I've been in a Walmart with Troy (In a purse) and was asked to leave.

There are places I am careful not to take Troy, grocery stores are particularly one of them as that would be a health hazard. I've taken Troy to restaurants that allow pets, home depot, the mall, etc.

I don't let dogs in my kitchen so it's my own personal preference to remember that Troy is a dog. As for the OP, situation with the person in Walmart, I've never heard the rule about the employee not being able to ask if it was a service animal or not, but if it is a service animal it should have some form of ID.

I don't blame you for not going back to Wal-Mart. Same thing happened to Ruby and I at Ulta. Ruby was in her carrier and the woman had the nerve to put her hand on my arm, turn me around, and walk me towards the door, all while telling me dogs were not allowed. I had a fit, called them all a@@holes and left. Never been back. Sephora is much nicer anyway:animal36

You know, I brought Princess Sophie into our local Wal-mart yesterday and today. Now I know dogs are not allowed so the service desk people just turn around as if to not see her. We live in a really small town. Clinton, IL for the person who lives in Decatur!!

I do have to agree however that only service dogs, providing service, should be allowed anywhere near food stuffs. The only reason I don't feel guilty is that we have the smallest Wal-Mart in the history of Wall-Marts and we don't even have a grocery section. I could never bring my dog into a grocery store or anywhere food was sold. It's just not something anyone should do.

FACT: A Manager or business person may ask . Is this a service animal ? What service is it trained to do ? That is all.
Small service animals are being used more and more. They can be trained as alert dogs for many different things, like seizures, sounds, blood pressure, diabetes and used for their calming ability, for some mental conditions.
My Yorkies are trained as therapy dogs and one would qualify as service dog. He alerts with frantic licking and pawing, if my blood sugar is too high or too low. He was not trained for this he just does it. He naturally alerts.
When my dogs are working they do wear a vest. As well as a tag on their collar. and I carry their ID picture and card. (Hospital, Nursing Home Visits etc.)
I have no problem with dogs that are 100% trained and working for their person. Service dogs are not just pets, when they are working, they really are preforming a service.
There will always be people who twist the rules, so they can do what they want to do. If you just love taking your dog every where, fine do it if you feel it is ok. Please If you get caught just say sorry and leave. Don't make it harder for people who really need their service animal. Please be honest and don't tell a story like this, ' This is a bomb sniffing Chihuahua and we want to check the pet section for hidden explosives !' This last part of the post, is just my opinion.

Update....I took Bentley to CVS on the way home from the grand-human's house. Needed to get some mineral oil for him. (poor baby is bound up) When I got to the register the cashier just look and smiled and said about how cute he was and asked his age. Like I said I figure(within reason)as long as he's in my arms and quiet, what's the big deal?:rolleyes:

I used to carry my 4 pound Chihuahua in his bag everywhere. It was lined with fleece and he just laid there and looked out the mesh sides and no one ever even knew he was in there. The bag looked like a lot of purses. LOL I never took him out of the bag.
He got older and started growling at things sometimes, so I quit taking him but I don't look at it any different than people with dirty little kids and my dog is 9 times out of 10 cleaner than half of those.

Guess I don't see the big deal about dogs being in a grocery store/section. All the food is boxed, bagged, or wrapped...well accept the fruit and veggies, but I wash those before i eat them anyway so...

I can see how the "idea" of it is offputting, but when you think of the logistics (even the one licking the plastic on the chicken)...they aren't touching or harming any food product. And with the licking thing, not only was it the plastic, but I plan on cooking my chicken before I eat it. I'm far more concerned about salmonella than a dog lick (mine kiss me all the time so obviously licking doesn't concern me lol)

I do think 'the idea' can be offputting to some people and I wouldn't want to 'offput' them myself...doesn't seem fair at all to do so...but, I suspect if there was a genuine way to get true numbers, it would be discovered that most of the 'ick' that makes us sick comes from human sources rather than animal sources in stores where pets are allowed. I wouldn't want to take a dripping jar off a low shelf doggie 'urinal' or slip in excrement on 'aisle 3' either. ;)

