Today in Aldi

[User884721]

a woman asked me to hold her dog at the checkout while she packed her shopping. Was I BU to say no?

The woman in front of me was unloading her trolley onto the conveyor belt with one hand and holding a dog under her other arm. Is it a pug, the one with the squashed up face? Anyway, it wasn't happy and was wriggling around.

She asked if I could hold the dog so she could pack her shopping properly in her bags. I said no. She said she couldn't put the dog on the ground because it didn't like the feel of the floor under its feet. I still said no. She then took absolutely ages making a point of packing her shopping with one hand. At the checkout. While holding a dog.

The checkout operator told her dogs were not allowed in Aldi and she replied "well that's why I'm carrying her". Nothing more was said.

I know mumsnet will probably be divided into those who would be delighted to hold a stranger's dog then pack up their loose fruit and veg. I'm not one of those people.

Would you have held her dog?

I love dogs but I hate people who buy pugs. They should be banned-not that it would do any good. So cruel.

I'd never take a dog in a supermarket either, even if it was allowed! You can't really do your shopping while carrying one and even if it was on the lead It's not a place a dog would like to be.

Why though?
Dogs have no place in a supermarket - 'no dogs' doesn't mean 'you can carry it' - it means no dogs.

Unless it's a guide dog, you should have left the dog somewhere else.

Definitely NBU. I like dogs but I wouldn’t have held it because I don’t trust unknown dogs. I also wouldn’t want to make her life any easier considering how entitled she was.

I would hold someone else’s baby if they asked me to but I would never ever ask someone to hold mine. I would offer to pack the shopping for a parent I could see struggling instead of the baby.

I say live and let live. Supposing the woman hadn't intended to go shopping but then realised she needed something or had a call from someone asking her to get some food? What if she lives on her own?

I've seen a fella near me who has his dog in a 'dog carry bag' sort of thing while he shops at our local co-op. I guess that could have been a solution?
What could the supermarket staff do realistically really? Ask her to leave? She wasn't breaking any laws.

I guess you're not allowed in stores with a motorcycle either, would it be okay if you carried it about?
It is a relatively new thing for dogs not to be allowed into most places to be fair. Just now it is relaxing a bit probably due to how many people have them!

I have a stereotypical view of pug owners, and this has reinforced it.

I'd hold a dog over holding a baby. I am more experienced with dogs and wouldn't be scared of hurting it

It's a given surely that animals aren't allowed in a supermarket. Imagine them licking, biting the products. Or god forbid pooing or weeing.
So weird. Of course you shouldn't hold a strangers dog. You could be bitten or catch something. Or you could just run off with the bloody dog if that way inclined. Madness.

Leave the dog at home is an option for all of these. Taking the dog into the shop is not a solution.

Maybe she hadn't intended to go shopping?

And found herself accidentally in the shop?

She should have taken the dog home and then gone back out if she was that desperate to go to the shop.

Floors in supermarkets are rarely slippery. If they were, staff and customers would be at risk of slipping over. Their floors are usually nicely non-slip and spills are cleared up promptly.

No way!
people are getting madder and madder every day.

Maybe she doesn't live close to the shops and it would have been too far to walk home, drop off the dog, walk back?
Maybe she is an entitled madam but it's always worth considering the alternative - someone who needed a little bit of help?

YANBU to have refused.

But why was this woman packing her bags at the checkout?

In my local Aldis (US) the cashier dumps your items into your trolley, which you wheel around so they're to the left of the cashier. He/she scans with the right hand and dumps with the left. Then you pay and proceed to the bagging counter. The lines move fast.

They also have self checkouts. If it's crowded, many people do the same check and dump, then bag. You're supposed to have under 20 items for the self checkout. The self checkout is monitored by cameras.

She sounds fucking nuts!! I'm impressed you managed to not laugh tbh

Dogs are prohibited by law in large foodstores (ie not in the corner shop) and in commercial kitchens. It's otherwise at the discretion of the business owner.

Carrying the dog won't make it legal but will stop it from doing the things the law is designed to prevent (fouling or damaging surfaces or foodstuffs).

I think Aldi would be liable for the breach so they should have refused her service.

The owner showed quite remarkable lack of common sense. If I felt, in some extraordinary emergency, that I really had to take my small dog into Aldi, I would put her in the trolley inside something else (like a rigid shopping bag or cardboard box) and tie her lead to the trolley.

People are strange.

Some dogs will 'refuse' on specific flooring (like horses, really). It is usually the bigger dogs with thinner legs though, rather than pugs, but all dogs can develop a fear of flooring, although this can be overcome. I've seen a dog refuse to enter a room with matt Karndean flooring (no p(l)ug intended).

And people bring all sorts of small breeds into shops here - restrained / on leash, and sometimes in cute little doggy carriers.

The days of emotional support animals are upon us.

I think it's because the floor feels so much nicer underfoot/paw for such precious dogs? Imagine having to put one's paws on Aldi floors < shudder >

Again, neither of these supersedes the fact that dogs are not allowed in the shop.

I've put YABU but that's cos I would have packed her shopping instead of holding the dog (not sure I'd want a small, stressed dog near my face & I bloody love dogs). I couldn't watch someone struggle & that would be my compromise.

I'd be put off going into a supermarket that allowed dogs in. I'm sure they're not allowed in our Aldi.

Absolutely! So I wouldn't take that dog somewhere that had slippery floors. Like a supermarket for example.

But then I wouldn't take a dog shopping.

Definite NO here. Dog shouldn't have been in there. I certainly would have refused to hold it.

That's a great compromise!

I probably would simply because I like dogs but she was rude to bring it in in the first place. Some places have gotten so wet with customers. “Dogs aren’t allowed” “oh it’s ok I’ll carry her”

Yeah it doesn’t work like that. Dogs aren’t allowed means NO dogs in the store