to take dog into supermarket

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I can't get supermarket deliveries. I am autistic, I am disabled because of it, and stress/anxiety causes me to do self destructive stims and behaviours, brings on disassociation, paranoia, sleep issues, suicidal ideation etc and I have agoraphobia as well. I have only ever been a few minutes away from home up till today when I pushed myself to go to the supermarket, I didn't go in. If I couldn't take my dog, I wouldn't have left the house. She is a tiny chihuahua. She is well behaved, she understands commands, but she isn't registered as anything, but she pretty much is a service dog. Even though she wasnt specifically trained to do a specific task to calm my anxiety down, having her there with me reduces my anxiety a lot compared to if I didn't have her. And at home when I feel anxious, she comes and sits by me/lets me hold her. I'm now in a position where I have to go in there to do my weekly shopping. She has a dog pram that closes all around, it was expensive and looks like a babies pram but isn't, its the ibiyaya retro luxe pram. She wouldn't be a danger to anyone/bother anyone/contaminate anything/get in the way, no one will notice it's a dog, I wont be showing her off/taking her out to show people if I took her in.

I'll be sure to tell her to give up her independence to please you!

And before any poster comes along with they wouldn’t call the police I’ve seen it happen in our local Morrisons over a (very well behaved tbf) border terrier in a service dog vest and I’d imagine it’s more common than not in breeds that aren’t commonly service dogs and therefore more prone to questioning.

Because she can't bend down easily and falls regularly, her dog helps her up when she falls. She has received training to do so. The only "official" trained dogs are guide dogs for the blind so how about you start calling all those other service dog users out for having fake service dogs?

This just sounds like animal cruelty to be honest, or at the very least prioritising her meets over that of the cat's.

Do click and collect

Would taking the dog pram with you (but no dog) offer a level of comfort? Something to bring the shopping home in, plus a comforting familiar physical barrier to the world. And if anyone asks about your dog it's fine because there isn't one, so no added stress worrying about that. People push empty pushchairs around for all sorts of reasons so it's not that unusual.

Well I wouldn't mind at all. Not when she's in one of those doggy prams. Good luck with your anxiety, OP x

But if shopping deliveries cause you anxiety, just tell the driver (from inside) that there's Covid in the household and ask him to leave it on the other side of the door. You can bring it in when he's gone. They love this as they can shoot straight off!
Please ignore if I've misunderstood the reason for the anxiety.

I don't think that's true. My friend was left profoundly deaf after a head injury. He has a hearing dog. All totally official, from an organisation that trains the dogs. He was on a waiting list for quite some time then was 'matched' with a dog, a trainer came to their 1st few meetings to see how they interacted and to teach him how the dog responds, the cues to give etc.

Please don't. I keep seeing people with their dogs in the supermarket. The pets don't look in the least bit trained and are just in a vest from amazon.
I appreciate your dog comforts you but supermarkets are only for registered guide dogs who know what they're doing.

Problem is if you do it, then why shouldn’t the many other dog owners who use that supermarket do the same. And then it would escalate from just little dogs in pushchairs to a complete free for all.

Supermarkets have so many options for click and collect, delivery etc these days. Even our little Tesco express offers some sort of delivery via an Uber eats style app. So it’s not as if you have to go without.

It would make my life a lot easier if I could take my dog into the supermarket but I know I can’t so I leave him at home or if we’ve gone there on a walk I tie him up outside (usually a smaller shop, not big supermarket).

Please, whatever you do, DON’T by a service dog vest and put it on him. You would be inadvertently making life harder for those with genuine service dogs, who already have to deal with enough access refusals as it is.

This is so wrong.

Supermarkets do not allow dogs, even well behaved ones, unless they are fully trained service dogs.

I do understand you have a need, but there must be a more practical solution OP. Click and collect, friend/relative, community support group volunteer.

How have you shopped until now, or before you had your dog? Why is that option not available to you? Is it that you don’t want to leave your dog alone at home? If so could someone stay at home with your dog while you shop.

I did some quick research, The Range allows well behaved dogs. Not sure you could do a weeks shop in there though.

good luck

I really do feel for you, but I don't think you should take your dog into the supermarket. It's not the place for dogs, apart from the permitted exceptions. I totally get where you're coming from, but I think you need to find another solution.

I can’t believe that people think it’s ok to just buy a service dog harness for their non-service dog. When you think people can’t get any more entitled you hear things like this. I had a suspicion my ex-boss had done this as her supposed guide dog only came to work with her every now and again 🙄 Now I’m thinking my suspicions may have been correct.

I'll let her know your opinion and tell her to stay at home like a good little disabled person from now on

Maybe go to the supermarket during their 'quiet ' times which are for people and children who get overwhelmed, so the lights are dimmed and the music is turned off.

Please don't put dogs in trolleys?! People put food in there ffs they're not for pets. It doesn't matter if people were fawning over em, don't be gross

No harm but why would someone with fibro need to have a "service dog"? It is wrong to label your dog as a service dog when it's a pet that hasn't had the appropriate training

You’re very wrong. There’s lots of assistance dogs that are trained by official charities to mitigate many disabilities.

You're playing the sympathy/guilt trip card here. Pethaps a good friend would go along to the shops themselves and support her (if they can) or find some other suitable assistance, instead of thinking rules don't apply to them.

Write to the supermarket manager, explain to them what you've explained to us. It's not up to anybody's 'strong opinion' on here. There is no law against dogs in supermarkets (only food prep areas), so it's up to the manager to answer your question. If tell them that your dog is an emotional support dog, is well behaved, will be kept under strict control, and will be clothed in a way to indicate 'support dog', they may well say yes.
Don't ask MN a question like this, the rabid answers aren't representative. Lots of places will say yes, and that's from experience.

For the people who think it's not a problem, do you not see how "its only....." turns into so much more?
"It's only a tiny dog in a pram/being carried" and "it's only because I have a disability that I need my massive dog and look it has a service vest (from amazon)"
This then becomes "i know its a big dog but it won't wear a service vest but I'm still disabled so i still need my untrained St Bernard with me"
And then "its only a small-ish dog but they hate being in a pram/ being carried so needs to walk"

Basically if you make exceptions for all small dogs, and then any sized dogs as long as the owners claim they're service dogs you'll just end up with all dogs inside.

This. Please don’t put your dog in a service vest when it’s not properly qualified.

I follow a lady in America who has a seizure alert dog and she’s having so many problems with people putting “service dog” on their dog. Said dogs are clearly not thoroughly trained and cause havoc in stores etc. making places inaccessible for trained service dogs and their owners.

Im thoroughly sympathetic to OP, maybe click & collect could work for you? You don’t have to have a car - just stand at the collection spot with your bags.

It is wrong to label your dog as a service dog when it's a pet that hasn't had the appropriate training

There are no laws about what the appropriate training is to let your dog into a supermarket, so anybody who says anything like this is just telling you that their opinion is 'right'. It's not about the opinion of anybody other than the boss of the establishment, unless you're taking your dog into a food prep area.