Pet-Friendly World - People UNfriendly?
 

This might seem like an off-the-wall topic but I genuinely was wondering what other people's opinions were on this subject.

Jack and I have a big-n-pretty Golden Retriever. When she was a puppy, I took her to Petsmart and Petco several (hundred) times to socialize her. We also took her to the dog park, etc. We still take her public places even though she is now 80 pounds. :)

I know that pet stores tend to be friendly about bringing animals in the store and we also discovered a Barnes and Noble bookstore when we lived in California that was cool with bringing Gracie into the store (as long as she didn't go into the coffee shop area. Also in California, there were several cafes that had outdoor areas where Gracie could be.

Interestingly enough, Lowe's and Home Depot in the city where we are now also allow dogs in their stores as well as our local tractor supply place. I didn't know this about Lowe's and thought it was cool so I did a little checking around the net to see if it was a store-by-store policy or if it's systemwide. (It's store by store.)

During my search, I found a website where customers of various stores were complaining about people bringing dogs in with them. One particular person complained that she went to a Home Depot and that she became irritated seeing someone walk her Labrador around and that "dogs are nasty and belong at home".
There were other people who complained of being allergic to dogs and a Mother who was "horrified" that people put dogs in shopping carts because her kid had to sit in the shopping cart and "what about all the germs!"

Then there was a store clerk who said that she liked having dogs brought into the store because she had never had to clean up after a dog (unlike other people's children) and that she had never had a dog break merchandise (unlike other people's children).

My job is about to host a "bring your pet to work day" and someone has already started complaining that they are allergic to dogs.

Just wondering what are people's opinions on pets at work, pets at stores, etc.?

The allergy thing I can understand since some people may suffer from extreme reactions (asthma) so that I can understand and would respect. But the idea of germs and such... Quite honestly, I feel like society has gone overboard on the germ thing. We've gotten to the point where our bodies don't know how to react when faced with new germs and such.

If I find places that are extremely against pets in the store, I won't frequent them at all and will find those that do (even being puppy-less at this point). Compassion towards those who cannot speak directly to us means compassion for all of us.

I work at Home Depot, and I absolutely LOVE when customers bring their dogs in. I could be having a shitty day, and just petting one of them calms me down. The kids on the other hand, belong shrink wrapped on a pallet and stuck in the overhead....they can scream there all they want.:eyebat:

Just my :2cents:

Good topic :)

For me, I like taking my son, Simon everywhere I can. Ive taken him to the Dog Park, Taken him to the Pet Stores, and Sonic, and just about everywhere I can get by with it. I would even bring him to work if I could.

People are gonna complain no matter what...


If an animal has had proper training WHO CARES. People let their bad ass kids with NO training run rampant. Now, I do understand about not wanting them around resturaunts, or coffee shops. Because of all the "cleanliness" rules.

And I do respect people who have allergies...

And I agree with Linus about folks going overboard about germs.

Just curious:

Do folks who feel like bringing pets to public places is a hardship on folks with allergies also feel that perfume and cologne-wearers should leave their scents at home?

The reason I ask is because the lady at my job who complained about "bring a dog to work day" also has asked that everyone in my unit stop wearing perfume and cologne and also asked the campus building supervisor change out the "smelly" soap and air fresheners in all the bathrooms.

[QUOTE=June;92075]I work in a Design and Marketing Studio and we have two office dogs that belong to one of the designers, they are big lab mixes and everyone loves them. They are even featured prominently on our website! I have taken Jack (the one eyed dog) in before, and he's good, but we have a big garage door we open during the nice weather and I don't trust him not to wander away. The office dogs are so well behaved, they actually take themselves outside to visit the trees and then come back in. Dogs just make life better (unless you're allergic)

One ofd the things I love about traveling in Europe is seeing all the dogs walking off-leash with their people, even in major downtown areas I have yet to see a badly behaved one and I don't care if they are in restaurants and food shops, I mean, our dogs go in our kitchen!

Cats are another thing though, I don't want anything that can and will get up and walk on my counters and tables. Ick. Sorry, I know we have a lot of cat lovers, but it squicks me out to have them on the counters, especially.[/QUOTE]

AMEN sister :) I totally agree...

Sounds like she has quite a few environmental "sensitivities" (allergies and hypersensitivity).

