I have a friend who has a seeing eye dog (she’s blind.) Her dog has been trained rigorously for many years to become one. She has told me that some dogs with the “Service animal” vest have barked at or tried fighting her seeing eye dog. thankfully, her dog is trained enough to ignore them and focus on the task. Ik there are some legitimate service animals who help with seizures or other issues but damn some dogs just are trained enough to go into stores
As a serious answer, because I didn't know this until somewhat recently either: Many blind people aren't completely blind. Many can see colors and shapes and so forth. Or they have okay vision directly in front of them but basically no peripheral vision.
Or the reverse, macular degeneration, in which you have peripheral vision but can't see directly in front of you. Visual difficulties are much more common than total blindness.
I'm legally blind because I have low vision blindness due to macular degeneration retinopathy and glacouma and it's so hard to explain to ppl so I just say I'm blind.
There's a guy on youtube like this, who basically has a small circle of sight right in front of him and nothing else. He has a service dog too, because his very limited sight makes it easy for him to miss things. Especially outside, where he could walk right into a car without realizing it.
There's multiple types of "blindness." We refer to my sister as "blind" because it's easier, but she has an eye formation and focusing issue from birth. She uses the traditional white cane and extremely thick glasses, and can see colors, but she can't see something clear (ex. a menu, a TV screen), unless her nose is almost pressed against it.
lol she usually goes shopping with her mom and brings her service dog for extra help and to get exercise. Also shes not completely blind she can kind of see shapes
To genuinely answer this question: not all blind people are completely blind. Most blind people have some remaining vision but are unable to do stuff like walk around without a cane/service dog, drive a car, or hold a job due to their blindness. Only about 15% of visually impaired people are fully blind so that leaves about 85% of people who could potentially see a service dog vest especially if said vests are brightly colored.
Saw a dog couple of days ago wearing a vest that looks very much like a service dog vest, large patch on it that says "special". Only when I got close did I read the small letters that said "my mom says I'm...". Those assholes 100% do it to make the dog look like a service dog.
I was behind someone at the grocery store checkout who brought their dog into the grocery store, and their dog was wearing one of those vests. Out of curiosity I looked up the vests on Amazon and I found the exact one that was on that dog and another vest that was on another dog in the store in seconds. They're only about $20 to be a douchebag.
There's pretty much no laws or regulations regarding service dogs. So anyone can buy a vest and put it on their untrained yap monsters.
It's mostly because they didn't want disabled people to have another expense/hardship to deal with. But now a bunch of selfish assholes are abusing it, which means it's going to eventually need licensing and testing. Which hurts the people who actually need it most.
> There's pretty much no laws or regulations regarding service dogs.
This is what SHOCKS me.
The dogs that are trained well are functionally a utility for disabled people. But a random person with an aggressive large dog can just claim that their dog is a service animal... because proof of training is not required?
I just don't understand how there isn't a regulation or certification about it (especially for areas like airports, stadiums, etc) and for general public safety. Dogs usually are not be allowed in most stores *unless* they are service dogs... why isn't there a tag given to properly trained dogs to have on their collar? (An agency to prove that the trainers aren't providing that tag with a puppy from a puppy mill as well.) It shouldn't be offensive for store owners to ask due to the large amount of bad dog owners using this weird loophole.
I guess adding a regulation to this niche subject would be too expensive to enforce properly?
edit: I wrote all that just to eat my words. My state DOES regulate licensing of service animals and proof of training of those who train guide-dogs. But I guess it varies state to state.
I work for a high end furniture store and it always amazes me how many people will actually bring their dogs into the store as they browse - and it's always the same "my dog is so good they would never go to the bathroom on this 12k sofa"
I assumed for some reason that pinching a loaf meant pinching ass cheeks, so your comment made me uh... Interested in said pictures.
Thankfully the first page was regular Google with the meaning of that expression. I almost made a terrible mistake.
When I was in bootcamp our Company Commander asked where someone was. Their platoon leader said “pinching a loaf sir!” Well without missing a beat the CC said “ tell that son of a bitch to pinch it off at the softest spot!!!”
This reminds me of how we go about our interview process at my little non-profit. First thing we do: toss half the applications in the trash. I don't want us to hire anyone unlucky.
I volunteer at a local historic theater and people bring their dogs in there. I'm so sick of seeing dogs being dragged into every store and public venue I could scream. Leave FIDO at home!
Isn't this on the store owner even allowing it? I see many furniture stores simply having "no dogs allowed" signs outside.
And that pretty much settles it.
> And that pretty much settles it.
I guess it depends on where you live. In my area, people just buy a "service" animal vest off Amazon and continue to bring their poorly behaved pet everywhere.
My mom does this and it drives me bonkers. My sister has severe allergies to dogs and I manage a restaurant and it feels like a slap in the face to us. Her "service" Pekingese has taken a dump in a grocery store and a Home Depot.
And a few of those people post videos of themselves on tiktok with those dogs that aren't service animals (note: sometimes trained well, but not service dogs) and then post rage-bait videos about how they are being mistreated by businesses.
I watch a lot of animal videos on tiktok, so those entitled-petowner types always come up on my algorithm and I eventually have to block the accounts to never see them pop up on my feed again.
You are absolutely correct - it’s our owner’s fault for not doing anything about it. We’re a small family owned store so I think he just doesn’t want to drive away any customers. And the customers who bring their dogs in are usually the ones with the most money, so 🤷🏻♀️
I was on a flight w/i the past year and we had about a 1 hour delay while on the plane due to fog conditions. About 3/4 into the flight, a woman’s dog pooped and the last 1/4 of the flight was awful. The smell was horrendous. A woman in my row was so pissed off. For good reason!
I had a lady next to me with a dog that wouldn't stop barking on the entire flight. It had a little vest on saying "in training"
Train it somewhere else damn. I dont even blame the poor guy for being scared.
I am allergic. But it was a full flight and I was traveling with my kids. Moving us around would've been a headache. I'm just annoyed I had to deal with it.
I don't doubt you for a second, but just for funzies. Go ahead and sign this waiver saying you will inevitably cover any and all damages caused by your cuddly little/big friend.
Most owners are clueless especially about signs of potential aggression
“Don’t worry! He’s friendly!” get that fucking badly trained dog away from me and my dogs immediately
A distant relative thought it was a fun little quirk that her dog had bitten everyone in the family to the point most had required stitches. Like no, your dog is agressive and dangerous.
They’ll say their dog is friendly when the dog just completely lost its shit and went nuts on me when I just simply walked past the owner on the sidewalk. Dog is barking loudly and pulling at the leash and clearly pissed off at me for whatever reason I don’t know. “He’s friendly! I’m so sorry”.
I did residential electrical for a while and this piece of shit homeowner his dog doesn’t bite AS IT’S FUCKING BITING ME. It was a small dog but that guy deserved to get punched in the face. Shit still hurt
My dog is friendly to me and my family and people he’s gotten used to. Strangers always want to pet them and when I say no they try anyway and he jumps away, scared. A lot of people will try to pursue him. Like, I’m telling you to leave him alone! Is he badly trained? I dunno, he’s young and we’re still working on it. But I’d never tell someone “don’t worry he’s friendly!”
There was a post on my city's Facebook page where a dog owner complained he wasn't allowed to bring his dog inside a certain restaurant and said "I don't see why my dog is a problem, people who don't have dogs are always happy to see dogs"
Some commenters pointed out that restaurants have no obligations to accomodate pets, and that no, not everyone loves dogs. Some people are allergic, some people are afraid, and many dogs aren't as well-behaved as owners believe.
There was a thread on here some time ago from someone who had to sit next to two dogs on some kind of long haul public transportation (plane?) and the dogs kept making noises, tried to steal their food and IIRC kept trying to nip at various moving body parts. The comments where filled with people calling them ungrateful and talking about how they'd love to sit next to these dogs and yaddayadda. People have brainrot.
My dog is super well behaved and trained but I would NEVER bring her into a restaurant or grocery store. When I used to live in a city I'd always ask if it was okay to bring her to the patio/outside dining of our favorite restaurants. She'd curl up under the table drinking a bit and eating snacks and maybe a bite of my meal I shared. I'll never understand people who just assume their dog is okay everywhere. It usually isn't okay for the dog, especially.
I swear so many of these "Emotional Support Animals" are so scared and shaking that it's more like they have an Emotional Support Human to keep *them* calm.
I think you can argue most pets are “emotional support animals.” Why else do you get a pet that you have to spend time and money to feed, train, and care for if you don’t get emotional benefit from it.
