to take dog into supermarket

[amechange]

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.

@depressionpitofdoom

And how trolleys get used by animals at night

I agree with you that some PP's seem to have a false idea of how hygienically food is stored prior to sale in supermarkets. I'm curious about this trolley comment though. I've got images of badgers drunkenly pushing each other round Waitrose car park at 3am...

But did you actually read the whole of the article you linked to? It starts by saying that dogs (excluding service dogs) aren't allowed in any U.K. supermarkets, then goes on to say that most supermarkets don't allow them and then gives a list of some shops that do allow dogs in (Tesco and Aldi being the appropriate ones for this thread).

😂😂 nothing quite so amusing unfortunately but lots of rats, foxes, birds etc. Using them as climbing frames and toilets and they don't get disinfected every day.

The OP has explained that she rarely goes out though. A dog that obeys commands at home won't automatically do the same in a supermarket with lots of distractions. It might of course, but if it doesn't, that will increase the pressure on OP.

D1nopawus
The OP struggles to go out though, so it is likely that her dog hadn't been socialised. It's probably not at the level needed for a domestic dog to be in a shop - never mind the requirements for a service dog. I'm not saying this to criticise you OP, if you are still reading. It's just that the requirements are likely to be harder for you to meet.

I personally wont engage with this poster any more, they don’t appear to comprehend anything outwith their own agenda.

LOL. Of course I've got an agenda. I'm trying to point out that taking a chihuahua to Tescos is quite likely to add to the difficulties and stress of someone who is already struggling. And that's before considering that non-service dogs are not allowed in most supermarkets.

I completed understand why the OP is considering it, as she believes it could help. In her world, it seems like a logical solution. It's important for her to consider other perspectives too though, and to understand that other options could work better.

it's in an enclosed dog carrier. What commands does it need to obey?

Not yapping?

🤣🤣🤣 I don't know why this made me laugh so much!

This definitely isn't true, there are a range of organisations, many of which belong to the umbrella organisation ADUK that train dogs for various tasks, including hearing dogs, canine partners and more. There are medical detection dogs as well, the idea that ONLY Guide Dogs For The Blind are 'official' assistance dogs reallllllllly needs to die now.

An owner trained dog is still an official assistance dog - just not trained by being puppy raised on behalf of, and then kept in a training centre run by a particular organisation. There are owner training organisations as well like Dog A.I.D and Canine Generated Independence.

Then there are responsible owner/trainers who take their dogs to training classes, workshops and practicals, and have trainers come to them to work with them at home.

It is unfortunate that some people misuse the owner-trained option, but the solution is not to remove that option, it would disadvantage many people who need a very specific task dog, or who just can't wait to win the assistance dog lottery that is waiting for a charity supplied dog.

The OP has explained that she rarely goes out though. A dog that obeys commands at home won't automatically do the same in a supermarket with lots of distractions. It might of course, but if it doesn't, that will increase the pressure on OP.

100% this, I have a well trained, well socialised dog. Regularly take her to dog friendly cafes and she behaves well but this took a lot of training/practice and was definitely stressful. Wouldn't have fancied having extra stress if I was already anxious.

Despite her being well behaved in dog friendly establishments I still wouldn't trust her behaviour to be 100% spot on in a supermarket as she'd need time to learn and adapt. The new environment would be a lot for her to take in and far too many distractions for her to be 100% focussed on me and what I was telling her to do/not do.

Plus I assume she bought it from the internet, not brought it.

OK, so let's dismiss the parts of what OP says that don't fit in with our own views, and then we can carry on yapping the same points as we were before?

I smell a flawed argument.