It is not limited to California, I assure you.
Amazon has faux emotional support certs. Harnesses, and badges. Do with that information as you will.
I worked a retail gig in the Bay Area. I was the only one who tried to enforce the no-dog policy. That was 20 years ago. I wouldn’t bother now.
ESAs complicate the whole thing
Not really. I actually like this meme because it specifies the dog is misbehaving. There is no protection for a misbehaving dog.
<venting>
Last week I was walking down the street with my kids, and some loose dog comes running at my youngest. I’m holding both kids’ hands, so I kicked at the dog to keep it away without actually hitting the dog.
All of a sudden, its absentee owner comes out of the woodwork to threaten “if you kick my dog I’ll kick you!” I just hung on to my kids and kept on walking. I would rather get kicked than let his dog do whatever it was going to do to my kid. I’m not going to stop and get in a fight with this idiot, but it was simply astounding that he expected random people on the street to care more about his dog than he does.
</venting>
No you’re right. You don’t know that dog’s temperment. Your kids are more important than a loose dog.
I love dogs but fully support you on this one.
I’m not a dog person, even the one dog I did have in my household is a shiba inu, which is way more cat-like than anything. I don’t have a problem with dogs in stores as long as they’re well behaved…
BUT
Don’t take your dog to a venue or bar with loud live music. Just because you’re comfortable with loud music doesn’t mean your dog is. I imagine it’s pretty hard on their much more sensitive hearing and our vet confirmed this to me.
Thats my 2¢
If you think that bad dog owner entitlement is an exclusively Californian issue then I regret to inform you that I have terrible news about the rest of the country.
I got a dog to spend time with it. It sleeps with me, it goes to work with me, it goes to bars with me. Don’t like it? Not my problem.
You trained it too though, right?
Right?!?
Your dog bites someone and it becomes a big YOU problem.
Freedom goes both ways you ding dong. A store owner has every right to ban non-service dogs from their store. Don’t like it? Not the store owner’s problem.
Who says they have a problem with the store owner’s not allowing them though? They both can have no problem. Lmao.
I’m mad about it too.
Can i come with my pet snake to your workplace? Can i come with a girafe? How about a donkey? A hippo? aAgoat? A duck? Where is the line?
Working retail I never enforced the no dogs policy. We actually did have a lady bring in her bearded dragon. She let me hold it. Ironiclly the only animal I wish I could have kicked out was a legally blind woman’s service dog. It’s a loud and vicious chihuahua. That little guy is such an asshole. It barks at anyone who walks past it.
I would be 100% thrilled if a giraffe showed up at my corporate office, and I can’t imagine feeling anything else.
Probably where the animal interfere with the work? Imo doesn’t matter what kind of animal you bring as long as it’s not a nuisance. The line isn’t drawn by species but behaviour
I.e got a chill duck that just hangs around that’s fine. Hyper puppy that chews on cables and pisses on all the plants, not so much. As for a hippo you would have to check the buildings structural integrity.
Animals don’t belong in places that sell food. Animals don’t belong in office supply stores. Animals don’t belong in post offices. Animals don’t belong in any business other than a vet’s office or pet supply store that specifically allows them.
If you can’t train your animal to be home alone long enough for you to run some errands, then you shouldn’t own a pet.
Animals make your food. Shocking I know. At least they wash their hands. All my service dog does is lay under the table, and bother me if she needs to alert.
Not to be pedantic but we fall under the classification of Animals. And anywhere they allow children 5 and under I’m bringing my pet to. Children are 100 times worse than the worst behaved pet
Animals don’t belong in post offices
Then how do you mail the animal?
What about service dogs?
There are some stores, like Home Depot, Home Goods, and Michael’s (in the US), that are historically pet friendly. Leashed and good manners only of course, but it’s great for socializing a pet and making an employee’s day with cute puppies to break up the retail monotony.
A store that explicitly states service animals only, or has no sign, is not appropriate.
