I don't think I will ever take my dog to Petco. We were there last week and a huge fight broke out between 2 dogs. This evening I ran over to the shopping center to met my oldest daughter. We went in Petco to see if we could find the dog treats that someone was telling us about. There was 7-8 dogs in the store. This lady with a mini Komondor comes in and people are going crazy for her dog, you don't see them often around here (this is the first I've ever seen in person).

Anyway, we walk by and my youngest daughter ( sees the Komondor and was telling me how neat she thought it looked. The lady goes "you can pet her, she's really nice, she won't bite you". I was polite and told her that her dog was really pretty but we don't allow our daughter to pet strange dogs. It wasn't 2 minutes later her dog gets into a HUGE fight with a poodle. The Komondor started it from what I could see. The lady goes "Oh my, I have never seen her act like that before". Then she goes on to say how the poodle must have rubbed her the wrong way. REALLY?? Thought the Komondor was really nice and would never bite?

Dog agression and human agression can be very different and not linked at all. Not that I am defending the actions of the dog, but there is a very good chance the dog is completely safe with humans.

I don't take my dogs into Petco or Petsmart either. We have a few small boutiques I will go to and mom and pop stores, but otherwise I don't take them because of disease prevalence.

mheath0429 wrote:

Dog agression and human agression can be very different and not linked at all. Not that I am defending the actions of the dog, but there is a very good chance the dog is completely safe with humans.

I agree, but if you dog is aggressive around other animals then why would you take them to a place like that? There were other adults and small children there who could have "gotten in the way". Judging by the way the lady reacted, and her tone, I would guess that this really isn't the first time the dog behaved this way.

I would guess you are right. But, some people aren't responsible.

Hell, I've seen dog aggressive dogs at dog shows...how does that make sense?

Can't fix stupid!

Growing up, we always had very people friendly dogs and didn't have anything to worry about. But if someone asked if they were friendly or if they bite, my would wold always say "they're friendly, but all dogs can bite..." I always thought it was a pretty good response.

Anything with teeth can bite.

Maggie has bite me and she is the worlds sweetest dog. Stupid is what stupid does.

Even Dog Aggression can be totally weird...

I've seen dogs that discriminate against poodles, huskies, GSDs, black dogs, bigger dogs, little dogs, humpers, males, females, etc.

Also, I'm not defending her, but it is worth mentioning she never said her dog didn't bite, she said her dog wouldn't bite your child.

My dogs have all 3 murdered small woodland creatures. They certaintly play bite each other, and Soshanna will take a gun from persons hand on sight. You can definitely say they do bite. However, if there was a young child here who had interest in my dogs (except Panzer), I would absolutely say "We can go pet them, they won't bite you". I'd supervise for safety, but unless one of those kids is a small rodent or a crow (or the quails I want to buy) my dogs are not going to do anything but lick someone to death.

K9_Eric wrote:

Also, I'm not defending her, but it is worth mentioning she never said her dog didn't bite, she said her dog wouldn't bite your child.

I do agree with what you are saying, I probably have said the same thing before. My point is that she had a dog aggressive dog in a crowded store with a lot of other dogs. Even if that dog wouldn't have went out to bite my daughter she could have very well be caught up in the middle of a dog fight. What really upset me was when we left the store the lady was staying outside with her dog. She was chatting with another woman (I believe a friend that was with her). She said something to the effect of "Coco really showed that poodle who was boss, I didn't think we would get out of there without her starting something, Oh well" Then she laughed about it. So she knew there was a very good chance that her dog would get into a fight with another dog.

Not defending the dog or the owner either, but Mya adores people. I can say confidently that she would not bite a human. Especially a child. Now put a dog near her and it's on. I do take her to the pet store every once in a while, but not let other dogs say hello to her. I immediately tell the owners that they can pet her if they like, but to keep the dog away (if they are with somebody that they can hand their dog to).

I knew my GSD since the day his was born, and knew he would never harm a fly. When he was 11, riddled with cancer, arthritis, and all those wonderful gifts of old-age, I did worry and didn't invite people to pet him much at all. One day, a little toddler came running up to him and started grabbing his ears with their face in his face, before I could even open my mouth! My GSD, all old and achy and with ear infections often - just sat there with a goofy grin on his face, mouth open, tongue hanging out like he was enjoying a summer breeze, his tail slowly thumping. I almost cried.

sorry to de-rail things but..

Speaking of irresponsible people being at these places: One time I was with my brother at a Petco, he brought his GSD to get a picture with Santa and I tagged along. We were about the 6th people in line, were very organized and his Tasha is just a doll, I had put bows on her and everything.

A couple people ahead, were these 2 teenage girls and their mother dressed like them.
They had a Yorkie, a Chihuahua, and a Boxer Puppy.
The Boxer puppy was all over the place, playing rough, and kept pouncing the Yorkie half to death, but the Yorkie just kept up avoidance, trying to run away, but his leash was pretty short. Every 4th or 5th time the Boxer went after the Yorkie, the Chihuahua would throw himself in front of the Yorkie and bark/snap at the Boxer pup and get clobbered anyways. The..ladies.. were busy with their gossip and cell phones, having a cackling good time - and every time the Chihuahua would bark at the Boxer they would look down for a second, scream at the Chihuahua and shove it with their foot.
>_<;

I never take my dogs with me to any of those dog stores. Way too much disease lurking about. I learned that lesson with my female greyhound who contracted a really nasty kennel cough at a Petsmart!

I take Appa to petco when I give him a bath, he's super friendly to people and dogs, but once there was a dog he just hated. No idea why. If you saw him you'd think we had a horribly dog-aggressive dog. I've never seen him randomly hate a dog like that before or since. Even the best trained dogs are unpredictable.

LOL, when Kennel Cough spreads through a kennel, all the techs and trainers start bringing their dogs to work, to hope they catch it. We treat it like when a kid in the neighborhood gets chickenpox, and they pass him around to infect the others, so they build the immunityy early. Kinda funny to hear someone who doesn't work around 100's of strange dogs talk about KC like that...