S/O dog thread- Do you bring your dog shopping?

[SummerBaby]

I'm totally fascinated by stories of people taking their dogs shopping. Other than service dogs, the only dogs I've ever seen in stores are "pocketbook" dogs- little toy dogs that fit in a handbag and probably weigh less than 10 lbs. And that is really unusual here in NY. I'm not disturbed by this at all, and I'm a total dog lover. I just can't see taking my 6 month old, 55 lb Labrador anywhere but the pet store. He is completely potty trained and wouldn't pee or poop, but he is very happy and his wagging tail would wipe shelves clean. The thought of taking him to Pottery Barn makes ME want to pee myself! And Clothing stores?? His fur would be everywhere. As much as I love him dearly and think he's charming, I can see where people would be put off by a lumbering big dog in a store.

So, if you do bring your dog shopping, how big is (s)he? Where do you shop? Has anyone brought a dog to the mall?

[TwinFoxes]

I took my 20# cocker mix to Bloomies once in an outdoor mall (the one at Century City for those who know it). I think it had been raining and he needed exercise. And once on DHs birthday I mistimed things, and didn't have time to take our Boxer home after agility training, so I took him to Papyrus (again, in Century City). Other than that, I've only taken them to pet stores I think. My Boxer was well behaved, but I was still on edge the whole time. The employees loooooved him. (He was a very striking dog). But really, it's not my thing.

[basil]

I've taken my 8 lb bichon mix to petco or petsmart a bunch of times. But not anywhere else. I would feel odd about it, and she would not enjoy it. She doesn't love other dogs and doesn't love people walking up to us.

Autocorrect wanted bichon to be bitching, which is sort of appropriate for her personality :)

[BunnyBee]

No. We have larger breeds, but I don't think I would with smaller dogs either. We don't live in a walkable city, and I just don't bring them if I'm running errands. I love my dogs, but it's a big enough pain bringing children along. Who needs the hassle?

[mackmama]

I had a smaller dog (not a toy breed) that I took a lot of places, but I don't think I ever brought him to a mall. I don't think the malls around here allow dogs. I did bring him to some of my college and grad school classes. He slept next to my chair. He also often came to work with me when I worked at a place where most people brought their dogs.

[daisysmom]

We have two upscale malls near us and one labels itself and it's stores as dog friendly. I have taken our labs there - particularly when I was on the board of our SPCA because those stores have been very generous financially to our SPCA.

[maestramommy]

Dh brings Shep when he goes to Lowes or Home Depot. I don't think he would be allowed anywhere else since he's not an assistance dog. And yeah sometimes I will bring him to Petsmart, but that is more usually if he has a vet appt.

[zukeypur]

Dh picked up some overtime in a nearby town last summer. I went with him since the company was paying for the hotel and the kids were out of town with the inlaws. Since it was so last minute, i couldn't find a place to board my italian greyhounds. I had to check out of the hotel by noon, but he didn't get off of work until 3:00. I went to all of the places that allow dogs to avoid sitting in the car for 3 hours in the heat. First Petsmart, then Lowes, and planned on Home Depot but decided against it after the Lowes incident. I asked before i took my dogs in and made sure it was ok. Most everyone was ok with it, but some jerk called me names that cannot be repeated, and started cussing up a storm in anger over me having my dogs in there. At the time, we were entertaining the thought of a possible move to that city. That, and a few other terrible occurances that day changed my mind. I HATE that town, and I will never take my dogs anywhere again. Ever.

[twowhat?]

Wow, zukey...that sucks:(

Petsmart is the only place I've brought our dogs.

Our male was perfectly housebroken, great temperament, but I'd still be terrified he'd lose it and pee in a store. There's just too much temptation, too many smells...

Our female - we don't even take her for walks (when DH tries and takes the leash out, she hides). The poor thing is SO NERVOUS when she's not safely inside our house and is the happiest homebody dog I have ever seen.