I guess I would view it as a hardship. I tend to be oversensitive about my cigar/pipe smoking and will ask first -- even K who loves it -- before lighting up. Even in a smoking area. It's easier for me to not doing it than for them to suffer, potentially severely, an immediate health risk. This is based on my own experience with a sudden, environmental asthma attack when one work place cleaned out their air units and it triggered a trip to the hospital for me (I couldn't breath and let me tell you, nothing is more scarier, IMO, than that)

I never let my cat(s) on the counter simply because our counters are often too small and I really dislike the smell of burnt whiskers (too much curiosity by some of these guys)

I dont have a prob bringing a dog to work and did for a long time,old Dory was way better manerd than any person or kid around,corse I ran a horse traing barn so she was top dog on the place.I agree we should be mindful of ppl with allergis an asthma(wich I have but dogs dont bother me).The new fur kids I have now are well behaved and lots better than most kids I see,who imho should be left at home or taught some manners before being in public.My pet peve is going into a resturaunt and haveing kids who are disruptive to the other ppl there with mom and dad leting the little monsters run the show.As for ppl who were sents..omg...the saying a little dab will do ya is right,yesterday I was at a local casino and someone sat next to me that stank so bad with layers of some skinky stuff that I nearly gaged..how bout takeing a bath for goodness sake..use some deoderant too as well as brushing there teeth..sick stuff if they dont.

I love seeing peoples pups in the stores. My gf a manager at a pet friendly store and she often comes home talking about the little fur balls that brightened her day.

People worried about actual germs should take a look around at the people not the pets... hocker uncovered coughs, talking spitballs into my sub sandwich, sneezing into their hand and then handing out change... I won't go on to worse things but to say I'd rather kiss a pug on the lips then shake most peoples hands... lol.

Honestly the allergy thing, there's plenty of stores to frequent that are pet free...

As someone who is very scent sensitive, I'm going to feild this one..

I have worked with two people who's over use of cologne/perfume caused my air way to completey close... Triggered migrains than had me seeing technocolor,leaving me unable to speak, or understand what was being said to me.. When I went to HR about these events, I was made to feel like I was being whiney and I just needed to suck it up... I was called on to the carpet about making a supervior feel akward because I couldn't be next to her without having an allergic reaction... I ended up leaving both of the jobs...

If someone has sever allergies.. Life is not fun... I had to leave my chosen career because I became allergic to air born flour.. (Can't be a bread maker if you can't make bread) Someone impusivly putting on that extra spritz of perfume in the morning, and I have to stand in line behind them in the grocery store, means that I have to leave the area... Possibly the store depending on how strong of a reaction I have to the chemicals. (Patchouli is going to take me down for two days with a migrain)

Going down the detergent isle in the grocery store is test on how long I can hold my breath... (Don't get me started on trying to walk PAST the Yankee Candle Store)

Trying to do the work that you are paid for while your eyes are streaming, your head is pounding and you are fighting to breath is not a pleasant thing.. You are suffering because someone wants to SMELL pretty.. you are paying for other peoples vanity with your very breath...

I might feel a bit strongly about this.. It just seems so silly... You can't breath so someone can smell good..

If I had my way, all work places would be scent free...

We have 2 dogs and 4 cats, and my son's best friend is allergic to both. We've found that Febreeze allergen reducer sprayed on everything fabric, followed by a good vacuuming, seems to do the trick when he's coming to visit. It's not perfect, but it helps alot.

And cats on the counter...they're not allowed, but they're cats...so I don't trust them to follow the rules when I'm not watching. I never prep food directly on the counter as a result...I just use a cutting board and pop it in the dishwasher. Then I never have to worry about kitty feet...even if I don't see any evidence of them.

I don't believe that peoples pets need to allowed in public buildings... Pet stores, yes... It's a store for pets.. But stores that have nothing to do with animals... Why do they need to be there? They are not children, they can stay at home... Not everyone has perfect control over their animals.. If I'm running into Home depot for paint, I'm not signing up to possibly slip on pee or poop (Not everyone cleans up after their animal) to possibly be biten or jumped on by an animal that has slipped a leash... I'm there for paint...

I love animals.. I love taking walks and meeting all the local dogs... When I worked at Petsmart, I loved when people brought their animals in...

But for me... Animals are not human... They don't need to go every where their humans go... (I'm of the same opionion about small children.. lol.. they don't need to go every place that adults go)

I worked in an office where everyone brought their dogs to work.. but no one really wanted to take them out or clean up the mess from not taking them outside... So I got volunteered a lot.. To clean up and do the walking... So, I don't have the happy expericence that other people seem to have with animals in the work place...

Fabreeze allergen reducer is the bomb... Love it, love it.. love it..

Random, who is allergic to cats and has five of those babies..

I used to have a friend who is passed on now, but she had four cats. Im so highly allergic... She tried everything. I would have to sit on a breathing treatments just to visit her... (She was a nurse and would administer them)

And when I was little even though its not the kitties fault, I witnessed my best friend killed before my eyes. She was coming over, her mom was driving and my friend had snuck the cat into the car. Driving in the country where we lived coming down the two lane road in front of the church next to our house. A diesel truck was coming one way and she was coming the other and the cat got spooked and jumped on her shoulders scared the crap out of the mom and she swerved and drove head on to hit the diesel.. Killing my friend, and injuring severely her mother.

