reasonable adjustment" for customers with disabilities. That can include permitting assistance dogs but it doesn't have to - you just cant put in place an ill thought out blanket ban. Likewise, no business has to just accept that any random dog is an assistance dog just because someone says so. They can have a policy saying what counts, what doesn't and in what circumstances. So you don't just get to take your assistance dog, or rabbit, or pony, or emu to the theatre, on a flight, into school.
Where people disagree as to whether the adjustments made were reasonable or not then they need to be tested in law.

I'm kind of on the fence with this as I'm a dog owner but don't necessarily agree with dogs in shops. When my daughter was very young she was attacked by a dog and badly bitten. For years afterwards she was, understandably, terrified of dogs in a pretty extreme way. Going shopping and meeting lots of dogs whilst doing so would have been impossible. We had to be careful where we took her for a while as she really did feel absolute sheet terror.

We've worked with her a lot over the years. She now wants a dog of her own and has a really affinity with them. They gravitate to her in such a loving way. For those few years though it was just so very difficult. Thankfully, round us dogs in shops are a rarity.

John Lewis do this too.