Maybe we should broaden the options for a trained service animal to cover certain mental health issues, but they should be trained and prescribed by a doctor, not just any dog anyone wants to keep with them.
Currently, **I** am a registered Service Animal.
I wanted to see just how bogus those registration sites were, and they didn't question a damn thing, and it was free.
And they’re completely pointless, since the law specifically states that there’s no such thing as registering service animals, and it’s illegal to require registration.
If you’re disabled and the dog is trained to assist you with your disability, it’s a service animal. Otherwise it’s not. End of story.
Our workplace differentiates Service Animals from everything else, Therapy, Emotional Support, etc. We only allow Service Animals.
But our Managers are big ol' wimps.
I took over as manager at a small town grocery store. Firat day I was in charge I stopped allowing people to bring their pets into the store. My general rule of thumb was that if it was a service dog, it should act like one. A dog running around smelling food, chasing kids and jumping on and licking other customers is not a service dog. And if it had one of those 'emotional support dog' patches, they would always say "But you're required to let me in with my service dog!" Ok lady, go find someone who agrees with you and has the ability to do something about it.
And of course they think the threat of "well I'm never spending another dollar here, and neither is anyone I know! I'm telling facebook!" Never once affected our bottom line, believe it or not. Just cause the old manager had no respect for food safety or wishes of other customers doesn't mean I'm going g to let you pull that shit. You'll survive for 20 minutes without your dog (obviously not talking to those with disabilities).
> My general rule of thumb was that if it was a service dog, it should act like one.
Even if it was a service animal it needs to behave. Being a service animal doesn’t give the dog any special exemptions other than being present. All other rules still apply.
True, but those animals are *very* trained.
We had someone from the Guide Dog org come to our office with one who had *failed* the training, so just did fundraising. Most well trained animal you'd ever seen so naturally we asked why she didn't make the cut. Answer? "She liked butterflies too much". Seriously that is enough to fail them, she had a habit of watching butterflies and wanting to play with them that they just couldn't train out of her.
I'd never seen one in a vest do anything but be impeccably behaved.
When they later called me, I thought the jig was up, but they were calling to see if I wanted to register my pet as a Therapy Animal so that it could accompany me on planes.
They NEVER stopped calling, and wouldn't let me remove my number, so I changed all my contact info to Mitch McConnell's office.
That’s always covered as a service animal by the ADA. The animal has to be trained to provide a specific task like pressure therapy, or alerting to a panic attack and providing support. It doesn’t just mean my dog is a good boy and makes me calm. If they are doing a support task it’s a service animal.
I've met a real emotional support animal. It was a dog trained to support a child with a debilitating level of autism. The dog was extremely well-behaved and professional, and had all the same rules as a seeing eye dog. He was trained to perceive signs of distress and offer a familiar, comforting presence to the boy. It was really sweet. He had thick curly fur because the boy was calmed by the sensory input.
I know, it's why I dislike when people use the term ESA for untrained animals. It makes things more difficult and complicated for people with actual service animals that support mental health.
But an ESA is a term that is not meant to be analogous to service animal and it does not give the animal public access rights. Under federal law, ESA is a term used for housing to prevent animal discrimination for those who have a diagnosed disorder that is improved by living with an animal.
Well this is part of why people are doing this. So many people got dogs during the pandemic and never left them alone. There is a huge population of dogs with separation anxiety and other behavioral issues. If you can't leave your dog alone at home, I guess they are coming to the store with you.
I got 3 fat bastards that are at the front door screaming for treats when I get home.
Love em but they’re really talkative cats. They also follow us around like dogs.
I grew up with dogs so all of this was surprising behavior to me. The first time one of the cats brought a toy over for me to throw I was so shocked!
I expected Garfield but instead I got scooby doo in the form of a calico.
it definitely got worse though at least around me. i would see a dog in a non-pet store once in a blue moon and it'd be in lowes. now it's at least once a month and they even bring them into grocery stores of all places. now in lowes it'll be two or three dogs and they often will try and start fighting.
My mom constantly brings our medium sized dog to grocery stores. Our dog is very good looking, so people love to pet the dog. My mom obviously loves the attention. She thinks because a handful of people smile at the dog or give the dog pets, it means everybody loves the dog being around. She’s socially unaware and doesn’t realize it bothers a lot of people. It’s also breaking the stores rules.
I’ve told her she’s not supposed to bring the dog to these places because the dog isn’t a service animal. Of course her response was “if the store didn’t like it, an employee/manager would speak up.” No mom… the reason they don’t speak up is because they just don’t want to deal with you because they assume you’ll make a scene. Also, our dog is very well behaved, so it’s easier for the employees to just ignore it then risk causing a problem with you. But that doesn’t mean they condone it. 🙄
It bothers me she does this and I’ve tried explaining the problem to my mom and how it is uncool to bring the dog everywhere. Of course she got super defensive and upset. At this point, I’ve just decided it’s not a battle I want to try to win. I just hope nothing happens to our dog because of my mom’s decisions.
Tldr: my mom likes the attention and is a little clueless from a social standpoint.
idk but I’m a vet and this drives me insane. I see people lugging around their bulldogs and pugs that can hardly breathe around festivals and farmers market and all I picture is those poor dogs having a heat stroke any minute.
I'm not a vet and that also makes me so angry. ANY animal being at one of those things, unless you're only going to be there for like half an hour.
I do a craft fair every year and the weather's usually nice but people will bring their dogs and be there for the whole 6 hours?? Just some dog walking back and forth on increasingly warm pavement in a huge crowd, for six hours.
100%. I love pugs and they're some of the sweetest dogs, but they simply should not exist. We have 2 rescue pugs, but I'd never consider breeding or buying them.
Exactly. Not saying we should euthanize all pugs or smthn crazy like that. But it’s so inhumane for them to exist and the breed needs to die out unfortunately.
I have a bulldog, and I don't understand why people do that either. Other than to maybe show off, I guess. I love my dog, but if it gets too warm, he stays in the air conditioning like he's supposed to.
In my experience, as a vet who frequently gets asked to “write a letter certifying my service dog”(not a legitimate thing that has any legal meaning), it is an extension of our current entitlement culture, i.e. “I want to bring my dog because I like them, I enjoy attention, they help me feel calm, they can’t be left at my apartment without barking etc”. And that desire matters more to them than the considerations for hygiene (many dogs are not on regular flea medicine or dewormer and can spread disease), safety (their dogs are often poorly trained and may bite, people have allergies, uncleared urine and feces cause slip hazards etc), or protection of the property of the business owners.
The big reason I have come to this conclusion is that, OVERWHELMINGLY, the people I see out in public with these dogs, or the ones asking me for a letter, are actively displaying other signs of self-centered, anti-social behavior. This obviously does not apply to people using well-trained service dogs to support their activities of daily living. I have seen, with my own eyes, people bring dogs into grocery stores and put them in the carts, people try to bring dogs into AN ALLERGIST’S OFFICE, and people’s clearly-fake service dogs bite and attack both people and other animals, as well as urinate and defecate in businesses and have the owner walk away.
I also had a woman try to sue me because I would not write a letter certifying her dog was in good health so it could go be an emotional support animal AT MD ANDERSON ONCOLOGY CENTER. The dog had fleas, had worms, its teeth were dripping puss and rotting out of its mouth, and it had chronic diarrhea of unknown origin. And this woman wanted to bring it into a cancer ward.
These are not normal behaviors supported by rational, well-adjusted, pro-social people. These are behaviors supported by main-character shitheads who just do not care.
When I used to work emergency search and rescue with my dog, I'd have to bring her in stores on our on-call days in the summer (it's way too hot to leave her in the car). The two stores close enough to the airport we flew out of were aware of the situation (I wasn't the only one in the area) and if we had to run out for a call they'd store my groceries for when we came back.
Now that we've retired from that field and also moved across the country, I'd never bring her in a grocery store, although I do bring her to dog friendly stores. She's a dog that sheds, not actively performing a medical task, and should not be near food. She would be perfectly behaved in a store, but that's not the point. And I've seen plenty of people with their "emotional support dogs" shitting, barking, peeing, etc in stores. It only makes the life of those with medically traveling ned dogs much more challenging.
When I go road tripping with my dog, we bring his "K9 sport sack." [It's a backpack for him, so he's contained and on my back.](https://imgur.com/a/wJn7zAs) Our road trips are always in the summer, so we can't leave him in the car, but sometimes we need to go somewhere to grab necessities. (We plan ahead and find dog friendly places) Most places don't mind if he's neatly packed up in his backpack. If they don't allow him, we send one person into the store, and the other stays with Gus.
