[QUOTE=NRB;5570703]
I do not take her inside stores like Lowes or Home Depot where she’ll likely encounter a service dog. .[/QUOTE]
Dogs are allowed in these stores. At least in my local ones they are. So what if we encounter a service dog? My dogs are leashed and well-mannered and aren’t going to bound over with a tennis ball, inviting the service dog to ditch its human and go for a romp.
My very well-behaved and socialized dogs go with me to run errands and quick trips to stores where dogs are permitted. Most of them are rescues and this was one way to get them socialized. I also know the places/people that we go visit.
Around here, that does NOT include food stores/shops per the health dept regulations - thankfully!
They are welcomed by the shop owners/workers who know them by name and spoil them outrageously.
My dogs also are much better behaved than 90% of the children we encounter - perhaps one of the reasons that my dogs are welcome where we go! 
My chihuahuas weekly treat is going to Tractor Supply! They both know how to make the automatic door open, follow me wherever I go, don’t bother anybody and usually end up in some kid’s arms. It’s never been a problem. If there are other dogs in the store, I just put mine in the basket. The cashiers always have a treat for them when we leave!
I am not a dog owner, but I’m delighted to see a well trained and sociable dog anywhere.
I take my JRT to PetCo/Smart, I took him to Home Depot as a pup, but there is so much in there that could hurt him, so no more.
Frederick,MD has an event they call First Saturdays, the first sat of each month;), a lot of the stores let pups in, a few restaurants open patios for pups to eat. I try to take him to all of those. He loves to sit in my lap and be fed a hamburger off the fork:lol:
He is better behaved than many children!
LBR
Home Depot in Canada is banning pets from its stores after one of it’s employees was bitten.
:dead:
He does get his own, hamburger and fork:D
LBR
Still :dead:
I try to take my dog lots of places with me, but I grew up/still live (according to my DL ;)) in a community that was very dog friendly. The majority of stores that don’t serve food let you have leashed dogs inside, and the stores that don’t allow that have water bowls outside and dog biscuits on the counter.
My dog is young, and most of dog experience has been with my grandparents unsocialized, ill mannered dogs, and I’ll be damned if I will let my dog be that.
I think getting dogs out is how you get good dogs that can go into a business, lay down and put their head down and nap until you tell them its time to get up and leave
My two go into Lowes and Petco. They both know how to behave on a leash in public because I have taken them to these places. It is a great way to teach manners in a chaotic, people filled place.
Depends on the store and what dog I have in the truck with me. The Basset & Treeing Walker ~ nope, in the truck they stay unless its PetsMart. If it is too hot to stay in the truck they stay home. The Aussie on the other hand - by my side. She LOVES TSC, the local Feed Store, ACE hardware, HomeDepot.
The guys at the feed store keep trying to convince me to let the Hounds out of the truck with her (since everyone’s dogs usually hang out in the loading bay) ~ but those two are notorious for getting on a scent and following their noses oblivious to being recalled unless on leash. And the Basset on leash is not the friendliest dog to everyone (someone forgot to tell him that adult males are not always going to bother me or my truck) - I get him out at PetsMart or the dog park for socialization off the farm, but even then I have to keep an eye on him.
My biggest pet peeve is people who just assume that a dog in the bed of a truck is there for them to pet as they walk by sigh
I would love to figure out how to mount a sign on my truckbed that says “Do NOT Pet the Bassett Hound” - if he is in the truck and a guy tries to reach towards the truck bed he will threaten to snap (so far he has never actually bitten, but it only takes once)…kids & women, no problems. The Walker - that overgrown pup will wash your face. The Aussie, well, if you have a ball she’ll get into YOUR car if we aren’t around to tell her not to (she’s been taken twice grrr which is another reason she goes WITH me when she is in the truck, or she is put into the cab)
[QUOTE=The Shadow;5570039]
Mine also shopped for his treats. He would start at the end of the row and check each bin. Always picked the same thing.[/QUOTE]
thankfully her favorite is the 75 cent turkey patty raw hides. She knows right where they are and makes a bee-line everytime we walk in.
My two Black Russian Terriers LOVE to go with me places. Their favs are TSC, PetsMart, Walmart and Lowe’s. They are very well behaved. The only problem is that taking them makes the errands take 3-4 times longer, because some many people come up to pet them and ask what they are.
Dogs are allowed at Home Depot and Lowes? Really?? Never seen them there.
[QUOTE=xsalute;5572094]
Dogs are allowed at Home Depot and Lowes? Really?? Never seen them there.[/QUOTE]
I didn’t know it either, until Faith, one of my border collies, and I signed up to do the little Petsmart obedience course. Our helpful instructor supplied us with a list of stores that allow dogs and encouraged us to take advantage of the socialization opportunities.
“Do you take your dogs into stores?”
Yes. Especially TSC. My dogs go in for training. Our store welcomes my dogs because I am there with a well trained dog with an appropriate temperament for being in public. If I have a novice dog who is not used to the distractions of working in public, I take more care, I don’t do distance behaviors and I keep it to about 10 minutes or less.
I far prefer TSC or other stores like that to PetSmart because of the “other dog” factor. I know I can protect my dog from other people, but other people and their dogs…sometimes not.
“Sounds like she’s trying to socialize a shy dog. Why “yikes”?”
It sounded to me like she was shopping. Socialization is a training task and she sure didn’t sound like she was training.
Yes, I’ll take my (well behaved) dog to Petsmart, Petco, TSC, and even Home Depot if I have to stop there when the dog is with me. I’ve also been invited into smaller stores with my dog. I was waiting out front of Radioshack with my dog while my dad was inside, and the manager asked me to bring my dog inside because she wanted to pet her:lol:
Well, if it’s PetSmart or TSC or a pet store where it’s permitted, I would. If I had only one of them. If it’s a grocery store or a department store or some other place like that, of course not.
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