[kbud]

I just saw the other thread and moved post there where it is more appropriate:)

[StantonHyde]

not shopping. But I do take him through the coffee drive through where he is much loved. I have him when I pick up DS from school--dog looooooves kids and loooooves to be petted. perfect combo-kids crowd around him and you can just see him thinking--"oh wait, someone is not petting my left rear hindquarters, ok, now make sure you are petting my right shoulder, ok, lets' get the right ribcage..."

[JamiMac]

I have not taken mine to any stores other than PetSmart, a time or two. I really like to shop alone! :) It doesn't bother me at all to see dogs out though, it's just not my style. I cannot recall ever seeing one in a store that was not leashed.
We have taken ours to restaurant patios that were dog-friendly, while traveling. Much better than sitting in a hot car! I've also taken mine to dog-friendly hotels while traveling, but of course, always on a leash. Most higher-end hotels allow dogs.

[hellokitty]

My previous dog hated other dogs, so we never took her even to pet stores. Our current dog LOVES everyone... a little too much. He has been to pet stores, but he is so skittish and excitable that it stresses me out and I think he gets stressed out too. So, I don't take him shopping anymore. My sil has a tea cup yorkie who is only about 4 lbs and she sticks him in her purse, but he is a very anti-social dog, and esp dislikes children. I could see him biting a child that reached out to pet him.

[MelissaTC]

I have taken my Pekepoo to Pet Smart and the local pet store but that's it. He is welcome there, especially our local store.

[elliput]

My current dog hasn't really been anywhere as she is just too excitable still. She's an almost 2yo Great Pyr/St. Bernard mix.

[AnnieW625]

No we have never taken our dog shopping. She is a 80lb lab with lots of energy and she has never even been to the pet store.

[khm]

Just PetSmart, but only when she gets groomed there. We leave her and usually go eat at a nearby restaurant or go to a nearby Target, etc. until she's done.

If she isn't getting groomed, we don't take her. We rarely are JUST going to PetSmart, so she doesn't go on non-grooming visits.

They have classes there, and I know some people gasp in horror at the thought of a PetSmart class, but ours is really good. The gal who teaches them there, with her golden (who is a therapy dog for hospitals and nursing homes), is great. We often "meet" other dogs who are doing their assignments in the store, its fun. :)

Taking dogs to non-pet stores just isn't a thing here. At all. I've never noticed a dog at Home Depot, let alone a grocery store or restaurant. I think people would get a serious side-eye here.

It is a very regional thing, for sure. Lots of dogs come to the kids' soccer / baseball games. But, there are a couple fields that forbid it and the sheet we get with the field locations/driving directions points out where dogs aren't welcome. We don't usually take ours to away games, but do to home games. The setup is such that she can have a good time without interacting with anyone who doesn't want to interact with her. She's always leashed, and we always sit away from other spectators. If they chose to come say hi to her, that's fine, but she's not forced on anyone. :)

We did used to live in the Bay Area and yeah, it was a bit jarring at first because it just was unusual to this Midwestern girl. But, no dogs I ever saw in stores caused any bother at all....... Not a one, and I saw quite a few. The mall I went to most was open air, so lots of dogs in the open air part, as well as in the shops. Lots of trendy restaurants with outdoor seating, etc. I got used to seeing it pretty quick. We didn't have a dog when we lived there, so we didn't partake. ;)

An acquaintance trains dogs for veterans to have as therapy dogs. I can't recall the name of the program right now, but I've seen it on the news here a lot. He brought the dog to a Tae Kwon Do banquet we attended. And, I've seen pics of him on Facebook with the dog at military send-offs / welcome-home events (so, a BIG venue) at the local base, at restaurants and at other events. I've chatted with him about it and it was pretty cool, those dogs are great and I'm all in favor of it for the veterans who need/want them. The dog he was training was only 1/2 way through his program, but was a complete champ in my eyes! I think it's great to see them curled up at their minder's feed, minding their own business, in the middle of a loud event.