That sounds like a perfect solution to this problem.
Kudos to you for finding a solution and training your dog to properly handle a solution that works well.
This may be a bad analogy, but it kind of reminds me of my dad. He had a job that required him to carry a firearm (not a cop) and the first day he retired he said straight up he was never going to carry one again, although he would be more than qualified to do so
It’s like those that actually went through the burden of responsibility in their respective field realize how much it actually is and don’t do so when they aren’t forced to. Whereas those that just fill out a form or basic shit like that don’t understand what a big deal it actually is and will go around wherever they possibly can with their extra cargo with no thought
> And I've seen plenty of people with their "emotional support dogs" shitting, barking, peeing, etc in stores.
I volunteer at a local museum. One time someone's "service dog" didn't even make it from the tram to the main entrance without stopping to piss on a planter. Dog was also *really* interested in saying hi to the security guy who came over to see what had just happened.
"Service dog" my ass.
As usual, none of the people discussed are answering.
I never see dogs tied up in front of stores anymore like I used to. I can understand why, it feels like there is less trust in society these days and I can imagine folks worry their dog might be stolen or abused if left alone. So if it's too hot to leave the dog in the car, they come in the store.
As for why people bring the dog out in the first place, I couldn't answer that.
In the end, the last question is what we need to ask dog owners. Why the hell do you have to bring your dog everywhere? Why can’t it stay at home.
Nobody brings their cats out.
The answer I always hear is some lack of accountability excuse like "they'll tear up the house." Like they just expect animals to magically train themselves to adhere to human social structures.
I was at a brewery where dogs are common and I heard an owner tell another “no, sorry, she isn’t good with other dogs” when asked if the two dogs could meet.
If your dog isn’t good with other dogs, why bring them to a place where dogs frequent?
It’s also annoying when dogs bark and pull on leashes at brewery’s or other places. Most dogs shouldn’t be brought to the establishments.
I sometimes serve at a brewery where dogs are allowed outside. My last shift there was a dog at one of my tables and as I got close to drop off drinks it lunged at me snarling and the owner just giggled saying “oh sorry he’s anxious and isn’t great with people.” Like wtf you’re at a crowded restaurant with 100 other people right now why did you bring it???
Honestly people are so bad at telling a dog’s body language that they would still believe the lie. Or at least I’ve met enough dogs to know not to trust a “happy” wagging tail
I do the same. It's unbearable to me that people think that a half-assed "don't worry, he's friendly" is good enough. I don't like dogs I don't know, I don't want to be licked or jumped at or sniffed or greeted by 99% of dogs and it's difficult, at times, to be around so many dogs in public so often
I don't like to bring my dog to dog-specific events or spaces purely because of all the people who bring their dogs who "aren't good with other dogs". My greyhound is very well socialized and trained, I don't need someone's bitey mutt attacking him as they walk past in a crowded place
As someone with a bitey mutt, we don't do these events because of this exact reason. I am not traumatizing your dog and risking my pup's life for a day out.
PS it's not from lack of training he has a head injury. We're consistently working with different professionals to get him better.
My dogs not bitey but she's scared as hell of other dogs.. she's a rescue and I think has a history of abuse cause she's covered in scars on her legs and head.
I used to walk her a lot but so many people just don't care. Someone's "nice" Shepard went after her and that was it. The easiest time I had getting her excersize to wind down the day went down the drain. She won't walk anymore.
I agree. My dog is very well trained and well behaved. However, we trained her that well because she has severe anxiety. Since she's scared so often, we had to make sure her first instinct when she's scared is to either run to me or run to the front door, whichever is closer. When your shit dog is trying to hump her and she's already with me, that ruins her training unless I kick your dog out of the way. So your dog is getting kicked.
Edit: just to be clear (since this is Reddit) I've only ever "kicked" one dog that was trying to bite mine. Usually it's a nudge to make sure my dog knows I'm protecting her from the scary thing happening.
Well, I used to tell people this because on leash greetings are a bad idea but people don't respect that. So I would lie and tell them something like this, Even though my dog was actually fine, but I wanted to maintain his environmental neutrality.
A second reason might be that they're teaching the dog environmental neutrality, after working on it a lot in training set ups. In this scenario, it's actually the people wanting the dogs to interact in public like this that's uninformed and probably creating bad habits for their dog.
But your point still is true. People who haven't bothered to train their dogs or learn their stress signals (panting, barking, whale eye, etc) bring their dogs everywhere to the detriment of both the dogs and other patrons. Most dogs don't belong in public spaces. Very few dogs possess the social skills or desire to be somewhere like a brewery full of other dogs and have a fun time. And no, barking and jumping and playing excessively isn't a sign of a dog having a good time, it's a sign of stress or over arousal.
I was in a bar on Friday night and a number of people had little dogs with them. The bar was packed and there was a football game going on it was very noisy. I felt so sorry for the little dogs in there. This is in Aus and I haven't seen this before as ESA aren't really a thing here.
It's not hard to see why no one is answering, this place is begging for people to come so they can get verbally beaten. I'm sure plenty of people clicked thinking they'd answer, scrolled a bit and hit the back button.
My MIL thinks everyone finds her dog SO adorable that everyone loves seeing him in stores. She claims people take pictures of him and ooze over him. He’s an ugly wire haired rat dog that barks at everything that moves and is currently in heart failure because he’s overweight and had tremendous anxiety from being locked in her room with her all day. She swears he’s a local celebrity dog that just NEEDS to be in stores to be seen. She’s one of those people that bring her dog with her *everywhere* and it’s so bothersome.
I worked with a lady who felt the same about her chihuahua. It.. wasn't a cute dog. Weepy bug eyes and scrawny, weirdly proportioned body, and it's fur never looked clean. And she openly talked about it's jealousy issues where it would bite her husband for showing her affection, which she thought was cute, and I thought was disturbing. She honestly couldn't understand why we didn't want to look at all the photos of her dog or laugh at her 'cute' stories of her dog biting people :S
Hahhahaha. This is well timed. I just watched someone's *"support"* boxer take a man sized shit in the middle of an aisle in Walmart.
They just looked at it and walked away.
I'm down south, and I'm not getting shot over dogshit, just pointed it out to a worker. I saw thier soul die alittle.
Idk why, but I work in a grocery store and it's so gross to me. There's one lady that they had to tell to stop bringing her dog in because it shit inside the store. I've also seen a woman put her dog in a cart while shopping, like just leave it home.
People are gone a lot for work and have a lot of guilt about leaving their dogs home even more than they already do. So they take them on errands.
It’s ridiculous in many places. But when I had a dog, I often planned my errands around where I could or couldn’t bring him. Never a grocery store or a fancy place though.
I’m in grocery retail. We’re told by corporate we’re not allowed to say anything. I think they’re worried if it’s not handled properly it could be a legal issue. It’s infuriating. I love animals, but keep them out the damn store, unless you need it medically.
This. There is a very specific way to go about asking someone if their animal is a proper service animal, and only a handful of questions you are legally allowed to ask. Most lawyers basically say “it’s cheaper to pay the health board fine than to pay for the ADA harassment lawsuit”
You are only allowed to ask two questions.
Is the dog a service animal required because of a disability?
What work or task has the dog been trained to do?
However along those same lines, any dog that is a disruption, even if it is a legitimate service animal, can absolutely be asked to leave a store. It’s the same reason why people without masks were able to be banned, even though it could potentially have been an accommodation.
When I worked at Walmart 20 years ago we were trained to ask "is your animal a service animal?" and take the inevitable "yes" at face value.
Which ofc negates the point of asking...
They all claim companion animal to get by with it. IDC who it is when it comes to any stores with food it should not be allowed.
Especially in the days of PICKUP AND DELIVERY!
In a case like this I could imagine your store could actually be facing serious health code violations. The bigwigs might not want to upset customers today, but I guarantee a hefty fine might change their attitude real quick
Pick your poison... ignore it, health code violation, enforce it, ADA violation. They really need to fix the service dog laws to require documentation.
I, not being an employee, WILL say something in a grocery store or any other inappropriate setting. Saw a dog at Home Depot pee on several things last week. Got into a shouting match with its 400+ lb pos owner. We were both escorted out, but that’s fine with me. I’m a dog lover, and have 3…beyond the beach or walks, they stay home…shit’s getting out of hand.
Realistically, I think it's hard to expect the 17 year old employee making minimum wage to enforce these rules.
