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Surely nobody wants food stores going to the dogs

What should we do with a dog in the grocery? Nothing. A dog isn’t supposed to be in the grocery.

That’s true in most places, anyway, and the Oregon Department of Agriculture plans to remind the dog owners. Other states should do the same.

Some folks think dogs are fine in the grocery, but they do cause a few problems. The Food Safety Division in Oregon gets more than 100 complaints a year about dogs in food stores, and they hear about pooches licking meat packages and sniffing food items.
The idea of spoiling our pets isn’t new for many of us. We treat them as just part of the family.

A friend once told me about the old-time sheepherders and their canine companions. These men were quite attached to their dogs and generally believed theirs was the smartest animal that ever spit up in a camp wagon.

It was important to keep these fellows and their dogs away from each other at gatherings, such as shearing time. An offhand comment about someone’s dog would often lead to a bout of cursing, snarling and biting that required the dogs to jump in and break it up.

I remember calling a motel for a reservation a few years ago, and just before I hung up the woman at the desk said, “Oh, and pets are welcome here. Feel free to bring your dog if you wish.”
Uh-oh, I thought.

Sure enough, about daylight the next morning the motel parking lot erupted with doggy noise. A lot of folks had brought their dogs, and they were all doing their best to make some new friends. That seemed fine to the dogs, but it’s tough for the folks who are trying to get some sleep.

There is a provision in Oregon’s law that allows service dogs in the stores. The catch is to identify what duty the animal performs.
We might consider the story of two men who agreed to meet at a downtown grocery with a deli for lunch.

One of these fellows had a Chihuahua named Pedro. The dog went everywhere with him. This fellow got to the grocery first and walked in.

The store’s proprietor ushered him back out. “No dogs in the grocery,” he said.

When the second man arrived he asked his friend, “What are you doing out here?”

The friend said, “They don’t allow dogs. And if Pedro isn’t welcome, I’m not going to stay, either.”

The second man said, “Wait a minute. Let me try it.”

This fellow put on his sunglasses, took the dog’s leash and marched into the grocery. The owner met him at the door. “Hey, buddy. We don’t allow any dogs in here.”

“But this is my seeing-eye dog,” the customer stated.
“That’s a Chihuahua!” the owner exclaimed.

“What? They gave me a Chihuahua?” the customer exclaimed.

Readers with questions or comments for Roger Pond may write to him in care of this publication.

9/2/2009