These policies work out for the business as well, especially when the store shares a plaza with a pet supply place.
People bringing their dogs to store A might see store B and want to shop there, too. If store B bans pets, that means people either have to bring their dogs home and come back (which is a pain, and people might not return at all), or leave the dogs in their car (which is dangerous or even illegal.) Smart business people don’t want people leaving without shopping, and people with any sense of decency don’t want dogs left in cars.
So when store B explicitly permits people to bring their pets, people can go straight there from Store A without worry. Customers are happy, dogs are happy, business people are happy, and no pets have to suffer in a locked vehicle.
Only the allergics and phobics aren’t, but who cares… /s
These rules seem arbitrary and capricious. If the dog is well-trained, the owner is able to meet its needs on the go, and nobody else is explicitly being bothered, there’s no compelling reason to block it from any of these establishments.
All of the above hold true for therapy animals, for instance. This isn’t about the animal being well-trained, it is about both the pet and the person to be comfortable and happy, without impinging on the comfort and happiness of others. Locking well-behaved pets out of all of the above establishments does nothing to improve your comfort or happiness. It only serves to inconvenience others.
Barring animals from places that sell food is not arbitrary and capricious, it’s a safety issue.
Safety how? What exactly is happening between my dog that stays on the floor and your food?
How many people have suffered physical harm from ordering food adjacent to a service animal?
There is a difference between a pet and a service animal…
Am I google now?
Well no, the intent is not to inconvenience others, but to not inconvenience yourself.
I love animals. Dogs, cats, rabbits, whatever. Love them all. I’m highly allergic to most of them though.
As a customer of an establishment, why do I need to deal with the animal that belongs to another customer of the establishment? And I’m not being a jerk. I’m not complaining or making a fuss, but if I’m trying to buy toilet paper I shouldn’t need to worry about hair, dander, or if somebody’s dog is well behaved or not. I am the one being inconvenienced, and there doesn’t seem to be a good reason for it.
That goes to the point of the comment you replied to. And to your point, if nobody else is being bothered… Are they checking if others are being bothered? Usually not. That’s a generalization but I can say in my experience it’s true more often than not (and I notice when it is). I’m not saying to ban pets in stores, but it should not be the norm and expect others to just deal with it.
I love dogs. I love looking at them. I love playing with them. Dogs are the best.
But don’t fucking bring your dog…
People are scared of dogs. People are allergic to dogs.
I know you love your dog, I probably love your dog too but I don’t think I should bring my dog anywhere indoors and/or crowded and neither should you.
Obviously!!! If your dog is a service dog, I am not talking about you and your dog. You just make me sad because I can’t play with your dog :( even tho they are such a good boy/girl…
You can ask people with service dogs if it’s ok to pet and most times they are fine with that, the issue is with people running up and petting the dog without asking. Service dogs are very well behaved and usually love a good head pat
Then it’s likely not a service dog, but an emotional support animal. There is a MASSIVE difference, and people treat them like they are the same.
No. The difference is in level of training. Some service dogs need to remain undistracted. Other service dogs are alerting on things they notice no matter how distracted they are. This is why you ask.
This is an all states thing not just CA. Your dog does not belong at the grocery store
The only problem I’ve had with other dog owners in California or anywhere else, is owners who don’t pick up their dog’s shit. I see people bring dogs into stores all the time, they’re always fine, I never see problems with that.
Now when I step 6-inches off a popular trail to take a picture of a popular view and step in piles of dog feces that people don’t bother to clean because it’s technically not someone’s yard, that’s when I start to wonder if domestication was a good idea. (Of humans that is.)
This is so stupid. Grow up.
If you don’t want your leg humped, then stop dressing so provocatively.
