Wow, I guess it's a good thing that most of you don't live in Richmond, VA which is one of the most pet friendly cities in the country.
We even have a pet friendly mall. We take Reilly there all the time and with the exception of the restaurants, he is welcomed in all of the stores. In fact, a good majority of the stores put out bowls of water and have bags of treats handy for the furry visitors. Currently Reilly's favorite stop in the mall is Godiva - not that he gets chocolate - but they give out the good treats, not some imitation Milk Bone
. He gets a kick out of riding the escalators in Dilliads and Saks 5th Avenue. The little brat won't let us carry him, he sees the getting on and off as a challenge and gets a kick out of it.
Shoot, he can shop at all kinds of high end stores - Sharper Image, Talbots, Mac Cosmetics or even Coach or Louis Vuitton if Lauri had a purse fetish (which thankfully for our bank account - she doesn't!) You know, this really isn't a "new" concept or trend by any means. Maybe in this country, but in Europe pets are allowed in quite a few places with their owners and have been for some time. I think the US is one of the most "animal phobic" of all the countries and has more restrictions on companion animals and where they can and can't be.
Outside of the mall we take him to Michaels, Ben Franklin, Home Depot, Office Max, Burlington Coat Factory, The Yankee Candle Outlet, Tuesday Morning... but we always ask before we bring him in for the first time. Surprisingly the answer is usually the same - that he is more than welcome and he ends up getting more attention from the sales staff than we do and we are the ones with the money to buy stuff...
DW Lauri lets leashed dogs in her store too. She told me that the entire time she has been in that store - a dog has never pooped or peed on the carpet - but unfortunately she's had more than one child pull down their pants and "relieve" themselves on the carpet - and even once a grown man left a "present" behind.
Plus she has never had a dog misbehave or act up and damage product like people (not just children but teens and adults) tend to do on a daily basis.
I think the majority of the people that take their pets with them when they shop know their pet well enough to know it won't have an accident. (and I said majority because I know there will be some pet owners who don't care and let their pet go where he wants) I would bet my life that Reilly wouldn't dare pee in a store. The dog is so well trained to only go in his backyard that he won't even give a "sample" for the vet after bowls of water and staying there for 8 hours.
As far as the airplane issue - if the airlines will allow you to bring a pet into the cabin if the carrier fits under the seat, I don't see the big deal. Last I heard the trend is that you will begin to see more and more companion animals in the cabin that aren't necessarily in carriers under the seat. Not to mention hotels are now jumping on the pet band wagon and allowing people to bring their dogs (not cats though) to more expensive hotels. Sheraton and Starwood are now pet friendly.
I never really though at the allergy angle with taking Reilly out in public but that doesn't apply anyway. Reilly is a poodle which is hypoallergenic so he wouldn't cause problems. But there are plenty of other allergy issues that people have to deal with in confined spaces other than animal allergies. I know there are some people that are very sensitive to some perfumes and have allergy like symptoms when exposed to someone that spritzed themselves one too many times. Then there is the food allergy that I won't name for fear of starting another DIS debate..lol
Maybe it's just because we are in such a dog friendly city and state - but we have yet to have anyone complain about Reilly being with us out in public and he goes somewhere with us at least once a week.
Sorry if you consider us foolish or gross or any of the other words you have used to describe it.
