Does your doodle come into stores with you?

[Camilla and Darwin]

I know, this topic is a stretch of what it's supposed to be. But I have been wondering lately, do you bring your dogs into stores with you? I am aware that health codes do not allow dogs in restaurants and other food selling places. But what about retail stores such as Kohls, Old Navy, Barnes and Noble, etc.? I have searched all over the internet but have gotten no conclusive answer.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

I don't think dogs are allowed in most retail stores, at least they aren't around here. I bring Jack to the pet supply store of course, and the auto repair shop. I have heard that home improvement stores such as Home Depot allow dogs.

[Adina P]

I take Rosco to as many stores as I can sneak him in ;-)
Actually it's not that many:

-- Home Depot. Our local store's official policy is no dogs (as told to me by a good friend who works there) But dogs occasionally are brought in anyway. I did a lot of training in there with my youngest labradoodle, Rosco, and everyone was always very friendly and welcoming of him. Recently when I needed a couple items from HD, needed a walk, and didn't want to waste a walk without a dog, I took Rosco along since he's a gem on leash. We picked up our items, went to the register, paid and walked back home.

-- A local gift shop downtown welcomes dogs (they have a sign up saying so) and when we are downtown we always stop by. We also used that as a training location.

-- A local tee shirt shop also allowed dogs (they bring their own dogs to work).

-- A local jewelry store allows dogs

-- All the restaurants/cafes with outdoor seating allow dogs in the outdoor seating area.

-- And of course all the local pet stores/farm supply stores allow dogs.

I know in Southern California, there is a Nordstrom that Kate & Yarra go to where Yarra (her labradoodle) and other well-behaved dogs are allowed. I have also heard that Lowes typically allows dogs.

[Ellen aka BeauBeau's Mom]

I take Beau everywhere I possibly can too. I brought him into a very posh Saks Fifth Avenue in the Bal Harbour Shops to show him off when I first got him, and he made a BIG POOP right in the middle of the cosmetics department, in front of their huge floral display. I was mortified! Needless to say, I banned him from Saks for awhile LOL. My friends from the Clinique counter came running with a little Saks bag to remove the evidence, and some Windex and paper towers to rescue us. Never an incident since, and only food stores and some restaurants are completely taboo. My friend in Wisconsin who has Beau;s sister said when I told him about the Saks fiasco "Well, what did you expect? You took a BOY foo-foo shopping!" He also threatened to fly in and take him to a hockey game LOL

[Diana Allen]

Cagney has been in Pet Value here in Canada.... he loves it..... they always have treats for the dogs that visit and it is only walking distance away.....

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

We have a huge garden and pet supply store in our area that also has an indoor dog park and a little restaurant that serves breakfast and lunch. Of course, dogs are allowed and the restaurant actually serves doggie ice cream and cookies. It's a great training opportunity. We also have restaurants with outdoor seating that welcome dogs. Then there's always Petco and Petsmart. I've never seen dogs (other than working dogs) in any of our mall stores, and I'm pretty sure they would not be allowed.

[F, Calla & Luca]

When I just had Luca I'd take him into as many stores as I could , too. If I was asked to leave , of course, I did. sSome places were very welcoming. Now with 2 dogs it's more difficult . I still take them to the pet store. The local Bank of America branch has a bunch of multiple dog owners working there. They greet my dogs like celebrities and give them too many biscuits!

[Kathie and the gang]

I'm lucky that here in Marin there are a large number of store that allow dogs. I have made it a top priority to train in these locations. I started with my Rottie Freya and have done the same with Winston. From the time Winston could be on leash in public we would spend 2 hours on Saturday and Sunday training at two different local malls. Winston got to know lots of shop owners and meet a variety of different people.
These are out door malls and have proven to be great places to train for distractions. I do take both dogs, but I only take one dog at a time into stores. If my son is with me we each handle a dog and will go into stores. I think it would be too much (for me and the store) to take two large dogs and only one handler. I have only had one strange experience during the 5 years. About six months ago Winston and I were going into a home decor shop (one that we have been in many times) and a new salesperson said very loudly from the middle of the store " dog alert". That was my greeting. The other salespeople said "so"? I guess he was not a dog fan, he then just pretended that Winston and I weren't there.

Our Home Depot has the no dogs sign on the entrance door, but I see dogs all the time in the store. The chain bookstores around here seem to all have coffee bars in them, so no dogs. REI and sports store had to ban dogs because they have foodstuff, even though they sell dog items. Items that require you to have the dog for correct sizing. There was just an article about Portland, Oregon and the Pearl District and the problems they are having with owners, dogs and customers in local supermarkets.

[Lucy & AnnaBelle's Mom]

There are many places that we have found that we can go with Lucy and Sophie here in the Cincinnati area. I've heard that Hyde Park is very dog friendly, but we have not tried that yet. We always take them with us to Lowes and Home Depot. I called the local Lowes and they said their official policy is no pets, but they said people bring them all the time and they don't care. We have even been told to be sure and bring them back at some of the stores. There are now many employees that know them by name and look for us on the week-ends. We have also been to Home Depot and Garden Ridge which is a local store that carries just about everything. We also have an outlet center that is dog friendly and the dogs are allowed in almost all the stores. Funny story about the Outlets is when we first started going, they have Paw Prints on the doors of the stores that allow pets. I found that many stores that didn't have the dog prints were still dog friendly and didn't mind, so I would just always ask prior to going in. When we got to the Ralph Lauren store I went in and encountered this young snobby looking man and I asked him if it was ok if we came in ..... He said he didn't know let him ask the manager. The response came back "only if they can carry them". So I immediately reach down and picked up all 60 lbs of Lucy ...... he didn't see the humor ...... so we don't go back there. We also have one restaurant with a patio that allows us but all the others have said no. I personally love shopping with the girls! We went to the outlets just last week-end and it was insane ..... we couldn't go 20 feet without being stopped. I had more conversations about GoldenDoodles than ever before I believe. It was a great day for Lucy as well. She has been going through a shy phase since about 8 months, and she is just turning into Miss Congenality and last week-end was no exception.

[Nancie & Gracie Doodle]

I take Gracie Doodle into every possible store that I can. Just not food stores. Most people are so taken aback by how beautiful she is that they don't mind at all. She is very well behaved and heels righ next to me. We were in the Runner's Warehouse and there was a lady there with children. The kids came over to pet Gracie and the woman got nasty and told me they were allergic. I told her that Grace was hypoallergetic and that stopped her in her tracks! She just grabbed her kids and stomped off. I don't let Grace go up to people or annoy people. They always come to me and ask about her and if they can pat her. The only problem I have is that she is a KISSER and I have to warn them. She goes to the bank with me too!!