It is programs like this that will suffer from the backlash of all these fake therapy / emotional support animals. I don't know the answer though. :(

[Green_Tea]

We have a shih tzu/poodle mix and he hates the car, so we don't take him anywhere. He's a rescue, and I think it would be hard to undo the years before we had him. He's a homebody.

Someday we will get a puppy, and I plan to bring her out a lot. I would like to be able to bring a dog to the pet store, field hockey games, on quick errands, etc. We are definitely the kind of people who consider our dog to be part of the family, and would like them to be along for the ride.

[arivecchi]

I've taken my dogs to the local Petco as well as the boutiquey type pet stores nearby. There is one store that requires that male dogs wear wraps so they don't lift a leg and pee inside the store.

The only other places we take our dogs are to the vet and football and baseball games. :) We have taken them house hunting because their being able to run around safely was part of the equation and we were going to be house hunting all day - so they came. We didn't bring them inside the houses though.

[Kindra178]

Many different types of dog stores. M is also my co-pilot on trips to the grocery store/Target/school pickup. She also joins me at my book club when hosted by certain friends.

[doberbrat]

My first cocker and my doberman were active competition dogs and were involved in pet therapy. As part of their training, I took them to stores like Home Depot, all the local pet stores, outdoor resteraunts, and trains. As therapy dogs, they went to hospitals and nursing homes. So those 2 went lots of places.

Now that I have kids, I no longer have time/$$ for dog activities so my dogs are just pets. They go on school pickup/drop off, petstores, and thats pretty much it. I do take them when I walk to the pharmacy and the grocery store, but they stay outside leashed to something stationary. and I RUN in/out of the store. Fortunately (or not) Teddy has seperation anxiety and 1 minute after I walk away, he starts screaming like a banshee so I can usually hear him in the store and not worry that anyone is stealing him. ;)

[rlu]

We took the dogs (BBD and LGD) to the pet stores but not inside other stores. We left them home most of the time.

We haven't taken the pup into the world yet due to parvo concerns. He just got his 2nd vax and the vet said it would be ok to take him on walks but suggested not dog parks/pet stores yet. We won't be taking him shopping with us until he's had his third vax and then only to the pet stores.

SIL used to take her pom shopping but she was in one of those dog purse-like carriers. They were giving the pom pallitive care and didn't like to leave her alone. She passed after 4 months of caregiving.

eta: DH would like to train our pup to be a therapy dog but he is showing startle responses to loud noises and I'm not sure he's suited to the task. He'll certainly never be a gun dog. If we continue with therapy training, we would take him out to more places (that allow dogs).

[doberbrat]

eta: DH would like to train our pup to be a therapy dog but he is showing startle responses to loud noises and I'm not sure he's suited to the task. He'll certainly never be a gun dog. If we continue with therapy training, we would take him out to more places (that allow dogs).

FWIW, most dogs can be desensitized to loud noises. Esp w/a pup as young as yours.

RE the gun dog comment, when I had Jake take the American Temperment Test, one of the 'tests' is a gunshot at reasonably close range behind the dog. He didnt so much as blink and the tester asked if he was deaf. I looked at Jake and said "want a cookie?" and he started dancing. I told the tester, cockers are supposed to be gun dogs - wouldn't be very useful if he ran at the first shot. We passed ;)

[trales]

our newf goes to petco and other "farm" stores. She also comes with me to my lab on Sunday's, I don't like being the only one in the building on Sunday afternoons, so I bring her just for peace of mind.

[StantonHyde]

our newf goes to petco and other "farm" stores. She also comes with me to my lab on Sunday's, I don't like being the only one in the building on Sunday afternoons, so I bring her just for peace of mind.

this made me chuckle--knowing Newfies--she would lick someone to death????:loveeyes: such sweet dogs!

[trales]

this made me chuckle--knowing Newfies--she would lick someone to death????:loveeyes: such sweet dogs!

She would totally lick them to death, but she would notice if anyone is around, and she is so big, that if someone tried to open the lab door and saw her, they might think twice about it. She likes to "greet" people on the other side of the door, by putting her paws on the door window and barking. I encourage this since they leave me alone to get my work done.