Yesterday the Kid and I went to our local Petco/smart big box store. She loves going there as she usually gets her puppy fix taken care of since people can bring Spot along.
However, yesterday the Kid walked up to a woman with a minpin on a leash, and upon asking if she could pet her dog, the woman snapped at her. “NO you may NOT!” We were both kind of taken aback. She has been told no before, but it’s always been “Sorry, no, Spike/Fido/Fluffy is not people trained yet / ill / a killer attack dog that likes chewing on teenagers”, never just a flat out rude NO!
IMO, if you’re bringing a pet to the pet store, you’re pretty much welcoming interaction with other people. My sister takes her dog there for socialization purposes fairly often. We have (and don’t laugh) brought our eldest cat there on a leash. Because it is so unusual we have no problems with people coming up to us - we expect it. She loves exploring all the smells and has no fear of dogs.
Do you bring your critters with to the pet store? What’s your take on it being a place for socialization? And how do you tell people “no”?
This is not the Pit, so I’ll just casually say, “fuck her.”
Anyways, I bring my dog. As long as I can keep her from stealing treats from the bottom shelves, she’s no problem whatsoever. While we’re there, she hits up EVERYBODY to pet her.
And, as a general rule, I never say no. I suppose if I was going to say no, I would make up a bullshit excuse like, “we’re in a hurry” or “she’s covered in flea dip.” But I can’t see why I would say no. Especially in a pet store surrounded by (presumably) other pet lovers. My dog likes to be petted.
We took my roomate’s cat a couple of times, but I never take my dog. Maybe it’s just my area, but some of the animals in the stores around here are sort of wild. I once had a dog run over and put its paws on my shoulders, and the other day the local news asking the public for info on a rottweiler who’d bitten a boy at Petsmart/Co (don’t remember which one). The owner had left during the commotion, and the family was trying to spare their son rabies shots. I can understand wanting socialization, but it seems like a lot of people bring in dogs who aren’t ready to be in a store.
I took my older cat once. She’s a big, timid cat and doesn’t like to be held and doesn’t like cages, so I put her in a big canvas bag, with a leash on her just in case. She just hid down in the bag and peeked out every now and then as I carried her around. This is the way I take her to the vet as well, and it works pretty well. She has a place to hide from all the scary dogs and people, and I have a convenient carrying case.
If someone asked to pet her I would say go ahead, but she’s very shy. If I thought she would be scared enough to scratch or run, I might say no, but nicely and with an explanation. I don’t think just having a pet with you at the store is an invitation to pet it, but you shouldn’t be offended if people ask. I guess one of the reasons I took my cat there was just to get her used to the car and being carried around in a public place.
Oh, to answer the question, we let people pet the cat. We also took the roomate’s puppy, and never turned people down when they asked to play with her.
That was the woman being a complete human paraquot! What an A-Hole.
I always bring my Rhodesian Ridgeback to Petsmart - and if you’ll allow a little bragging, he has been used as a training dog because of his disposition. He’s great with everyone, and has been trained well - thanks - he listens to commands, learns new commands, and is just an all around great pup. Well he thinks he’s a pup.
One thing I really love is when someone has a dog who is out of whack…you know the ones that pull on their leash until they strangle themselves, bark ferociously until they are too hoarse to bark anymore and the ones that basically jump all over you and have no self control whatsoever. Grissholm - my dog - stands there looking at them, and doesn’t move. Some of the out of whack dogs are curious as to why their antics aren’t getting him all riled up…Dog speak I guess…Maybe Griss is saying: Calm down chief - you’ll get treats if you chill…
We take our older, pet, dog, because it is a nice change of scene and he loves to pick out treats. He gets socialized enough in the field, though he’s a bit crotchety in his old age, but still like to be petted. So, we don’t turn people down. I can think of some reasons why you would, but not any that would make snapping at someone who asked acceptable.
I’ve never had problems with obnoxious dogs there. Owners in my PetSmart are pretty good about keeping control of their animals.
Yes. Yesterday as a matter of fact. Of course it is a place for socialization. If you don’t want to have the animal exposed to people and other animals, leave it home like you do when you go to the supermarket.
I wouldn’t say no if someone asked to pet him. That’s why Maxwell and I go, so he can get attention from the kids and oohhhh and aaahhhhheeeddd over.
No one I know will set foot in Petco or Petsmart because of the way they treat their animals. That being said, IMO it would be extremely foolish to take your animal to that store. I’m sure the floors are covered with spit - and worse - containing worm eggs, and all in all I can’t think of a better way to expose your animal to just about every ailment out there. At least when we take our pets to the vet we are in the company of people who care about their animals.
