Karen Calanchini, I have seen non-service dogs everywhere especially the small ones in their owners purses. They are in Starbucks, bookstores, grocery stores, and so forth. I suppose there are owners who are afraid to be alone for mental health reasons and must take their dogs, but there are PTSD dogs that are trained and certified to be with their owners. These are not those dogs. I don't want to be around dogs especially those off their leashes. Service dogs are plainly marked and always on leashes.

Comparing dogs and kids is just plain silly. Children are the same species as I am and they leave me alone. I have children and they do not go up to strangers and it is rare that strange children go up to me. They generally wear shoes. The small ones are usually with parents and if they are not I notify a store employee. I have never known anyone who has been bitten by a strange child. It is the strange person who takes dogs out in public who writes about dogs being children and that it is ok. There must be a planet somewhere in the universe that we can ship them and they can run everywhere with them and hopefully never have children of their own species.

I have a dog here at home. When I used to be in public such as a park that permits them, my dog friend was on a leash. She has all of her shots. I just think that I have the right not to be approached by strange dogs off leashes and not in stores. If I am going to such stores as Petco I am going to expect to see dogs in there but on leashes. I don't know how many times I have been in a parking lot that I am getting in my car and a strange dog runs up to me off a leash. Maybe they like me. I don't like them. I also do not like their owners.

If people want to own dogs, that is their business and as long as they are out of stores that is fine. I no longer go to parks to walk my dog or even by myself because too many owners walk their dogs off leashes. It is the law.

Carol Willard is one of those odd people that I talk about in my post above.

we are NOT a third world country. it does not matter how clean and well behaved you THINK your dog is, it is still a dog. i will not surrender to those out there that think we will all adapt and accept us having to deal with animals in stores. this never occurred 15 years ago. why does it have to happen now. is there an overwhelming demand now from the populace that we accept dogs in places of business. will we be extending this courtesy to pet pigs as well??? i've seen plenty of clean pigs out there. i own two dogs and have been a dog lover my whole life. geeze people have some tact.

the dogs are cleaner than some of the kids i have seen .

Do your kids clean their anus with their tongue and then want to lick your hands and face. Do they stick their nose up other kids butts and then want to nuzzle your neck? If so you have some very unusual kids. I have never known a kid to do that but I have owned a kennel and raised and owned dogs most of my life and it has been my observation that they almost universally do.

Dogs do not belong in places that sell and/or prepare food. Canine and feline ascarids are a nasty infestation, tape worm is seriously debilitating to pets and humans and very communicable.

Their is a reason for the Health and Safety codes banning dogs from places where food is handled. Leave your dogs at home and they will not die in hot cars nor contaminate others.

The Republican party has allowed dogs to run for high public office for at least 8 years. Most recently, they have extended this opportunity to a pig.
No matter how often these dogs are bathed, or how much lipstick one applies to the pigs, they are still very dangerous to the populace.
Was this tactful enough?

Margaret Cantrell,
I agree, I think the plams are a nice touch.

Hilltop is not indicative of redding anyhow.
It is a shopping area and a tourist area.
I think some of the winers about the palms would rather have it look like Victor between Hartnel and 44. now there a site to look at.

ROFLMAO!!!!!

Re: Dogs in public

Both letters have some merit, I must admit.

I have a 12 yr old Chihuahua, he is clean, current on his shots and the worst thing he would do is try to snuggle you or lick you to death. Oh the Horror! I have taken him to the pizza place in Discovery Village and it was not a big deal, I ate outside. Peppy was on his leash (and sitting between my feet) the entire time. As a responsible "Dog Mama" I keep my pup in check.

I know and accept there are places that my "little bean" cannot go, I have no issue with that.

As much as I love kids, I have seen my share of them who are out of control: many of those times, it seemed that the parent(s) just ignored it and THAT is what annoys me. I KNOW kids will act out and have fits, no matter where they are, thats just kids. However, that is where parenting comes into play as well. It is RUDE to allow your child to throw a b*tch fit while in public. (and expect others to just suck it up)

Perhaps it was the way I was raised, but my parents never allowed me to act out in public: and if I did, it was a nice walk to the car to wait until I calmed down.

Its not uncommon to see small dogs in Grocery Stores.
Pet owners tell us how well mannered and trained their pets are but just go to the RiverTrail and look at all the POOP. They need to train them to use the restrooms or pick up after the pets.
Dogs should not be allowed in stores.

There are several good Doctors of Optometry in Redding I suggest you visit one.

Dog owners do not pick up their dog poop on the trails and in the parks...so we know they will just leave it on the store floor expecting some one else to clean up after them.