I genuinely adore dogs and love seeing them anywhere I am! But places that sell and prepare food should be off-limits (except for service animals, of course. Their accessibility outweighs these concerns). Some people have super sensitive allergies, just pet dander/hairs floating through the air can be irritating or worse. Some people have a crippling fear of dogs, maybe for a reason? Pets may be fine 99% of the time around family/friends, but they’re still animals. Unlike service animals, they haven’t been tested or screened for emergency situations or stress-tested. They can and do snap, and there’s no way to know if it will happen. When it does, it’s lose/lose/lose: pain & suffering, lawsuits, and almost certainly a loving pet being euthanized.
The stress test is dropping a book on the floor.
Fully agree. It’s just not sanitary either, and I know everyone will assume I mean their dog is dirty. I mean that any animal brings unknown elements into a place that makes food. One good shake of a wet dog and you have dirt and debris flying around people eating, and you’re exactly right things like that may affect others way more even if it doesn’t affect you.
I’m okay with dogs in places like breweries, it’s still a risk but as long as there is plenty of space it’s probably fine. Food though adds a whole other element that I don’t think they belong in.
I work in hospitality and while all your points are valid I do wish there was a solution that allowed a little wiggle room accounting for good communication and personal responsibility.
There area where I live has dozens of small bars and pubs and my issue with every single place accommodating every possible allergic reaction and preference is that they can kind of end up samey. I’m not saying it’s realistic but I don’t think it’d be a bad thing for Pub A to say Dogs are fine but no kids please as long as Pub B says Kids are great but no dogs and Pub C can say No kids or dogs but weird sex shit is fine. A man can dream!
I do agree with you. While the health concerns with dogs are valid, I do feel like there should be some designated dog friendly places. It can get really difficult to arrange your schedule around so that the dog doesn’t stay at home for too long. I live with my mom and my boyfriend, and we almost never go places with the 3 of us as a group.
Also, health issues aside, as far as being disruptive, I feel like kids can be just as disruptive. With so many businesses disallowing dogs, it can sometimes feel like you’re almost being punished for having a dog.
Man, you just made me sad by remembering that my local Pub D that didn’t give a shit about kids, dogs, or weird sex shit is closing down. Sucks cuz it’s the only openly LGBTQ+ bar in the area that I’m aware of.
There is the canine good citizen test that many people do with their dogs.
many
And what about all the rest? How can anyone know that human is a good human and that human is a bad human?
Edit: spelling
Which means nothing when it comes to places that serve and sell food as the issue is the fecal bacterial cultures that spread when dogs lick their butts and then lick their feet as well as any allergy concerns.
Your dog could be the best behaved dog in the world and they still can’t get around biological realities.
The same bacteria on everyone’s shoes…
No, the soles of my shoes aren’t warm enough to keep them alive.
Let me preface this by first saying I agree that dogs should generally not be allowed in food serving establishments because their hair goes everywhere and nobody likes eating dog hair.
With that said though, I have never once seen my dog lick his own butt. What on earth are other people’s dogs doing?! The closest my dog has gotten to licking his butt is licking around his genitalia, which I grant you is unclean as well, but he’s fluffy and keeps the hair between his legs clean and un-matted. But butt licking?!
Now here’s where I get down voted to hell, but I have to play devil’s advocate lol. I would argue that kids are a MUCH larger vector of bacteria and viruses that are of concern to the average adult human than any dog. Dogs are gross, sure, but I’ll take a lick from a strange dog over a strange toddler’s sticky hands on me!
We should keep dogs out of food places, but mostly cause hair and allergies - if we’re going to ban beings due to their gross factor though that list should be much longer (toddlers, homeless, anyone that didn’t wash their hands after using the restroom…)
I guess I’d better not let my dog in the kitchen or dining area at home.
You germaphobes are fun.
It’s not germ-phobic, it’s biology. And you shouldn’t let your dog on counters or tables for sanitary purposes.
Here in colombia pretty much all stores allow pets. I’ve never seen someone’s leg humped though. The worst i’ve seen peoples dogs act is barking at each other.