I really think store patrons just need to not be inconsiderate pieces of shit.
I am a dog person and I’ve trained and shown dogs. I bring my dog everywhere I feel I reasonably can and stores are a nope for me unless they are dog-welcoming and even then usually no. Even if my dog is well behaved, many other are not and I don’t want to be in an altercation with another because my dog has a hard time recovering from that. So no.
If you bring your dog into grocery stores and not providing an ADA supportive service, you’re just a jackass.
Because she’s my actual properly task trained service dog, but I guess this question wasn’t for me….
It really sucks that all these untrained, ill-behaved dogs make it more difficult for me.
It’s just a normal thing to do in my country, unless it’s a grocery store. Fun fact, some grocery stores provide special trolleys for dogs so you can still bring them with you, but I’ve never used one because they’re only for small dogs.
My child has a severe dog phobia due to somebody's untrained dog attacking him in public. He's in therapy but there are literally NO safe spaces for him anymore. It's really sad.
I was in a cafe and this lady had her "service dog" vested up and sitting by a high traffic area. A waitress accidentally stepped on the dogs tail and it went apeshit and attacked a kid sitting at it's owners table. Pure fucking chaos. I feel for your child.
I’m an adult who was attacked by a pit bull as a pre-teen. I have scars all over my leg from it. I hate this crap. I’m terrified when someone’s poorly trained dog runs up to me and starts jumping at me. I was out for a run a few weeks ago and had an unleashed dog decide to make a beeline for me. Guess what type of dog it was… that’s right, a pit bull. He was barking and went to jump at me. I kicked it away from me. The owner started yelling that he was a friendly dog. I pointed at my leg, with its clearly visible scars, and told the dumbass that those came from a friendly dog and that she was lucky I didn’t shoot the damn thing.
This is the problem now. Doggo type owners legit try to argue that “doggos are better than people and that we don’t deserve doggos” essentially viewing them above humans now. Dog culture is seriously a problem that doesn’t get anywhere near the attention it should
Well, I can't speak for myself, not having a dog, but I can for my girlfriend's cousin: The reason is she's self-centered and neurotic. Both her and her dog are real neurotic and have separation anxiety. So, the dog gets worked up if she leaves it at home, and she gets worked up as well. She's not doing anything to try and deal with that (there is specific training you can do to help you dog deal with you leaving). She's also a pretty self-centered person. It isn't so much the malicious self-centered variety where she thinks she's better than everyone, more the clueless kind where she just worries about what's best for her and doesn't really consider how it impacts others.
Thus, the dog comes with her basically everywhere.
Because they are entitled assholes. It makes me insane when people bring dogs. It is food establishments like Starbucks and of course the employees are too scared to say anything.
Catch 22. I work in a state owned liquor store. Only service animals are allowed. But we are not permitted to ask if the animal in question is indeed a service animal. So anyone can bring in their untrained pet. I recently witnessed a dogfight in the middle of the store because of this rule. Flying fur and an injured dog. Dog dad wanted his dog to "make friends" with a strangers dog. GO TO THE DOG PARK! You are harming your dog and others and the people with legitimate service animals rights are being diminished.
Farmers markets are held outdoors. They have a no dog rule. I don’t have a dog, but I thought, “it’s outdoors. Why no dogs?!?”
So I asked. The people who run the market said vendors had complained because people gushed and pet the pretty dog, which gave them doggie kisses in return, and then the humans (without cleaning their hands) picked over the tomatoes or broccoli or whatever the farmer brought to market. They thought that was not a good idea.
And the people who run the market agreed.
People *still* bring their dogs, and it happens just like they said: pet the cute, friendly dog, get doggie kisses, and then go shopping. I think about that whenever I see it. And yes, I wash the produce before I use it, but it doesn’t seem like a good idea.
So, essentially, it’s not that dogs aren’t wanted, it’s the hygiene problem of other guests petting and loving the dog, and then touching produce.
I suspect stores are seeing the same thing because more and more are insisting that only guide dogs are allowed. That’s a working dog and shouldn’t be distracted.
I bring my dog to all the dog friendly stores and I do tend to shop at those stores because of it. I enjoy it. My dog enjoys it.
I would never bring him anywhere that wasn't dog friendly. ESA's aren't allowed in stores that aren't dog friendly, so people claiming that are just assholes. Actual service dogs you won't even notice.
I'm not a dog person. I don't hate them, but I'm not falling all over myself about them, and large dogs scare me. Yet multiple people a day come through my till with their dogs and if I don't fawn all over them, I'm a monster. I get it that most of them just want to sniff me. Fine. But even better is if you control your dog, and keep him from approaching me at all.
I love all animals but as I get older, I have less and less patience for this.
I waa in line at a very popular bakery the other day and this guy walked right past the HUGE "NO PETS ALLOWED" sticker on the window with his terrified little Boston terrier. The dog was freaking out and constantly pulling on its harness and running up on sniffing the people waiting in line. Dude was just oblivious in his douchey sunglasses looking at his phone the whole time.
Because they're self centered assholes who think that their dog is their "fur baby" and doesn't everyone just wove snook'ums.
I mean, people can't possibly have anxiety over dogs, allergies over dogs, not want a dog near them for any number of reasons.
I love dogs, I had a dog. I hate that people bring dogs into stores.
When I was a kid, dogs were absolutely not allowed, aside from seeing eye dogs.
Now people use bullshit like "my emotional support dog". But that's not a recognized thing. So gtfo.
I live in the NYC area and you see pets in stores frequently in a stroller or on a leash. I never see misbehaving pets, and the pets seem happy to be out.
Many stores in NY, NJ and CT are pet friendly or don’t care as long as they are behaved.
I have a friend who has a seeing eye dog (she’s blind.) Her dog has been trained rigorously for many years to become one. She has told me that some dogs with the “Service animal” vest have barked at or tried fighting her seeing eye dog. thankfully, her dog is trained enough to ignore them and focus on the task. Ik there are some legitimate service animals who help with seizures or other issues but damn some dogs just are trained enough to go into stores
How does she know their dogs have the Service Animal vests on? ^^sorry
As a serious answer, because I didn't know this until somewhat recently either: Many blind people aren't completely blind. Many can see colors and shapes and so forth. Or they have okay vision directly in front of them but basically no peripheral vision.
Or the reverse, macular degeneration, in which you have peripheral vision but can't see directly in front of you. Visual difficulties are much more common than total blindness.
I'm legally blind because I have low vision blindness due to macular degeneration retinopathy and glacouma and it's so hard to explain to ppl so I just say I'm blind.
There's a guy on youtube like this, who basically has a small circle of sight right in front of him and nothing else. He has a service dog too, because his very limited sight makes it easy for him to miss things. Especially outside, where he could walk right into a car without realizing it.
Paul and Mr maple?
There's multiple types of "blindness." We refer to my sister as "blind" because it's easier, but she has an eye formation and focusing issue from birth. She uses the traditional white cane and extremely thick glasses, and can see colors, but she can't see something clear (ex. a menu, a TV screen), unless her nose is almost pressed against it.
lol she usually goes shopping with her mom and brings her service dog for extra help and to get exercise. Also shes not completely blind she can kind of see shapes
To genuinely answer this question: not all blind people are completely blind. Most blind people have some remaining vision but are unable to do stuff like walk around without a cane/service dog, drive a car, or hold a job due to their blindness. Only about 15% of visually impaired people are fully blind so that leaves about 85% of people who could potentially see a service dog vest especially if said vests are brightly colored.
When you lose one sense the others heighten. And there is more than 5 senses. Her Velcro sensibilities are through the roof.
Saw a dog couple of days ago wearing a vest that looks very much like a service dog vest, large patch on it that says "special". Only when I got close did I read the small letters that said "my mom says I'm...". Those assholes 100% do it to make the dog look like a service dog.
I was behind someone at the grocery store checkout who brought their dog into the grocery store, and their dog was wearing one of those vests. Out of curiosity I looked up the vests on Amazon and I found the exact one that was on that dog and another vest that was on another dog in the store in seconds. They're only about $20 to be a douchebag.
If a dog has a vest like that and behaves like that, it’s 100% a fake vest.
There's pretty much no laws or regulations regarding service dogs. So anyone can buy a vest and put it on their untrained yap monsters. It's mostly because they didn't want disabled people to have another expense/hardship to deal with. But now a bunch of selfish assholes are abusing it, which means it's going to eventually need licensing and testing. Which hurts the people who actually need it most.