Nice generalization.

Bot all of us are careless and inconsiderate. Please remember that.

jrdsmiles,
just my perspective.

If palm trees had rectal orifices, the sun would shine out of them.

Can we move on from the F%$&@#G palm trees now?

Please?

I work in retail and many dogs are brought into our store. They are not allowed and they do cause problems. They annoy other customers because as behaved as their owners claim they are, they usually aren't. Not to mention the fact that some people are allergic the owners set them on the ground and allow them to walk around. They also set them on the counters while they are looking at items or purchasing. They distract them which makes it harder to get the customers out the door so we can help the next. They bark and the little ones bark nonstop. Lot to mention some of the owners let them go to the bathroom on the floors and walk away. Duh people, cameras are every where! You cannot see them, but the people watching them see everything you do. Not to mention they tell all the workers and you're talked about in the break room. WAY TO GO! You're not shopping for your dog, they have petco if you want to take it some where. Also I have no beef with the seeing eye dogs. They are GREAT! Those dogs are meant for something, not attention. They are extremely well behaved and do not make a scene and help the customer get in and out of the store quickly. It's just called being polite. Would you want someone bringing in their cat on a leash into a store, what about a pet rat? Seriously, and the comparing the dogs to a children is insane. I've seen plenty of unruly kids and never thought, "Oh Gosh, I wish that were a dog instead, it would be so much cleaner!" Give me a break!

Only in America do people feel the need to behave in such selfish ways. Unless a dog is specifically invited, it does not belong in a public place. I love dogs, but I respect people.

I think my dog is a republican. He likes to eat the horsecrap from my republican neighbors horses.

I wish I knew the store where Mrs Johnson works.

I would bring my dog in there just to get her goat!

Dogs in places that sell food and cigarette smokers breaking the anti-liter laws.....what do they both have in common? These two things are just like the other can you tell me what two things are the same here? (sung in a sesame street children's verse way)

i agree...dogs shouldn't throw their cigarette butts on the ground...

Dogs are not people. They are animals. Treat them as such. Leave them out of our stores!

These comparisons between animals and children are absurd and thoughtless. Remember, please, that when kids "act out in public", it is quite possible that they suffer from one of a number of behavioral and/or developmental disorders- including, like my own son, autism.

And regardless of your judgment on the parenting abilities or lack thereof in the case of these children, human beings always take precedence over animals. Oh, and yes- if my boy is "acting out", you WILL have to "just suck it up".

"... the anti-liter laws..."

Glad you brought that up, jrd. I'm a big supporter of those laws. It's 1.056 liquid quarts (i.e.- a cubic decimeter) or NOTHING in my book.

"... would bring my dog in there just to get her goat!"

Saw a dog get (eat) a goat once (very large dog, of course). Not pretty. But an act of justice- said goat ate my DD-214 (discharge papers) the previous day.

Hallo, Bento.

John wrote "ROTFLMAO!!!!", to which you replied, "Can you not speak English, Einstein?"

Just want to point out that "ROTFLMAO", though I wouldn't use it myself, IS English- it's an acronym for, as Albert Einstein might have put it, "Rollingk on ze floor laughingk mein Arsch off!"

Auf wiedersehen!

I believe dogs should be granted all the privileges of humans. For a week or so. Then rounded up en masse and transformed into something useful.

"I believe dogs should be granted all the privileges of humans. For a week or so. Then rounded up en masse and transformed into something useful."

I don't want to see dogs in public places and in parks without leashes however they do perform many useful services such as aid to the visually handicapped, hearing impaired and PTSD people. Their sense of smell can detect illness including people who are going into diabetic shock and have cancer. Nature on PBS has been running a two part series of the use of dogs and they are remarkable.

When dogs go into public places the problem is not the dogs fault but the humans who are missing common sense who are at fault. Dogs have helped humans survive through the centuries.

"These comparisons between animals and children are absurd and thoughtless. Remember, please, that when kids "act out in public", it is quite possible that they suffer from one of a number of behavioral and/or developmental disorders- including, like my own son, autism."

Oh thank for you for saying that. I have a good friend who has a developmentally disabled child and often "misbehaves" in public and the amount of abuse my friend goes through is horrendous. She does not want to lock the child up and the problems are very mild, but as she is attempting to handle the problem they make the situation so much worse.

Only kidding about dogs. There is no end to the list of services they perform. They save lives and bring happiness and solace to the sad, sight to the blind, etc. My own Jack Russell terrier, "Batman", would partially devour anyone who looked at my son the wrong way.

Only democrat dogs sniff butts.

Most idiotic post I've ever read here- congratulations!