As for the woman refusing to let her dog be touched, she was perfectly within her rights. Everyone is not nice and sweet, and it’s not a requirement. The idea that if you bring your pet to a pet store you are “welcoming interaction with other people” is ridiculous. That’s how you see it, but people who bring their pets to pet stores are just bringing their pets there. Maybe that woman had had trouble with her dog biting people. Maybe she was not feeling well. Maybe she was late for an appointment. Give people a break.
I know I’m going to get slammed for this because I always get slammed here for having a different opinion to the majority. How I wish there were somewhere where people could voice diverging points of view and not be put down.
Can you provide examples and, perhaps, a cite for this?
As for the condition of floors, all the PetCo locations near me are very clean. Perhaps I and others simply trust our dog’s medically-enhanced immune systems.
You’re right that the woman has no obligation to socialize her dog. However, the request to pet a dog should be expected in such an arena, and her response was simply rude.
Nobody has a problem with this woman not allowing someone to pet her dog. What is at issue here is the way in which she said it. If she had politely said, “No, you may not pet my dog”, or “No, he doesn’t like kids”, or something like that, this thread wouldn’t be here.
I’ve got cats and we never take them to the store (or anywhere else) with us. I don’t think they’d survive the jealousy when we go to the kitty department and visit with the inmates.
I wish more people would pet my big male hound - he loves people and attention - but his size is intimidating to a lot of people.
I rarely take my dogs to the pet store, though - too many people aren’t paying attention to what their own dogs are doing, and mine have high prey drives, so if a small white fluffy or (Og forbid) a ferret were running around, it’d be on.
My cats won’t walk on a leash. I put a leash and harness on them a few times (for when we were flying from California to our new home with them), and they would just lie down and refuse to move when I put the harness and leash on them.
Luna would probably hiss at the inmates in the adoption area. I doubt being hissed at would make those poor kitties feel better.
Aw, I love giant doggies. cough cough my streetcred .
With my last great dane, people would initially be terrified of him- I’ve heard more than my fair share of dingbat mothers screech at their children, “DON’T TOUCH THAT PITBULL! HE’LL BITE YOU AND KILL YOU!” :rolleyes:
But usually, Scooby (the last dane) was a rockstar in Petco. The checkers would always stop ringing people up, give him treats, the people in line would pet him and fawn over him. He loved it. A normal trip to Petsmart would take forever, because people would always stop me every couple of minutes- they’d want to take pictures with him, they’d ask me a million questions, and they’d buy him toys.
I guess it’s not every day you see an over 6 foot tall dog. Oh well, he was happy about it. Plus, it brought me good puppy karma- I like to pet everyone’s giant doggies in the stores, too!
And if she had been the slightest polite about it, it wouldn’t have been a problem - as noted in my OP. Most people don’t just bring their pets out and about shopping, at least not that I am aware of (okay, if you’re Paris/Britney/Coco with a Hermes dog bag, maybe).
I am not a dog person. I love them, just don’t like cleaning up after them. Prior to this visit I learned that pomeranians are actually CUTE! thanks to “Dovey” at Petco.
I’ve got a friendly Labrador who adores going to Petsmart because of the attention she gets from people. That’s why I take her. I don’t really need her to help me shop.
However, she doesn’t get along well with other dogs, so if someone with a dog approaches and wants them to socialize, I always have to say something like, “Sorry – she doesn’t like other dogs as much as she likes people.” People understand.
I wasn’t there, but I would have assumed that the woman’s dog was not to be trusted with children, and she was being curt to get the point clearly across. Or maybe she was just having a bad day, or she doesn’t like children, or something.
Maybe she was rude, but she also didn’t owe anyone an explanation as to why you can’t pet her dog. Because it’s, you know, her dog. Even at Petco.
This seems like a strange reaction to Petsmart. We took 2 8-week classes so far in dog training where the socialization aspect was well handled. The stores are clean and the animals are well handled. They do a good job with only adopting out cats and dogs from rescue organization.
Everyone with dogs going into and out of the store have been polite. If you take your animal with you, you have to expect some attention. The lady just had to be polite like everyone else in the stores with dogs, seems capable of. No one has to take their dog with them.
I don’t mean to hammer you, but you made a sweeping statement about a store that appears to me to be well run with employees that like animals. What is your specific complaint?