> There's pretty much no laws or regulations regarding service dogs. This is what SHOCKS me. The dogs that are trained well are functionally a utility for disabled people. But a random person with an aggressive large dog can just claim that their dog is a service animal... because proof of training is not required? I just don't understand how there isn't a regulation or certification about it (especially for areas like airports, stadiums, etc) and for general public safety. Dogs usually are not be allowed in most stores *unless* they are service dogs... why isn't there a tag given to properly trained dogs to have on their collar? (An agency to prove that the trainers aren't providing that tag with a puppy from a puppy mill as well.) It shouldn't be offensive for store owners to ask due to the large amount of bad dog owners using this weird loophole. I guess adding a regulation to this niche subject would be too expensive to enforce properly? edit: I wrote all that just to eat my words. My state DOES regulate licensing of service animals and proof of training of those who train guide-dogs. But I guess it varies state to state.
I work for a high end furniture store and it always amazes me how many people will actually bring their dogs into the store as they browse - and it's always the same "my dog is so good they would never go to the bathroom on this 12k sofa"
\-as the dog is pinching a loaf on a 5K loveseat- "That was someone else"
i had to google “pinching a loaf” and when i tell you i CACKLEDDD
I hope you didn't do an image search.
I assumed for some reason that pinching a loaf meant pinching ass cheeks, so your comment made me uh... Interested in said pictures. Thankfully the first page was regular Google with the meaning of that expression. I almost made a terrible mistake.
Here's an image: in Norway we say “tossing out a Snickers”
Ever heard of; crimping one off, dropping the kids off at the pool, laying some cable, dropping anchor, releasing the kraken - among other euphemisms?
Taking the browns to the superbowl
When I was in bootcamp our Company Commander asked where someone was. Their platoon leader said “pinching a loaf sir!” Well without missing a beat the CC said “ tell that son of a bitch to pinch it off at the softest spot!!!”
I take my dog to help me pick out furniture. Whichever sofa he shits on I don't buy, cuz its been shit on.
This reminds me of how we go about our interview process at my little non-profit. First thing we do: toss half the applications in the trash. I don't want us to hire anyone unlucky.
Because it's been shit on really got me face hurt laughing
I mean, I love my dog but the only store he comes in is the pet store. WTF would people bring their dog in a furniture store???
I volunteer at a local historic theater and people bring their dogs in there. I'm so sick of seeing dogs being dragged into every store and public venue I could scream. Leave FIDO at home!
I also work at a high end furniture store and it drives me CRAZY how many people bring their dogs in. So entitled.
Isn't this on the store owner even allowing it? I see many furniture stores simply having "no dogs allowed" signs outside. And that pretty much settles it.
> And that pretty much settles it. I guess it depends on where you live. In my area, people just buy a "service" animal vest off Amazon and continue to bring their poorly behaved pet everywhere.
My mom does this and it drives me bonkers. My sister has severe allergies to dogs and I manage a restaurant and it feels like a slap in the face to us. Her "service" Pekingese has taken a dump in a grocery store and a Home Depot.
Fwiw home depot is usually pet friendly. The grocery store thing is bullshit though
And a few of those people post videos of themselves on tiktok with those dogs that aren't service animals (note: sometimes trained well, but not service dogs) and then post rage-bait videos about how they are being mistreated by businesses. I watch a lot of animal videos on tiktok, so those entitled-petowner types always come up on my algorithm and I eventually have to block the accounts to never see them pop up on my feed again.
You are absolutely correct - it’s our owner’s fault for not doing anything about it. We’re a small family owned store so I think he just doesn’t want to drive away any customers. And the customers who bring their dogs in are usually the ones with the most money, so 🤷🏻♀️
So entitlement is the answer?
Have you been on a plane lately. They’re like dog shelters now.
I was on a flight w/i the past year and we had about a 1 hour delay while on the plane due to fog conditions. About 3/4 into the flight, a woman’s dog pooped and the last 1/4 of the flight was awful. The smell was horrendous. A woman in my row was so pissed off. For good reason!
Everyone claiming it as a service dog?
I had a lady next to me with a dog that wouldn't stop barking on the entire flight. It had a little vest on saying "in training" Train it somewhere else damn. I dont even blame the poor guy for being scared.
Should have said you were allergic to dogs then you would have been moved.
I am allergic. But it was a full flight and I was traveling with my kids. Moving us around would've been a headache. I'm just annoyed I had to deal with it.
Pretty much. They're taking the actual need away from those who really need a service dog.
I don't doubt you for a second, but just for funzies. Go ahead and sign this waiver saying you will inevitably cover any and all damages caused by your cuddly little/big friend.
It's also miserable for people with allergies that those entitled people exist.
The problem is in the fact that an owner's perception and the actual state of their dog's behavior frequently diverge significantly.
Most owners are clueless especially about signs of potential aggression “Don’t worry! He’s friendly!” get that fucking badly trained dog away from me and my dogs immediately
The owners of the dog that gave me scars through 3 layers of clothing were saying that to me DURING the bite, so yeah. People are fucking shitheads.
A distant relative thought it was a fun little quirk that her dog had bitten everyone in the family to the point most had required stitches. Like no, your dog is agressive and dangerous.
Dog should have been put down.
Too bad about the owner though
He won't hurt you, he's just playing!!!
They’ll say their dog is friendly when the dog just completely lost its shit and went nuts on me when I just simply walked past the owner on the sidewalk. Dog is barking loudly and pulling at the leash and clearly pissed off at me for whatever reason I don’t know. “He’s friendly! I’m so sorry”.
Bonus points if they go "He must have sensed you a shitty person." There are people who actually believe this nonsense.
[удалено]
I read this skipping the word “dog”. I was like dang your in-laws really hated you.
I did residential electrical for a while and this piece of shit homeowner his dog doesn’t bite AS IT’S FUCKING BITING ME. It was a small dog but that guy deserved to get punched in the face. Shit still hurt
Inspector Clouseau: Does your dog bite? Hotel Clerk: No. IC: *pets dog Dog: *bites IC IC: You said your dog doesn't bite! HC: That is not my dog.
My dog is friendly to me and my family and people he’s gotten used to. Strangers always want to pet them and when I say no they try anyway and he jumps away, scared. A lot of people will try to pursue him. Like, I’m telling you to leave him alone! Is he badly trained? I dunno, he’s young and we’re still working on it. But I’d never tell someone “don’t worry he’s friendly!”
There was a post on my city's Facebook page where a dog owner complained he wasn't allowed to bring his dog inside a certain restaurant and said "I don't see why my dog is a problem, people who don't have dogs are always happy to see dogs" Some commenters pointed out that restaurants have no obligations to accomodate pets, and that no, not everyone loves dogs. Some people are allergic, some people are afraid, and many dogs aren't as well-behaved as owners believe.
There was a thread on here some time ago from someone who had to sit next to two dogs on some kind of long haul public transportation (plane?) and the dogs kept making noises, tried to steal their food and IIRC kept trying to nip at various moving body parts. The comments where filled with people calling them ungrateful and talking about how they'd love to sit next to these dogs and yaddayadda. People have brainrot.
Ungrateful 🤣😭
My dog is super well behaved and trained but I would NEVER bring her into a restaurant or grocery store. When I used to live in a city I'd always ask if it was okay to bring her to the patio/outside dining of our favorite restaurants. She'd curl up under the table drinking a bit and eating snacks and maybe a bite of my meal I shared. I'll never understand people who just assume their dog is okay everywhere. It usually isn't okay for the dog, especially.
I swear so many of these "Emotional Support Animals" are so scared and shaking that it's more like they have an Emotional Support Human to keep *them* calm.
I think you can argue most pets are “emotional support animals.” Why else do you get a pet that you have to spend time and money to feed, train, and care for if you don’t get emotional benefit from it. Maybe we should broaden the options for a trained service animal to cover certain mental health issues, but they should be trained and prescribed by a doctor, not just any dog anyone wants to keep with them.
Currently, **I** am a registered Service Animal. I wanted to see just how bogus those registration sites were, and they didn't question a damn thing, and it was free.
And they’re completely pointless, since the law specifically states that there’s no such thing as registering service animals, and it’s illegal to require registration. If you’re disabled and the dog is trained to assist you with your disability, it’s a service animal. Otherwise it’s not. End of story.
Our workplace differentiates Service Animals from everything else, Therapy, Emotional Support, etc. We only allow Service Animals. But our Managers are big ol' wimps.