But, seriously, even back in the day when dogs were allowed everywhere...and in some parts of the country/world (like Italy) still are, I never saw diseased, dirty, disheveled, or unkempt dogs being taken everywhere by their owners. Most of 'those kind' of owners that don't care enough for their pets to keep them clean and brushed don't bother to lug them around, either. Always, it was those of us who truly babied our furries and treated them as our 'children' and 'rolled our eyes' over how spoiled our little ones were (thanks to us...lol) who bothered to tend to them so much of the time, keeping them with us, and fussing over them.

It is so much easier to just leave 'Fido' home alone and on his own...he is 'an animal' after all, isn't he?...and go have a good time ourselves, free and clear of worry and bother, than carry leashes, water, kibble, treats, combs/brushes, toys, wipes and towels, etc. in the 'doggie diaper bag' to keep 'FiFi' clean, dry, detangled, de-burred, safe, happy, hydrated and gorgeous for all that oooo-ing and awww-ing. lol

By contrast...and I have children who were young once, too...lol...and picked up frogs and toads, and insects and mud, etc. in their once clean hands...this was before all the nice 'wet wipes' in 'travel pouches' too...when bulk foods were first put into the supermarket where I shopped in NH back in the '80's, I watched a young boy open the clear acrylic lid on a bulk barrel of candy and take a piece out. No store personnel were in that dept...it was 'self-serve.' That grossed me out...I know about kid hands! lol and what can fall into an open barrel. What happened next still turns my stomach...his Mom saw him take the candy and as she started saying, "put that back," the kid popped the candy into his mouth, and hearing then the 'directive' duly removed the candy from his mouth and returned it to the large barrel from which he'd taken it. :eek::eek::eek:

To this day, I will not buy things from bulk barrels, and only buy things like organic popcorn and coffee beans from pouring type 'hopper' style bulk displays. Kids don't tend to eat those...or "put them back"...and both are going to see some high heat before touching my lips...and I am not even a germ-o-phobe. :p:D

I have to say..I'm guilty...

I take strudel everywhere. I put him in my bag. I mean just look at my avatar :rolleyes:

I agree with this. I actually asked at one of the JoAnn's that I frequent, and the ladies know me. They said they aren't supposed to let dogs in, but if the manager doesn't mind then they don't say anything. This one particular location I always see small dogs in there, so once I needed to grab some thread really quick, and it was a hot summer day, so Uni came with me in my big purse. No one said anything, but the girl checking me out made sure to give me the evil eye. Oh well. I never did bring her in again.

Ewwwww. I'll have to wash my meat packages now when I bring them home from the grocery I can tell. Never even thought of that! I know I have to live with my own and my dog's normal dog germs but he's kept clean and tidy and pest-free, doesn't have sores, ooze stuff from his eyes or other parts, etc., but I sure hate to have the saliva and E coli and hair and oozy whatnot from others' animals on my food products in addition to all the handling they undergo by workers to get to me. Bleh! At least this thread saved me the calories of my bedtime snack tonight!

We ask before taking our Yorkies into a store. We asked at JoAnn's one night and they said no, so we don't shop at JoAnn's. We go to Hobby Lobby and Michael's where everyone loves us to bring them in. :p

I think it is crazy that they can't ask for ID. And I think that it is crazy for any store to not let employees ask if it is a service animal.

I love my dogs to death. I'd like to take Ellie everywhere with me (school for sure!), It would brighten my day to see somebody's pet hanging in the dairy section with their owner. But if it is allowed, it will get out of control. So only small, clean dogs can come in? Discrimination. And I'd have a big problem with a big butt lickin dog sniffing my boxes of food. It is completely unecessary unless they are providing a service. .

We have a best buy 30 minutes away but often drive a hour to the one that allows small & large dogs.

i agree