Pet Friendly places?

[jelly8bean]

I can take my dogs to Petsmart and the parks around here. Not to many other places. I am a bit leery of petsmart these days because folks are sometimes unaware of their own dogs. I was in there the other day ( no dogs) and the guy behind me in line had 2 pit bulls. They were lovely and sweet, but he said they were dog aggressive.. and of course someone came in with their lab and the pits just went wild. Why would someone take dog aggressive animals to a place where dogs are welcome? - this is why I seldom take my babies anymore. Boo hoo. But on the bright side I found this site with Dog friendly listings to share.

http://www.dogfriendly.com/

[Rich S]

That owner certainly wasn't helping the pit bull cause.

Thanks for sharing.

[jelly8bean]

I have to say it was a hispanic young man.. which of course did make me wonder about the whole 'macho/dog fight' sort of thing. But I didn't want to sterotype. I have seen lots of pits and pit mixes that were lovely, just need the right owner. I just didn't like that my dogs might have a bad interaction.

[magtie]

taking two big dogs -- which are dog aggressive -- into a pet store is just asking for trouble.

[Sue J]

We've stayed at several hotels with our little chihuhua, but never with any of our bigger dogs. Every time though I've wondered just what if anything:( special or extra hotels do to clean carpets, bedding, etc. when a guest with a pet checks out, especially flea control.

[MLR]

I've had a similar experience with a pit bull once at the one playground I go to with my two dobermans. Same latino type owner and machismo thing only this guy had his off the leash and was encouraging his pit to go after my then 8 month old male dobe. I alway keep my guys on the leash wherever we go until I get the lay of the land. Since this city's rule is on a leash or under your control for dogs I finally asked the 'gentleman' to control his pooch. He looked at me kind of funny but I stared right back and didn't look away until he finally did pick him up. He left a short time after that because he couldn't continue this 'agression' training. And I've never seen him there again since this incident.

Thank you for the list of dog friendly places. We only have Petco here which will allow dogs on a leash and only if they are completely controlable, thank goodness. We've had a few encounters with the menacing kind of dogs there but mostly it's been a pretty good experience with my guys getting to meet their own kind and socialize.

I've never traveled overnight with either of my dobermans and wondered where we'd stay if the occaision ever came up. It's nice to know that there are places like that around.

One little after thought, though. At Petco they have a similar listing for indoor pet walking places for inclement weather situations but I personally checked out two of the other places and found that they do not allow this, at least here where I live. Those listed places were Lowe's and Menard's. These are both big box home supply places. Just passing this on.

[SnuzerDog]

I've had a similar experience with a pit bull once at the one playground I go to with my two dobermans. Same latino type owner and machismo thing only this guy had his off the leash and was encouraging his pit to go after my then 8 month old male dobe. I alway keep my guys on the leash wherever we go until I get the lay of the land. Since this city's rule is on a leash or under your control for dogs I finally asked the 'gentleman' to control his pooch. He looked at me kind of funny but I stared right back and didn't look away until he finally did pick him up. He left a short time after that because he couldn't continue this 'agression' training. And I've never seen him there again since this incident.

That's totally messed up- I'd have pulled out my cell phone and called the cops right then and there. Not to mention getting pics/video of the guy and his dog.

I disagree with the whole Hispanic/Latino thing, though- I believe idiocy is truly (and unfortunately) common to human beings without regard to race or nationality...:D While even Cesar Milan (TV's Dog Whisperer, Mexican heritage) admits that he believes there really is a cultural issue with alot of Hispanic men, I still think it's wrong to add that label to any issue. He discusses it in at least one of his three books too, although I'm sure I don't remember which one. I do think it helps if we all stay objective and address just the behaviors... JMHO, no offense intended!

Deano & I did our basic obedience training at a PetsMart, and had only good experiences. You definitely do run into people who can't/won't/don't know how to control their dogs, but it's usually not too hard to avoid them. We still take him to all the pet stores we go to just to keep him familiar with the various environments of stores, parking lots, strangers, children and other dogs. Hope to explore a couple Doggie Daycares and Dog Parks here in the spring... :)

[MLR]

SnuzerDog,

I guess I should have qualified my earlier statements; I was married to a Mexican in my 20's; I meant no disrespect, and your right, I probably should have left all nationality references out of my post. Sorry.

I was too busy trying to keep this other persons dog form biting my doberman to think beyond getting him to remove it. He was parked too far away from the play area or I would have probably gotten at least a license number and called after he left. I was just relieved that nothing more serious happened.

I really like taking my two dobes to Petco. Confrontations there are easy to deal with by just not going down the isle where the questionable dog might be. We used to have a Discount Pet here. That was our favorite. It certainly is a good way to keep them socialized in the winter.

Mary Lou

[jelly8bean]

Even with posted listings like these I would always suggest that you call ahead and check about the welcome your dog may have. I understand that with Lowes/Home depot it is depending on the manger so changes in management may result in changes in that policy. If your dogs are crate trained most hotels will take them.