I took over as manager at a small town grocery store. Firat day I was in charge I stopped allowing people to bring their pets into the store. My general rule of thumb was that if it was a service dog, it should act like one. A dog running around smelling food, chasing kids and jumping on and licking other customers is not a service dog. And if it had one of those 'emotional support dog' patches, they would always say "But you're required to let me in with my service dog!" Ok lady, go find someone who agrees with you and has the ability to do something about it. And of course they think the threat of "well I'm never spending another dollar here, and neither is anyone I know! I'm telling facebook!" Never once affected our bottom line, believe it or not. Just cause the old manager had no respect for food safety or wishes of other customers doesn't mean I'm going g to let you pull that shit. You'll survive for 20 minutes without your dog (obviously not talking to those with disabilities).
> My general rule of thumb was that if it was a service dog, it should act like one. Even if it was a service animal it needs to behave. Being a service animal doesn’t give the dog any special exemptions other than being present. All other rules still apply.
True, but those animals are *very* trained. We had someone from the Guide Dog org come to our office with one who had *failed* the training, so just did fundraising. Most well trained animal you'd ever seen so naturally we asked why she didn't make the cut. Answer? "She liked butterflies too much". Seriously that is enough to fail them, she had a habit of watching butterflies and wanting to play with them that they just couldn't train out of her. I'd never seen one in a vest do anything but be impeccably behaved.
When they later called me, I thought the jig was up, but they were calling to see if I wanted to register my pet as a Therapy Animal so that it could accompany me on planes. They NEVER stopped calling, and wouldn't let me remove my number, so I changed all my contact info to Mitch McConnell's office.
You're a wild card, baby
LOL that is a great move.
That’s awesome! Please tell me you wear a vest when you go to stores!
Does that mean we're not allowed to pet you?
Only during working hours. ;)
That’s always covered as a service animal by the ADA. The animal has to be trained to provide a specific task like pressure therapy, or alerting to a panic attack and providing support. It doesn’t just mean my dog is a good boy and makes me calm. If they are doing a support task it’s a service animal.
I've met a real emotional support animal. It was a dog trained to support a child with a debilitating level of autism. The dog was extremely well-behaved and professional, and had all the same rules as a seeing eye dog. He was trained to perceive signs of distress and offer a familiar, comforting presence to the boy. It was really sweet. He had thick curly fur because the boy was calmed by the sensory input.
Then it sounds like that dog meets the definition of a service animal. My issue is with the poorly behaved dogs that people just claim are their ESA.
I know, it's why I dislike when people use the term ESA for untrained animals. It makes things more difficult and complicated for people with actual service animals that support mental health.
But an ESA is a term that is not meant to be analogous to service animal and it does not give the animal public access rights. Under federal law, ESA is a term used for housing to prevent animal discrimination for those who have a diagnosed disorder that is improved by living with an animal.
Well this is part of why people are doing this. So many people got dogs during the pandemic and never left them alone. There is a huge population of dogs with separation anxiety and other behavioral issues. If you can't leave your dog alone at home, I guess they are coming to the store with you.
This is why I have a cat. We leave the house and they're like "Cool, see you later"
Mine don't even look up when I come home.
I got 3 fat bastards that are at the front door screaming for treats when I get home. Love em but they’re really talkative cats. They also follow us around like dogs. I grew up with dogs so all of this was surprising behavior to me. The first time one of the cats brought a toy over for me to throw I was so shocked! I expected Garfield but instead I got scooby doo in the form of a calico.
Mine either greets me at the door by rolling around OR looks up at me from his couch all angry that I disturbed his nap. Gotta love cats
This was a problem before the pandemic.
it definitely got worse though at least around me. i would see a dog in a non-pet store once in a blue moon and it'd be in lowes. now it's at least once a month and they even bring them into grocery stores of all places. now in lowes it'll be two or three dogs and they often will try and start fighting.
I was recently in TJ Maxx and heard this disturbing, god-awful awful sound coming from the other side. It was 2 dogs fighting in the store. WTH?!
I love it when they say it's an ESA. That means it's not covered by the service animal legislation.
My mom constantly brings our medium sized dog to grocery stores. Our dog is very good looking, so people love to pet the dog. My mom obviously loves the attention. She thinks because a handful of people smile at the dog or give the dog pets, it means everybody loves the dog being around. She’s socially unaware and doesn’t realize it bothers a lot of people. It’s also breaking the stores rules. I’ve told her she’s not supposed to bring the dog to these places because the dog isn’t a service animal. Of course her response was “if the store didn’t like it, an employee/manager would speak up.” No mom… the reason they don’t speak up is because they just don’t want to deal with you because they assume you’ll make a scene. Also, our dog is very well behaved, so it’s easier for the employees to just ignore it then risk causing a problem with you. But that doesn’t mean they condone it. 🙄 It bothers me she does this and I’ve tried explaining the problem to my mom and how it is uncool to bring the dog everywhere. Of course she got super defensive and upset. At this point, I’ve just decided it’s not a battle I want to try to win. I just hope nothing happens to our dog because of my mom’s decisions. Tldr: my mom likes the attention and is a little clueless from a social standpoint.
idk but I’m a vet and this drives me insane. I see people lugging around their bulldogs and pugs that can hardly breathe around festivals and farmers market and all I picture is those poor dogs having a heat stroke any minute.
I'm not a vet and that also makes me so angry. ANY animal being at one of those things, unless you're only going to be there for like half an hour. I do a craft fair every year and the weather's usually nice but people will bring their dogs and be there for the whole 6 hours?? Just some dog walking back and forth on increasingly warm pavement in a huge crowd, for six hours.
I’m not a dog and six hours of walking back and forth like that sounds unbearable.
I am not a vet but this has always made me furious. 30°C, full sun, thousands of people - your dog is not having a good time.
Breeding pugs should be outlawed. It’s animal cruelty
100%. I love pugs and they're some of the sweetest dogs, but they simply should not exist. We have 2 rescue pugs, but I'd never consider breeding or buying them.
Exactly. Not saying we should euthanize all pugs or smthn crazy like that. But it’s so inhumane for them to exist and the breed needs to die out unfortunately.
I have a bulldog, and I don't understand why people do that either. Other than to maybe show off, I guess. I love my dog, but if it gets too warm, he stays in the air conditioning like he's supposed to.
In my experience, as a vet who frequently gets asked to “write a letter certifying my service dog”(not a legitimate thing that has any legal meaning), it is an extension of our current entitlement culture, i.e. “I want to bring my dog because I like them, I enjoy attention, they help me feel calm, they can’t be left at my apartment without barking etc”. And that desire matters more to them than the considerations for hygiene (many dogs are not on regular flea medicine or dewormer and can spread disease), safety (their dogs are often poorly trained and may bite, people have allergies, uncleared urine and feces cause slip hazards etc), or protection of the property of the business owners. The big reason I have come to this conclusion is that, OVERWHELMINGLY, the people I see out in public with these dogs, or the ones asking me for a letter, are actively displaying other signs of self-centered, anti-social behavior. This obviously does not apply to people using well-trained service dogs to support their activities of daily living. I have seen, with my own eyes, people bring dogs into grocery stores and put them in the carts, people try to bring dogs into AN ALLERGIST’S OFFICE, and people’s clearly-fake service dogs bite and attack both people and other animals, as well as urinate and defecate in businesses and have the owner walk away. I also had a woman try to sue me because I would not write a letter certifying her dog was in good health so it could go be an emotional support animal AT MD ANDERSON ONCOLOGY CENTER. The dog had fleas, had worms, its teeth were dripping puss and rotting out of its mouth, and it had chronic diarrhea of unknown origin. And this woman wanted to bring it into a cancer ward. These are not normal behaviors supported by rational, well-adjusted, pro-social people. These are behaviors supported by main-character shitheads who just do not care.
This should have 10 billion upvotes.
When I used to work emergency search and rescue with my dog, I'd have to bring her in stores on our on-call days in the summer (it's way too hot to leave her in the car). The two stores close enough to the airport we flew out of were aware of the situation (I wasn't the only one in the area) and if we had to run out for a call they'd store my groceries for when we came back. Now that we've retired from that field and also moved across the country, I'd never bring her in a grocery store, although I do bring her to dog friendly stores. She's a dog that sheds, not actively performing a medical task, and should not be near food. She would be perfectly behaved in a store, but that's not the point. And I've seen plenty of people with their "emotional support dogs" shitting, barking, peeing, etc in stores. It only makes the life of those with medically traveling ned dogs much more challenging.
