Dogs in supermarkets? WDYT?

[SSecret Squirrel]

I was in Coles earlier in the week and a woman had a small dog in a bag. I noticed it because it's head was sticking out the top. She kept on patting it and then touched food on the shelves (vomit).

It really annoyed me.

Tried complaining but the 15 year old at the checkout did not care.

I ended up phoning this morning and the manager agreed that the dog shouldn't have been in the shop, but beyond that did not care and basically said that if I was offended I should have spoken to a manager at the time. Erm I would have but there was noone there apart from two teens at the checkout.

Am I being precious? Thoughts?

[Kalina]

It probably wouldn't have mattered to me personally as long as the dog remained in the handbag. I guess partly because the dog was restrained, and partly because I assume most people's hands are filthy anyway, dog or no dog.

Having said that, I think it's absolutely reasonable to be annoyed, because animals aren't supposed to be there - whether a person is scared or revolted, doesn't matter why, the supermarket should be enforcing its own rules. I bet he would have taken it seriously if you'd said it was a big dog, imagine the lawsuits if someone was bitten.

[SSecret Squirrel]

I think what annoyed me most was that she was blatantly disregarding the rules re bringing dogs into supermarkets and I am (mostly) a huge stickler for the rules.

In this instance I think I'm even more annoyed than I would normally be because a FB page for my suburb has a large contingent of people who are very precious about their dogs. So precious that they do not like leaving the home and have posted tips and tricks about how to sneak small dogs into supermarkets, the best bags to buy hide them in etc.

[Mod-Degrassi]

I recently saw a young guy in Woolworths with a Dachshund strapped to him in a baby sling. The checkout staff didn't bat an eyelid.

I'm a stickler for rules too, so I'm not keen when I see people blatantly breaking them.

Society seems to have become very 'dog friendly' in the last 5 years or so, to the point where a lot of people seem to think their pooch should go wherever they go. In reality, there are places and situations that are not appropriate to bring your dog to. The supermarket is one of them.

[babyno1onboard]

I probably wouldn’t really care. It’s kind of gross if the dog was licking the persons finger and they were touching food but no guarantee they would have washed their hands when they came in anyway 🤷‍♀️

[EnchantedGrace]

Look, I love my dogs. I've got 2 small ones. My 13yo boy is a 2.8kg Pomeranian! The almost 2yo is a jack Russell (about 6kgs)

I haven't, and don't intend on taking them into any shop. I get grossed out when I hear that my df took the jack Russell as a new pup into a gift shop (friends with the owner) I just think, no. There's a place for dogs, and even though ours sleep in our bed at times, I wouldn't take them into a shop... that's just cruising a line that shouldn't be crossed.

[bezzy]

I personally wouldn’t care if a dog was in a shop but rules are rules so it shouldn’t be there unless it’s a service dog.
Our local aquarium shop has 3 HUGE German shepherds (make my 40kg dogs look small) that roam the shop, you have to actually step over them to enter the shop because they lay in the doorway to get the breeze, and I do wonder if they lose business because of it.

[MLadyEm]

I will preface by saying that I’m not a huge dog person. I’ve never owned one so I’ve never been on that side of things. I don’t understand why people feel the need to take their dogs to the shops with them period. I find it weird when people take their little fluff balls into Bunnings. I even find it weird when tradies bring their dogs with them on jobs. For example we had a guy here fixing our water tank pump last week. Had DH not said it was ok to bring the dog into our yard, the dog would have had to stay in the blokes Ute. I just think that’s cruel and I bet there are a lot of people that would say no. I would have been annoyed for sure. I don’t think any animals (service dogs excluded) should be permitted in places where there is fresh food being sold for hygiene reasons. I even struggle with the pet therapy dogs they bring into work

[JustJaq]

Re dogs with tradies, i think they are sometimes to alert the tradie if there is a stranger going to the ute - ie the dog is protecting their stuff.

[Mod-Uniquey]

I wouldn’t like it, but I’m not really one to make a complaint unless something’s really bad etc, I actively avoid any beaches where dogs can swim in the water or be in cafes, but that’s just me.

Many years ago a good friend of mine would take her pet snake grocery shopping with her and that used to freak out cashiers and shoppers alike!