So, I guess that and the fact that Im highly allergic would be why I simply dont go to my friends houses who have cats. Its understood why and no offense is taken, and why I dont date anyone with any cats. Not even one.

I have problems with airborn allergens; both allergies and sensitivities. Scents of any kind can trigger a migraine that effectively ends my day. It's not that I don't "get" it - I used to wear perfume myself. It's just a health thing. And as an aside, I don't have any kinds of scents in my house, because many of them (mostly the oil-based ones) can be lethal to birds - they can die within minutes!

I think the difference with the presence of animals is that most people have to actually touch the animal to be in contact with the dander before they have a reaction. So while I have great sympathy for allergies, I find a lot of people over-react. Maybe not all, but many.

I totally agree. Our cats don't have many rules, but kitchen counters are OFF LIMITS!

I love animals... I was really grateful when my mom was in hospice care for the little dog that was the "resident" smile maker. He'd make the rounds with the owner to see all the people and my mom just lit up when he'd come around and she get to hold him.

I'm also a huge fan of the same programs in hospitals and nursing homes for those who desire them. It's been seen that some people can make better and faster recoveries or just have better quality of life due to these programs.

I don't see animals as just "pets"... not to me, and to some people they are their "children". I also think some people don't have anyone and to get to bring their companion to the store probably means quite a lot, and maybe not just for the companionship alone, but also for the contact and conversation it may provoke too.

Just some additional thoughts...

Metro

Medusa, like Random, I am also very sensitive. When I get the slightest whiff of a smell that I am sensitive to I can feel my throat start to close, most often I will find myself in an asthma attack. What if someone came to work smelling like dog crap because that was a good fragrance to them, would you tolerate it? To me some of the fragrances people wear smell worse than dog crap, they make me physically sick, although unpleasant, the smell of dog crap does not. There is a wave of companies in Seattle that are creating fragrance free workplaces. I completely understand why and support them fully.

Several years ago a potential employer asked be if I had issues with animals in the workplace, of which I don't. He brought his dog to work everyday. I asked if employees were allowed to bring their dogs to work and he said no. He was allergice to dogs, the breed of dog he had is one known to be good for people with allergies. I didn't think it was a fair policy.

I am a big softie when it comes to animals but there are places animals should not be for human safety or the safety of the animal.

See, I'm just the opposite. I would write the above as: I don't believe that people's children need to be allowed in public buildings....children's stores, yes...It's a store for children. But stores that have nothing to do with children...Why do they need to be there?

I'd much rather be around people's animals than people's kids, especially in this era of overindulged children and under-disciplining parents. Many of the department stores in my area allow dogs, and I've yet to see one cause 1/10th the disturbance that screaming brats cause every day.

As for the woman online who was complaining about pets in shopping carts and the germs, I refuse to put anything in that pop-open seat in shopping carts, and slam it shut when the bag boy at the grocery store tries to put groceries in it. People put kids with nasty diapers in that thing, I don't want my food there!

I loved seeing dogs everywhere in Europe :)

I have to agree with you... Personaly I don't think it's necessary to bring children to all the places that people bring children... Unfortunately, sometimes a parent can't afford a baby sitter and if they need to get something done, then they have to bring the child.. It's sort of the law...

Most people are saying.. *responcible pet owners* Unfortunatly not all pet owners are responcible... and not all dogs are as well trained as they could be..

Again, same could be said for child owners...not all child owners are responsible and not all children are as well trained as they could be.

I am in a mood......
 

I tried to buy a plot and headstone for myself at the local pet cemetery.
They always have MILLIONS of flowers and it's so pretty there.

I was turned down for me, but offered a package for my dogs. Dammit.

The people cemetery is not nearly as well visited or adorned. I want to play catch with all the happy pet zombies. They have it far better off.

Wow...

So you think it's ok to duct tape a kids mouth?

Wrap them in shrink wrap and put them over head?

I have dogs, they are members of our pack

I also have children

Both my animals and my children are well behaved.. Frankly *I* don't need a leash for either

I would think though that if I said something to the effect of anything most have said about a dog all hell would break out..

Sometimes it feels people give a tiny shit more about animals than kids..

That's just my POV though

I'd also like to point out that one cannot leave a child at home in a cage/crate. Definitely illegal.

Dog sitters = $0 when you are going for short trips out to the store.

Babysitters = $5-20 per hour.


So other than guide dogs, and the PetCo/PetSmart it's a lot more feasible to take ones germy bratty child out than ones dog.

If I had my chose. there would be way more animals in stores and way less humans. :floatbee::ballcat::hospital-snoopy:

Does your pet know how to run a cash register too???:superfunny:

OY
 

Ya.. but unfortunately, there is this law about living kids home by them selves.. Sucks, but what cha going to do...