To think The Range has made a stupid decision

[hellolittleduck]

“CDS Superstores has announced a major change to The Range stores' entry requirements. Dog owners will no longer need to leave their pets outside or at home as stores across the UK are now completely dog-friendly.“

What’s the point of this other than to make shopping in The Range a miserable experience? Am I the only one who thinks it’s disgusting to have filthy dogs running around soft furnishings and fragile displays, potentially pissing on things? I assume people with dog allergies are just irrelevant then. Navigating the shop is already a nightmare when it’s busy, who wants dogs who have been rolling around in God knows what to be taking up the aisles? Think it’ll be online orders only from now on…

My daughter has an irrational fear of dogs. It makes shopping a misery for her.

The Pastor in Romsey Abbey brings his gorgeous dog Toby to church with him every Sunday 😍🐕

Yet another reason to avoid churches.

If it's not paedo clergy, it's weirdo left-wing agitprop and now dogs for good measure.

Still, plenty of bones for them to dig up

I’ve also seen it happen, many times in pets at home. I don’t think I’ve ever been in there and not seen a puddle of dog pee on the floor somewhere.

I feel sorry for dogs being dragged into bright, crowded shops with lots of unfamiliar smells and people. Dogs are not people and I don't mean that in a derogatory way, but in a "let the poor creatures be dogs" way.
I used to avoid shops like the Range when DD was a toddler, because she would inevitably get bored, leading to tears, shouts and snot everywhere - not subjecting shop staff/fellow customers to that, and I think the same should apply to dogs.

How the Queen's love for dogs and horses played a special role in her funeral

They weren't inside the chapel, were they?

They were, essentially, in their own back garden.

They are getting desperate now. Anything to try and attract people. Would do the opposite for me too.

Well exactly. You'd have thought that was obvious.

I'm a dog owner and think it's stupid.

Except it's entirely different.

I don't know why every dog discussion on Mumsnet seems to bring children vs dogs into the matter. The two are not comparable!

Children need to go to shops because their parents need to buy things (at the very least they need essentials like food) and they can't be left, unlike dogs.
But also because one day those children are going to grow up and need to buy things themselves. It's no good dropping an 18 year old who's never been anywhere in their whole life except their own home, school or a soft play into a Sainsburys and expecting them to know the social norms of what to do in that environment.

Yes children might not behave as adults in these places, because they are still learning. But they will never learn if we don't let them in!

Dogs on the other hand do not need to shop. They can live their whole life and never need to buy anything.

It's a good point, I wonder if they consulted with staff before they started this.

I always feel sorry for staff who work somewhere (and may have done so for years) and then their manager/owner decides that they want to chase the dog £ and decide they will allow in dogs. Staff member either has to deal with it or leave. it's really not fair.

I was in a cafe and a dog pee'd up against a plastic plant!
I love dogs and happy that some cafes are dog friendly etc but not ALL.

Not so irrational. Although it's not the dogs' fault, it's the owners for not keeping them under control and out of peoples' way.

So OP, you quite clearly do not like dogs that is clear. However not all dogs are filthy and those people with allergies will have had to deal with service dogs which have always been allowed in any shop or business.

Tha Range have made a commercial decision, you can make a decision as to if you shop there or not.

I do think that you should have to have proof that your dog is a service dog.

We ask people to display blue badges to use disabled bays, so I can't see the issue with asking people to show evidence that their dog is a service dog.

If a dog is out of control, it's not a service dog, so you can tell the person and their dog to leave.

I see a service dog in a shop about once a year. If that. They are not a problem for people with allergies.

It's completely different to people taking their pets everywhere.

Anyway I don't think I've ever been to the Range, so it won't affect me!

Yes, and then councils could reinstate their dog wardens to deal with neglected dogs.

Although could you imagine the outcry? The winter fuel thing goes on and one. I can just imagine all the emotional posturing about poor Great Aunt Ethel who loves her dog but can't afford the £100 a year dog licence and it's so unfair etc.

I agree re dog licences. It would also mean the RSPCA could stop having to spend donation money on prosecution cruel and negligent dog owners, people who should never come near a pet, because otherwise there’s no way of stopping them.

My dogs are members of my family, that doesn't mean that I don't realise they're not human, can't be trained to stay in the house happily when I go out or to generally not be a nuisance to other people by being trained and owned responsibly. Nor does it mean that they need to go to The Range.
Someone said it on another thread that there's a kind of pride in the people who take their dogs absolutely everywhere, I've noticed it too, and harsh judgement of those who do leave their dogs alone for more than 10 seconds at a time. Part of that is the drive for better treatment for dogs, but people taking it to the nth degree, like don't leave a dog alone for more than 4 hours - many people are fastidious about it, when leaving the house, yet will shut them downstairs for 8 hours overnight alone, without a second thought. I'm not saying that doing that is wrong, just that it's odd to me that some are horrified at the thought of leaving their dog alone during the day, for 4.5 hours, yet because they don't want them upstairs will leave them in a kitchen overnight, alone, for longer.

Well, someone has to start….or are we going back millennia to when the first dog peed on that spot?

Locally there are a couple, one blind, one partially sighted, both have guide dogs. It is lovely to see them out and about and that means in the shops in the local town and village. Just as you say only once a year for a service dog, I can say I see this couple once or twice a week.

The Range, and other shops who have made similar decisions, will check their end of year figures, if they are higher, one of the reasons may be dogs have been allowed - if figures are down, they may change their decision.

Everyone will have opinions and anecdotes but the decision lies with the businesses in question.

How can it be unavoidable? Dogs have existed longer than shops and it’s never ever been unavoidable to not bring your dog in a shop so far in the history of retail. You just don’t go in.

It can be that bad, yes. Certainly the doctor in A&E was considering an EpiPen for DS2 when we ended up there. They decided it wasn’t anaphylaxis this time but warned he must be kept well away from dogs because there’s no way to predict what could happen and next time it could be worse.
Which was a shock to me. We’d been brought in by ambulance after a category 1 999 call where I was told to get the nearest defibrillator for my wheezing, blue child and they’re telling me next time it could be worse!

Physical contact is not needed for DS2 to react. Years ago, a panting dog stood next to him in a park for a few seconds before I got him away. Minutes later he had a face covered in hives and eyes swollen shut. He reacts to the dogs saliva and it’s fast. A room with a dog in it lead to our trip to A&E. Didn’t need to even be close to the dog. He’s developed another allergy and asthma and now his reactions to dogs are far worse.

So needless to say, we don’t go to shops/cafes/pubs/holiday accommodation etc that allow them. We can’t. Antihistamine didn’t prevent his last bad reaction. He has asthma medication now and, while we hope that would prevent the breathing difficulties, we don’t take the risk. We avoid all places with dogs in them; anything else feels like playing Russian roulette. So I’ll add The Range to my ever increasing list of places we can’t go.

Actually, in some of the older, more rural villages, the norm in the community is to walk down to the village centre, with your dog, pick up bits you need, meet your friends etc.

My grandparents did it, they said their grandparents had always done it and so on.

In higher population areas, I wouldn't want to take my dog shopping because it wouldn't be enjoyable for any of us, her included. Way too over stimulating for her, having to keep an eye on whether she needed the loo or wanted to eat things, or was in danger of tripping people up etc makes it harder for me. And so on. But in a relaxed, smaller community where people have the time to chat and browse, it's not unheard of.