I would like to know your opinion on  taking your pet shopping with you and what experiences you have had.  I'm talking about small pets that can be carried & never put down, in places without open or fresh containers of food. Have you ever been kicked out of a store?  Just a curious little survey.....for or against allowing  contained small pets into stores.

I was shopping in Boscovs one time & this lady was browsing the racks & had a big blach bag, she turned around & this little white face was peeking out at me, it was the cutest thing, I told her the dog was so cute just hanging there shopping.

I myself would like to try this, i can not find any bags I like for the dog that I can carry & I think my Minnie would bark to much at the other customers, I am taking her to petsmart this weekend, she can walk in that store herself so we will see how it goes.

I was shopping in Boscovs one time & this lady was browsing the racks & had a big blach bag, she turned around & this little white face was peeking out at me, it was the cutest thing, I told her the dog was so cute just hanging there shopping.

I myself would like to try this, i can not find any bags I like for the dog that I can carry & I think my Minnie would bark to much at the other customers, I am taking her to petsmart this weekend, she can walk in that store herself so we will see how it goes.

well my dog isn't a small dog, but i have taken him in on his leash, obviously not in a carrier to many places here.  We have been to some local pharmacies, clothing stores, liquor stores, and banks.  Most places do have treats for them too which he thinks is pretty cool.  The only downside for him is if we are walking by those places and have no need to go in, he still thinks he is entitled to go in to get a treat!! heehee

we also have an outdoor shopping center-kinda like the new ones these days that are springing up everywhere. Most of the regular clothing stores and places there like card stores and pier one allow dogs in that center.

most recently, we went to some outlets in the mountains and blackberry was allowed in some great stores that day.  j crew, the gap , and coldwater creek were a few i remember.

we also met a woman the other day downtown who had a whippet, but they had a baby carriage too. i asked if there was a baby in there-and she replied it was for her dog when they got tired!!

anyway, i enjoy dogs in stores, but i did see a woman bring her dog inside a super target which serves and sells food, and the dog was not an assistance dog. she was feeding it samples from the sample trays.  that went a little far in my opinion!

Thanks, I will check it out, I plan on going there this weekend, it will be Minnie's first trip to the pet store, I will prob spend too much money as usual, I spend more on the dogs than on myself.

I have noticed that whether you can take a dog shopping depends on the town and even the store. Some are dog friendly, many are definitely NOT dog friendly. Even some restaurants allow dogs on the patio, while others won't allow you to have your dog under the table even if the tables are on the sidewalk.

My dog has separation anxiety, so I take him as many places as I can. He's 21 pounds, so too big for a purse. But I have a great "baby carriage" made for dogs. It looks like a regular baby carriage, except it has mesh on the front and back. I can zip him into it and put a baby blanket over the front and he's fine. He can see me out the back. I've taken him shopping in many places with this (never food stores). He stays calm for about an hour.

I used to work at Nordstrom in Santa Barbara and was surprised at how many people brought their dogs into Nordstrom. The store let them. I even saw a man with an enormous Afgahn hound in there one day. It's a town with a lot of rich people who love their dogs, so Nordstrom's customer service oriented attitude was to just accept it.

The places I always take my dog are PetsMart and Petco. I tell him we're at "the doggy store." He loves it! He sits in the shopping cart. We visit the small animals and reptiles, then he gets to sniff all the chewy toys and pick one out. When we check out they always give him a couple of biscuits. Going to the doggy store is one of his favorite activities!

Emeesmom,

I agree with you completely.  Recently, an animal control vehicle in Houston (?) shut itself off with 8 dogs in the car.  I believe the person was on a lunch break.  Needless to say, some dogs died in the heated animal control van.  I don't want any dogs to die, but imagine if some were just pets who got out for the day??  Anyway, it just isn't worth the risk.  I once cared for a dog for two weeks--and he enjoyed car rides--but I would NEVER have thought to leave this dog unattended.  We went out for a couple quick rides and came home (quick trip to the park, too).  It's a mind-boggling thing.   I've heard of dogs dying when it was approximately 70 degrees outside.  Yikes--it's not worth the risk....

I saw an animal rescue van in Cape May NJ this summer when it was hotter than heck & the guy had a bird in a cage in the car with the windows down, pulling out of a WaWa store, I thought it was too hot to even have the windows down & he prob left the bird in the car while he went into the store.