New sign at lowes - or at least the first time I noticed it

[MadMike]

Funny, I was at Lowes just today and saw a couple with two fairly large dogs. I thought they were service dogs in training at first, but they didn't have special harnesses designating them as such, and they weren't behaving like service dogs. They were trying to pull away from the owners and get at the other people and check them out. The dogs seemed friendly enough, but I kept my distance just to be safe.

[LillFilly]

It's a shame, places like Lowes & Home Depot had always been pretty pet friendly, but I guess they had to stick-up for themselves after being taken advantage of by bad behavior. I'm betting people figured 'pet friendly = the store will clean-up after me!

Sheesh. I constantly kick people with dogs out of my mall; it's always "I'll only be a minute!" . And the people that leave Muffin in their car because they just can't BEAR to leave their little shnookims at home; people, it's 95 DEGREES OUT, Muffin would be MUCH HAPPIER at home!

[bhskittykatt]

Someone brought their chinchilla in a couple days ago. I got to pet him.

"I am...Chinchillian!" (Cookies for the reference.)

That's one thing I love about working at a pet friendly motel. I've seen everything. Cats, dogs, guinea pigs, hamsters, lizards...CW said she even saw a goat once.

[bainsidhe]

I like dogs, but am not much of a dog person. Especially big, strange dogs. They get excited and want to jump when I don't pet them. I hate that. Sorry, I don't want to have to avoid you and your pet so I don't get slobbered or jumped on. And while my kitty would probably love the adventure, I'm not about to make him fair game for any dog that likes to chase/chomp kitties.

[EricKei]

Then I could take him to the dog park, and just go straight to the grocery store afterward without making a side trip back home. In the winter when it's cool, I can just leave him in the car, but not this time of year.

Check yer local/state laws' website -- in some areas, it's illegal to leave dogs (or kids) alone in cars, no matter what the weather (even in winter in the shade, cars CAN reach dangerous temperatures in a matter of minutes) -- Don't want you to get in trouble ^_^

[SuperRTL]

People would bring dogs into the fabric store all the time, even with the NO PETS sign posted very prominently. I had one lady who brought in her little service dog (seizure detector) and made sure to stop by and show us that he was a service animal. The lady who brought in the three medium sized dogs that started barking at everybody was just so shocked that I told her to leave.

The parakeet was kinda cool, though. Of course, the lady came in around 8 and there was nobody else in the store and it stayed on her shoulder.

[Eisa]

Wow, the only time my family brought the dog to a store was when we went to Petco. He was a very excited German Shepherd, yes, he was... He actually behaved quite well, though.

[LadyAndreca]

We have lots of regulars who bring their dogs to the Orange Apron--we're in the same shopping center as a pet store. Two of the more memorable regulars are a retriever that only understands Czeck, and a giant brown lab that walks himself. Both of them are immaculately trained, so it's kind of amusing to see the lab walking at his owner's heels with the rope in its own mouth.

I've only seen a problem once, and that was when some twit without a clue had a tiny, well-behaved dog and could not grasp that the customer in front of her was terrified of them. She assumed that because he'd moved out of her way, he was giving her his place in line...despite his stuff being on the counter still and the cashier still in mid-transaction. Luckily her friend had more sense than her and picked up the dog, and I was able to separate the groups by sending her to the service desk for her return.

[EricKei]

Petco.

I can certainly understand the logic behind bringing a pet to a pet supply store - especially if you need to try on collars/leads and such... I just wish more people, especially those with larger critters, would keep in mind the fact that they're taking their furry friend to a place where half of what you see is FOOD, and a third to half of what is left is edible *living* critters ~_~

The poor things don't know that they're not supposed to eat at what must surely appear to be a smorgasbord ^^;>

[Geek King]

All the chihuahua talk reminded me of a movie my friends and I went to. The previews had an ad for that Beverly Hills Chihuahua movie, with all the animated dogs dancing around and whatnot. At one point, one of the chihuahuas is explaining why chihuahuas are so great, and says, "We marched into war with the Incas and Aztecs!"

One of my buddies graduated with a degree in history. He looks up at the screen and blurts, "They were food!"

Cue multiple kids in our area crying.

[dalesys]

One of my buddies graduated with a degree in history. He looks up at the screen and blurts, "They were food!"

Which explains the bug-eyes & nervousness...

Besides, the Aztecs didn't have wheels, so they had to use Meat-On-Feet instead of Meals-On-Wheels.

[KiaKat]

We are a dog-friendly store.

However, we are a mom-and-pop, the owners have their puppy in the store all the time (and their old dog before she passed was a fixture), and it's small enough that people tend to keep an eye on their pooches. Plus this is a *very* dog-friendly town, and it just makes sense to let dogs come in here.

It's actually worked to our advantage - there are dogs that *know* we have treats, so they drag their people in, and then the people end up buying a bottle or two so they don't feel like they're mooching. Unintended but positive consequence.

[Pagan]

I like dogs, but am not much of a dog person. Especially big, strange dogs. They get excited and want to jump when I don't pet them. I hate that. Sorry, I don't want to have to avoid you and your pet so I don't get slobbered or jumped on.

I'm like that, but with little dogs. I'm firmly convinced that the smaller the dog, the more likely they are to bite. All the times I've been lunged at, snapped at, and even nipped once, it has been exclusively little dogs.

There are, of course, exceptions. One of my friends has the sweetest little chihuahua. She'll get her paws up on my leg, but I have yet to see her jump or bark.

One of my buddies graduated with a degree in history. He looks up at the screen and blurts, "They were food!"

Cue multiple kids in our area crying.

And at that point, I would have fallen out of my chair laughing!

[Ironclad Alibi]

Many years ago, Mrs. IA and I had a Shih-Tzu puppy. He was a runt, maybe 3-4 pounds, and still a baby. She decided to carry him into a fabric store one day. As she was waiting to check out, she was holding him, and when he turned his head, the woman behind her screamed. She had thought the puppy was a stuffed toy and was spooked when he moved.

[Eisa]

Many years ago, Mrs. IA and I had a Shih-Tzu puppy. He was a runt, maybe 3-4 pounds, and still a baby. She decided to carry him into a fabric store one day. As she was waiting to check out, she was holding him, and when he turned his head, the woman behind her screamed. She had thought the puppy was a stuffed toy and was spooked when he moved.

My former friend has a bichon frise that adores sitting really still on the couch like a stuffed animal and waiting until someone sits down before "coming to life" and scaring them to death.

I can certainly understand the logic behind bringing a pet to a pet supply store - especially if you need to try on collars/leads and such... I just wish more people, especially those with larger critters, would keep in mind the fact that they're taking their furry friend to a place where half of what you see is FOOD, and a third to half of what is left is edible *living* critters ~_~

The poor things don't know that they're not supposed to eat at what must surely appear to be a smorgasbord ^^;>

Oh dear. He was really well-behaved--didn't bark or snap at other pets, although he certainly got interested, and we kept a CLOSE watch on him so he didn't eat anything! I think we went right past all the locked-up pets for sale really fast, so he didn't get a chance to really notice them.