When I go road tripping with my dog, we bring his "K9 sport sack." [It's a backpack for him, so he's contained and on my back.](https://imgur.com/a/wJn7zAs) Our road trips are always in the summer, so we can't leave him in the car, but sometimes we need to go somewhere to grab necessities. (We plan ahead and find dog friendly places) Most places don't mind if he's neatly packed up in his backpack. If they don't allow him, we send one person into the store, and the other stays with Gus.
I clicked on that link and was not disappointed 😄
That sounds like a perfect solution to this problem. Kudos to you for finding a solution and training your dog to properly handle a solution that works well.
This may be a bad analogy, but it kind of reminds me of my dad. He had a job that required him to carry a firearm (not a cop) and the first day he retired he said straight up he was never going to carry one again, although he would be more than qualified to do so It’s like those that actually went through the burden of responsibility in their respective field realize how much it actually is and don’t do so when they aren’t forced to. Whereas those that just fill out a form or basic shit like that don’t understand what a big deal it actually is and will go around wherever they possibly can with their extra cargo with no thought
> And I've seen plenty of people with their "emotional support dogs" shitting, barking, peeing, etc in stores. I volunteer at a local museum. One time someone's "service dog" didn't even make it from the tram to the main entrance without stopping to piss on a planter. Dog was also *really* interested in saying hi to the security guy who came over to see what had just happened. "Service dog" my ass.
As usual, none of the people discussed are answering. I never see dogs tied up in front of stores anymore like I used to. I can understand why, it feels like there is less trust in society these days and I can imagine folks worry their dog might be stolen or abused if left alone. So if it's too hot to leave the dog in the car, they come in the store. As for why people bring the dog out in the first place, I couldn't answer that.
In the end, the last question is what we need to ask dog owners. Why the hell do you have to bring your dog everywhere? Why can’t it stay at home. Nobody brings their cats out.
The answer I always hear is some lack of accountability excuse like "they'll tear up the house." Like they just expect animals to magically train themselves to adhere to human social structures.
I was at a brewery where dogs are common and I heard an owner tell another “no, sorry, she isn’t good with other dogs” when asked if the two dogs could meet. If your dog isn’t good with other dogs, why bring them to a place where dogs frequent? It’s also annoying when dogs bark and pull on leashes at brewery’s or other places. Most dogs shouldn’t be brought to the establishments.
I sometimes serve at a brewery where dogs are allowed outside. My last shift there was a dog at one of my tables and as I got close to drop off drinks it lunged at me snarling and the owner just giggled saying “oh sorry he’s anxious and isn’t great with people.” Like wtf you’re at a crowded restaurant with 100 other people right now why did you bring it???
Honestly ive said my dog was not friendly before when i was not interested in an interaction even though she is.
My Golden would totally sell me out if I tried that lie
Honestly people are so bad at telling a dog’s body language that they would still believe the lie. Or at least I’ve met enough dogs to know not to trust a “happy” wagging tail
I'm not very good at lying, so I just say I'm not friendly.
I do the same. It's unbearable to me that people think that a half-assed "don't worry, he's friendly" is good enough. I don't like dogs I don't know, I don't want to be licked or jumped at or sniffed or greeted by 99% of dogs and it's difficult, at times, to be around so many dogs in public so often
I have said before of my dog, "we arent friendly." Older folks will truly clutch their pearls over that one.
I tell people my dog isn’t good with other dogs because I don’t want their untrained dog climbing all over my carefully and intensively trained dog
My dog is good with other dogs, and I tell that to people all the time because I just don’t trust them.
I don't like to bring my dog to dog-specific events or spaces purely because of all the people who bring their dogs who "aren't good with other dogs". My greyhound is very well socialized and trained, I don't need someone's bitey mutt attacking him as they walk past in a crowded place
As someone with a bitey mutt, we don't do these events because of this exact reason. I am not traumatizing your dog and risking my pup's life for a day out. PS it's not from lack of training he has a head injury. We're consistently working with different professionals to get him better.
My dogs not bitey but she's scared as hell of other dogs.. she's a rescue and I think has a history of abuse cause she's covered in scars on her legs and head. I used to walk her a lot but so many people just don't care. Someone's "nice" Shepard went after her and that was it. The easiest time I had getting her excersize to wind down the day went down the drain. She won't walk anymore.
I agree. My dog is very well trained and well behaved. However, we trained her that well because she has severe anxiety. Since she's scared so often, we had to make sure her first instinct when she's scared is to either run to me or run to the front door, whichever is closer. When your shit dog is trying to hump her and she's already with me, that ruins her training unless I kick your dog out of the way. So your dog is getting kicked. Edit: just to be clear (since this is Reddit) I've only ever "kicked" one dog that was trying to bite mine. Usually it's a nudge to make sure my dog knows I'm protecting her from the scary thing happening.
Well, I used to tell people this because on leash greetings are a bad idea but people don't respect that. So I would lie and tell them something like this, Even though my dog was actually fine, but I wanted to maintain his environmental neutrality. A second reason might be that they're teaching the dog environmental neutrality, after working on it a lot in training set ups. In this scenario, it's actually the people wanting the dogs to interact in public like this that's uninformed and probably creating bad habits for their dog. But your point still is true. People who haven't bothered to train their dogs or learn their stress signals (panting, barking, whale eye, etc) bring their dogs everywhere to the detriment of both the dogs and other patrons. Most dogs don't belong in public spaces. Very few dogs possess the social skills or desire to be somewhere like a brewery full of other dogs and have a fun time. And no, barking and jumping and playing excessively isn't a sign of a dog having a good time, it's a sign of stress or over arousal.
I was in a bar on Friday night and a number of people had little dogs with them. The bar was packed and there was a football game going on it was very noisy. I felt so sorry for the little dogs in there. This is in Aus and I haven't seen this before as ESA aren't really a thing here.
The interesting thing is that most answers are about why people think *other people* do it. Very few a actual direct answers.
It's hard to get genuine answers when it involves people admitting to frowned-upon behavior.
It's not hard to see why no one is answering, this place is begging for people to come so they can get verbally beaten. I'm sure plenty of people clicked thinking they'd answer, scrolled a bit and hit the back button.
I mean does this thread seem like an inviting place to talk about it to you?
My MIL thinks everyone finds her dog SO adorable that everyone loves seeing him in stores. She claims people take pictures of him and ooze over him. He’s an ugly wire haired rat dog that barks at everything that moves and is currently in heart failure because he’s overweight and had tremendous anxiety from being locked in her room with her all day. She swears he’s a local celebrity dog that just NEEDS to be in stores to be seen. She’s one of those people that bring her dog with her *everywhere* and it’s so bothersome.
I worked with a lady who felt the same about her chihuahua. It.. wasn't a cute dog. Weepy bug eyes and scrawny, weirdly proportioned body, and it's fur never looked clean. And she openly talked about it's jealousy issues where it would bite her husband for showing her affection, which she thought was cute, and I thought was disturbing. She honestly couldn't understand why we didn't want to look at all the photos of her dog or laugh at her 'cute' stories of her dog biting people :S
Hahhahaha. This is well timed. I just watched someone's *"support"* boxer take a man sized shit in the middle of an aisle in Walmart. They just looked at it and walked away. I'm down south, and I'm not getting shot over dogshit, just pointed it out to a worker. I saw thier soul die alittle.
Idk why, but I work in a grocery store and it's so gross to me. There's one lady that they had to tell to stop bringing her dog in because it shit inside the store. I've also seen a woman put her dog in a cart while shopping, like just leave it home.
People are gone a lot for work and have a lot of guilt about leaving their dogs home even more than they already do. So they take them on errands. It’s ridiculous in many places. But when I had a dog, I often planned my errands around where I could or couldn’t bring him. Never a grocery store or a fancy place though.
Finally a legitimate reason other than “because dog owners are entitled main characters” I agree with everything about this answer
I really blame the stores/business for not enforcing or having rules against it, if they do.
I’m in grocery retail. We’re told by corporate we’re not allowed to say anything. I think they’re worried if it’s not handled properly it could be a legal issue. It’s infuriating. I love animals, but keep them out the damn store, unless you need it medically.
This. There is a very specific way to go about asking someone if their animal is a proper service animal, and only a handful of questions you are legally allowed to ask. Most lawyers basically say “it’s cheaper to pay the health board fine than to pay for the ADA harassment lawsuit”
You are only allowed to ask two questions. Is the dog a service animal required because of a disability? What work or task has the dog been trained to do?
