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Originally Posted by richards6402  I just got back from getting groceries at our local Walmart. I was walking in the cereal aisle and looked over and saw a woman pushing a shopping cart with a dog bed in it. Inside the dog bed was a s**th Hu (sp). The dog was sitting peacefully inside the bed and not making a noise but it was sitting nose to nose with a package of chicken breast along with other groceries. People were watching her and you could see them talking and shaking their heads.
I just happened upon an Asst. Mgr. and asked her if Walmart lets dogs in their grocery side of the store and she surprised me with her answer. She said Walmart can't ask a person if the dog is a service dog or the dog doesn't have to wear any kind of a service dog harness....What do you think? Is this nation wide or just the state of Illinois? |
A Wal-Mart employee told us the same thing in FL, plus added that "only a Manager can ask a customer to remove the dog" from the store.
It makes sense because asking about the service dog status 'alludes' to asking a customer if they have a medical, mental and/or emotional condition.
We take Brody and Mia, and their Shih Tzu (pronounced phonetically like "sheed zoo") friend who we sometimes puppy sit, into a lot of stores with us. We ask before we enter any store we have not taken them into before, they stay in our cart on their own special pad...to protect their paws from the cart, and never touch the floor...to protect them from eating or wearing anything we disapprove of, or anything we do not buy.
They attract a lot of attention from customers who usually think more highly of the store after seeing our Yorkies there. The staff pet them and coo over them...some stores offer treats (which mine never seem to like...lol) and people even follow us into the stores to see them. We can barely get from one end of Hobby Lobby, Michael's, or TJ Max due to 'petting' requests...and 'the kids' and the customers and staff LOVE IT!!!
Back in 'the day' when all stores allowed pets inside, I took my little Yorkie-Poo everywhere with me. I saw many other people bring their fur babies, always
small dogs, etc., into all kinds of stores including supermarkets. It was wonderful for me as a kid...and my sisters...because we got to see beautiful babies like Apricot Toy Poodles, etc., that we would never have been able to see otherwise in our tiny town, and the owners were happy to teach us about their breed. Plus, the fur babies had a wealth of socialization. There was no harm then and we all survived it.
We also had larger dogs...'shedders'...lol...that you would not think of carrying around 'like a baby'...they were never taken into any stores...only the 'carry-on' fur babies went every where with us.
Irresponsible pet owners have ruined a lot of 'privileges' for responsible pet owners...sadly.