Dogs now allowed in John Lewis stores - good idea or not?

My dogs are very picky. They would never shop in John Lewis ! They prefer Pets at Home every time.
Diane227
I vote that the best post on the thread

No no no dogs in shops of ANY type. Dogs shouldn't be dragged around the shops. They need outdoor space and a good run. Ridiculous idea

Nooooo!!! The naughty boy dogs would be cocking their legs up at the mannequins. I have two (usually) well behaved dogs, but wouldn't dream of taking them into shops with me.
How can you have a good old browse if you've got to keep a wary eye on Fido? What a dreadful idea. Who thought of that one?

Duncan Pickles mum obviously thought it was a great idea - fair dos I suppose, how else is a dog supposed to choose its birthday present?

Grammaretto - I so agree with you about huskies.
There's a young couple in the flats next to us who have 3 huskies. They take them out on leads twice a day, but it's the dogs taking the humans. Husband once said to them"Why don't you get a sledge?" the young man wasn't too pleased.
They're beautiful animals but not for town living.
I think the craze for huskies was something to do with the Games of Thrones series. Not fair on the poor dogs.

Craicon I agree, people who let their children run about, shouting, screaming really wind me up. Why should everyone have to put up with their noisy behaviour.

Who has said they like noisy children running about JL (or anywhere for that matter)? Not liking badly behaved children and dogs in JL are not mutually exclusive.

Yes , dogs are like children. Most of us love ours . However with other people's , we like them to be fairly quite and well behaved .

I don't have a problem with socialising children or dogs in public places . In fact I encourage it .

It's not the child or dog , but the parent or owner who is at fault if it goes pear shaped .

The Trafford Centre does not allow dogs (apart from assistance dogs) but the John Lewis branch there has a downstairs outside entrance through which the dogs will be allowed to enter. What is the logic in that?

Dogs in shops is a bad idea - how are they going to manage it during the sales for instance? Having to look down to ground level so I don't stand on somebody's "furbaby" just isn't practical. Neither do I want dogs rubbing their wet noses all over the racks of jeans (or mine for that matter).

Most owners are responsible and would probably act appropriately, unfortunately many others are not.

Katy

We too have just had a week in Devon, and to suggest we’re a dog phobic nation is completely mad!

One of my big moans is, dogs on beaches where the sign clearly states no dogs, this is completely disregarded by many dog owners, we saw a dog wee on a child’s drinks bottle, and the owner never even acknowledged it.

I also took pleasure in watching some Dogs on dog friendly beaches, having lots of fun, I am not a hater of dogs, but I think there is a play for them, and that is not John Lewis

I agree Sara I admit to being afraid of dogs. I have had a few frightening incidents with them, including one where the police were involved and it was thought I may have to testify on court. I didn't thankfully. I don't hate them and would help one if I saw it in distress, which is what I was doing when it went for me!

Katy

One of my granddaughters is terrified of dogs, no reason, she just freezes if one comes towards her. I told her today about JL allowing dogs in, and she said, well we definitely won’t be going there again!

My granddaughter used to be when she was small. She loves them now!

At risk of getting flamed I prefer dogs to badly behaved kids any day (I have both) . As for those posting about what the dogs might leave behind, you've obviously never worked in retail/cafe and dealt with some of the stuff left by children/parents. I have removed human excrement from fitting rooms, dirty nappies from down the sides of chairs, ice cream covered faces wiped all over suits, snotty noses wiped on stock, stock carried around played with and damaged but parents refusing to accept responsibilty. Dogs have come in sat while customers shopped or lay down while they had a drink/cake and the worst thing theyve done is splash water when drinking. Neither are nice when badly behaved but I have definately dealt with more badly behaved kids than dogs. The poster who put that shops should have signs saying badly behaved children /dogs will be asked to leave has the best idea but many parents get very aggresive if you suggest they keep their child with them (under control)

But it's not the children, is it Tooyoung - it's the parents.

Perhaps parents should be banned from JL.

I'm not a fan of dogs in shops- our local garden centre often seems to have more dogs than people in it, with some owners having 2 or even more. On a rather contentious note, I'm not a fan of children in shops either, whether it's pushing past you on their scooters, peering at you from a huge 4 wheel drive buggy which is taking up so much space you have to take cover in a rail of dresses or leaping out from behind a fitment and shouting 'boo'....

Definitely 'no' here. I was recently in the branch of a nationwide stationer/bookseller where a young man was browsing, not watching his dog all the time, I kept expecting a pee on one of the bookshelves, I don't suppose he would have noticed. Some dogs slaver all over
the place - ugh! I see dogs being taken round our city centre which is very crowded at times, have nearly tripped over them sometimes. Dog owners don't always realise that not everyone loves dogs.

I lived in Keswick in Cumbria for eight years and this town must be the most dog friendly town in UK. Dogs are allowed in all the shops, except supermarkets, and pubs, with the exception of the Wetherspoons, and some restaurants and I never once, in all of my eight years there, heard anything more than the odd bark and never ever found in any of these establishments any dog excrement or noticable dog hair. The dogs weren't slavering everywhere or nosing everyone either!

I don't think you can expect people to tie their dogs up outside John Lewis whilst they shop, Ive never yet seen a dog leave anything unsavoury in a shop and you could argue they are usually less problematic than small children.

no .they might wee on the clothes or any other place that another dog has visited...

It is interesting that high end shops which once had a very good reputation have been pursuing politically correct or ‘woke’ agendas and have been pandering to minority shoppers like dog owners. They want to draw in new and younger customers but all it does is annoy the loyal shoppers.

Waitrose sacked their brilliant magazine editor, William Sitwell, for gently joshing an extremist vegan in an email instead of supporting him. Vegans make up less than one per cent of the population. Waitrose vegan products abound in the yellow sticker areas as they are not too popular.

M and S and John Lewis, unlike other, good high street clothes retailers, do not give a sturdy recyclable paper bag, ever for an expensive garment. Imagine the folly of trying to sell a coat for hundreds of pounds and not putting it in a bag to protect it.

M and S offer burkinis which are an oppressive garment meant to control women and their bodies and choices. I was beyond furious when I saw a high street shop collude with the abuse of women.

Dogs in shops is another idea which seems to be an own goal. Yes, the UK is dog obsessed but when you see on something like Gransnet that even dog owners find the idea unhygienic, annoying and unkind to the dogs you know that the retailer allowing it hasn’t hammered another nail in its coffin.

As some posters have said, there is a choice now:- online.

Has not hasn’t. Predictive text, doh!

I can remember seeing pampered pooches in Harrods in “the old days” - i.e. the 70’s

Interestingly though, Harris’s website says it doesn’t allow dogs (unless Assistance ones) for their customer’s safety
www.harrods.com/en-gb/faq/in-store

I wonder if they turn a blind eye if the customer is spending enough money?!