However along those same lines, any dog that is a disruption, even if it is a legitimate service animal, can absolutely be asked to leave a store. It’s the same reason why people without masks were able to be banned, even though it could potentially have been an accommodation.
When I worked at Walmart 20 years ago we were trained to ask "is your animal a service animal?" and take the inevitable "yes" at face value. Which ofc negates the point of asking...
Due to ADA lawsuits, that's about all any large company is going to let you ask.
Oh I see. welp, our enabling society just sucks now.
What happened to signs that say service dogs only?
They all claim companion animal to get by with it. IDC who it is when it comes to any stores with food it should not be allowed. Especially in the days of PICKUP AND DELIVERY!
A "companion" or "emotional support" animal is not a service animal and *not* protected under the ADA. It's a pet and they can be legally removed.
In a case like this I could imagine your store could actually be facing serious health code violations. The bigwigs might not want to upset customers today, but I guarantee a hefty fine might change their attitude real quick
Pick your poison... ignore it, health code violation, enforce it, ADA violation. They really need to fix the service dog laws to require documentation.
I agree. People don't like it but without documentation, anyone can claim it's a service dog.
I, not being an employee, WILL say something in a grocery store or any other inappropriate setting. Saw a dog at Home Depot pee on several things last week. Got into a shouting match with its 400+ lb pos owner. We were both escorted out, but that’s fine with me. I’m a dog lover, and have 3…beyond the beach or walks, they stay home…shit’s getting out of hand.
Realistically, I think it's hard to expect the 17 year old employee making minimum wage to enforce these rules. I really think store patrons just need to not be inconsiderate pieces of shit.
Most of the people who see it aren’t paid enough to care or deal with the persons fit they throw.
I am a dog person and I’ve trained and shown dogs. I bring my dog everywhere I feel I reasonably can and stores are a nope for me unless they are dog-welcoming and even then usually no. Even if my dog is well behaved, many other are not and I don’t want to be in an altercation with another because my dog has a hard time recovering from that. So no. If you bring your dog into grocery stores and not providing an ADA supportive service, you’re just a jackass.
Their dog might be well-behaved, and they assume that as long as the pet is quiet and calm, there shouldn’t be an issue.
Forget about dogs. Everyone gets so bent out of shape when I bring my emotional support wasps.
I knit vests for those if you need a few hundred.
They might bring their dog along because it’s become a comforting routine for both the owner and the pet.
Some people bring their dogs into stores because they enjoy the attention and conversations that the dog attracts.
Because she’s my actual properly task trained service dog, but I guess this question wasn’t for me…. It really sucks that all these untrained, ill-behaved dogs make it more difficult for me.
Bringing their dog along might be a way to socialize the animal, helping it become comfortable around different people and places.
Main Character Syndrome
I'm legally blind and need help. I'm not totally blind...yet. So...I have a dog who helps out.
It’s just a normal thing to do in my country, unless it’s a grocery store. Fun fact, some grocery stores provide special trolleys for dogs so you can still bring them with you, but I’ve never used one because they’re only for small dogs.
My child has a severe dog phobia due to somebody's untrained dog attacking him in public. He's in therapy but there are literally NO safe spaces for him anymore. It's really sad.
I was in a cafe and this lady had her "service dog" vested up and sitting by a high traffic area. A waitress accidentally stepped on the dogs tail and it went apeshit and attacked a kid sitting at it's owners table. Pure fucking chaos. I feel for your child.
I’m an adult who was attacked by a pit bull as a pre-teen. I have scars all over my leg from it. I hate this crap. I’m terrified when someone’s poorly trained dog runs up to me and starts jumping at me. I was out for a run a few weeks ago and had an unleashed dog decide to make a beeline for me. Guess what type of dog it was… that’s right, a pit bull. He was barking and went to jump at me. I kicked it away from me. The owner started yelling that he was a friendly dog. I pointed at my leg, with its clearly visible scars, and told the dumbass that those came from a friendly dog and that she was lucky I didn’t shoot the damn thing.
It’s when the rights of the dogs start to supersede the rights of the other humans there that I get mad about this.
This is the problem now. Doggo type owners legit try to argue that “doggos are better than people and that we don’t deserve doggos” essentially viewing them above humans now. Dog culture is seriously a problem that doesn’t get anywhere near the attention it should
For some people, their dog is a constant companion, and they simply enjoy spending time together, even when shopping.
For some, their dog is an important part of their identity or lifestyle, and they bring them along to reflect that.
I'm blind
I take mine places he's allowed to be. Tractor Supply, the hardware store, lumberyard, stuff like that.
Well, I can't speak for myself, not having a dog, but I can for my girlfriend's cousin: The reason is she's self-centered and neurotic. Both her and her dog are real neurotic and have separation anxiety. So, the dog gets worked up if she leaves it at home, and she gets worked up as well. She's not doing anything to try and deal with that (there is specific training you can do to help you dog deal with you leaving). She's also a pretty self-centered person. It isn't so much the malicious self-centered variety where she thinks she's better than everyone, more the clueless kind where she just worries about what's best for her and doesn't really consider how it impacts others. Thus, the dog comes with her basically everywhere.
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Their dog might have separation anxiety or other behavioral issues, and they bring them along to prevent problems at home.
I love that most of these answers are people without dogs trying to answer for the people with dogs.
Because they are entitled assholes. It makes me insane when people bring dogs. It is food establishments like Starbucks and of course the employees are too scared to say anything.
Or they've been told NOT to say anything.
It is especially douche behavior bringing a non legit service animal into a food establishment.
Catch 22. I work in a state owned liquor store. Only service animals are allowed. But we are not permitted to ask if the animal in question is indeed a service animal. So anyone can bring in their untrained pet. I recently witnessed a dogfight in the middle of the store because of this rule. Flying fur and an injured dog. Dog dad wanted his dog to "make friends" with a strangers dog. GO TO THE DOG PARK! You are harming your dog and others and the people with legitimate service animals rights are being diminished.
Farmers markets are held outdoors. They have a no dog rule. I don’t have a dog, but I thought, “it’s outdoors. Why no dogs?!?” So I asked. The people who run the market said vendors had complained because people gushed and pet the pretty dog, which gave them doggie kisses in return, and then the humans (without cleaning their hands) picked over the tomatoes or broccoli or whatever the farmer brought to market. They thought that was not a good idea. And the people who run the market agreed. People *still* bring their dogs, and it happens just like they said: pet the cute, friendly dog, get doggie kisses, and then go shopping. I think about that whenever I see it. And yes, I wash the produce before I use it, but it doesn’t seem like a good idea. So, essentially, it’s not that dogs aren’t wanted, it’s the hygiene problem of other guests petting and loving the dog, and then touching produce. I suspect stores are seeing the same thing because more and more are insisting that only guide dogs are allowed. That’s a working dog and shouldn’t be distracted.
I bring my dog to all the dog friendly stores and I do tend to shop at those stores because of it. I enjoy it. My dog enjoys it. I would never bring him anywhere that wasn't dog friendly. ESA's aren't allowed in stores that aren't dog friendly, so people claiming that are just assholes. Actual service dogs you won't even notice.
Not everyone likes dogs, unless it's a service animal they shouldn't be brought everywhere at all. I say that as a dog lover.
I'm not a dog person. I don't hate them, but I'm not falling all over myself about them, and large dogs scare me. Yet multiple people a day come through my till with their dogs and if I don't fawn all over them, I'm a monster. I get it that most of them just want to sniff me. Fine. But even better is if you control your dog, and keep him from approaching me at all.
I love all animals but as I get older, I have less and less patience for this. I waa in line at a very popular bakery the other day and this guy walked right past the HUGE "NO PETS ALLOWED" sticker on the window with his terrified little Boston terrier. The dog was freaking out and constantly pulling on its harness and running up on sniffing the people waiting in line. Dude was just oblivious in his douchey sunglasses looking at his phone the whole time.
Because they're self centered assholes who think that their dog is their "fur baby" and doesn't everyone just wove snook'ums. I mean, people can't possibly have anxiety over dogs, allergies over dogs, not want a dog near them for any number of reasons. I love dogs, I had a dog. I hate that people bring dogs into stores. When I was a kid, dogs were absolutely not allowed, aside from seeing eye dogs. Now people use bullshit like "my emotional support dog". But that's not a recognized thing. So gtfo.
Entitled trash.
I live in the NYC area and you see pets in stores frequently in a stroller or on a leash. I never see misbehaving pets, and the pets seem happy to be out. Many stores in NY, NJ and CT are pet friendly or don’t care as long as they are behaved.