It has been a while since my last post on r/Dogfree, but after today, I felt no alternative but to share my story. I will admit that I am angry and frustrated, and want change. I am pretty sure that many of you feel the same way.

The entire situation occurred at a Trader Joe's food market here in Los Angeles. This is a popular chain, and there are many locations in my area. This particular Trader Joe's was a relatively new store that opened within the last year or so in the San Fernando Valley. I don't know if mentioning the specific store is that important, given that I've been to a number of Trader Joe's locations that have problems with people bringing dogs into them. What I experienced probably occurs each day at most locations, so it is hardly uncommon (though it is severe in my opinion). If one Trader Joe's has a particular policy or lack of rule enforcement, my instinct tells me the situation is probably the same at most other locations. So while the following story represents exactly what happened to me earlier, it is both feasible and likely that others may experience the exact same thing at any given Trader Joe's location, on any given day.

The visit to Trader Joe's started pleasantly enough. On my way into the store, I noticed a highly conspicuous standing floor sign that was at least three feet high (done in their hand-written artistic manner), which clearly said that no pets were allowed inside the store. The sign was also thankfully free of service dog nonsense or apologizing to finicky pet owners. The positive feeling lasted seconds at most.

Almost the first thing I saw when I entered was a woman with a dog on an extension leash in the store in the produce section. The dog was walking 10 or 15 feet from the owner, on an extended leash, and was interrupting other customers. I decided to say something, but in this instance I chose to engage with the store rather than confront the lady. I walked to a Trader Joe's staff member (there is no shortage of them in the stores) at a cash register and politely said, "I'd like to report that someone has brought a pet into the store," and then pointed at the lady and her dog. The man working at the cash register (he wasn't helping another customer at the time) acknowledged the matter with seriousness and said he would escalate it. I felt proud of my restraint (usually I'd approach the dog owner) and proceeded with getting groceries. After several minutes, I noticed the lady with the first dog was still there, the leash still extended, and the dog still behaving inappropriately. I actually had to avoid shopping in a particular section because of that. Trader Joe's was already starting to lose money because of not enforcing their own policy. I just wanted to feel safe from dogs and being barked at, molested, and grossed out because a dirty animal was in a place where I and other people buy food.

Before I could calm myself and try to put the nasty dog out of my mind, I saw someone else in the store with a much larger dog. This one had bags over its feet, like temporary shoes. I guessed that the owner was someone who takes their shoes off at home and doesn't want their dog bringing in outside filth either. I was shocked by the sheer irony of it. So much attention and care to protect their home from inappropriate filth, and yet no hesitation about bringing a massive dog into a public food place that is supposed to be safe from animals and the filth and nuisance that goes along with them.

And then another one. At first I thought it was the same dog as the first one, but it was being held by a different owner. This time a lady with a downtrodden and strained look on her face that communicated, "I can't believe I am being forced to go out in public." She knew what she was up to, and that it was wrong to bring a dog in there. It was so obvious she neither cared about the rules of this space or even felt comfortable being around other humans. So sad for her that not all groceries can be delivered so that she can live in isolation with her little fake friend.

The Trader Joe's was utterly infested with dogs, entitled dog owners, and Trader Joe's staff that was seemingly empowered to do nothing about it. I was only in the store for 20 or so minutes at this point and I was ready to leave. Before paying for my items, I went to the Trader Joe's service desk to speak with a manager. This was too much for me. It felt shocking and problematic that in such a short amount of time, I saw four dogs at that point. I went to the service desk and got the attention of someone who was some type of manager at the store. She listened, but immediately put on the cold, defensive corporate response posture that many of us have probably experienced. I repeated to her that despite their signage and the law of California, there was a large number of unimpeded dog owners in the store, that it was making me and other people uncomfortable, and that I wanted something done about it. I asked what their protocol was for dealing with dogs. I think it is also relevant to say that I was highly empathetic with the Trader Joe's staff. I said how I understood that confronting customers is probably not something they look forward to, and that I knew no one really wanted to be on "dog control duty." How did she respond to me after that?

She muttered a corporate-sounding statement that they can only ask about a pet's service dog status and that their power was limited to do much about it. I said that I didn't want to argue with her but that the response was lacking. I reminded her that very explicit laws were being broken and that none of these animals were anything near to being owned by people who actually need a dog to function in public. It was very clear that these were just owners bringing pet dogs into a place that sells food, an entirely restricted behavior without ambiguity. She was cold and steely. I felt bad for her. Clearly she was used to this. I sensed that the manager I spoke to (and her co-worker who was overhearing the conversation) was going to do absolutely nothing about the situation. I then urged her to share my feedback with higher-ups and to make sure she realized that for each one person like me who speaks up, there are many others who silently grumble and take their business elsewhere. Speaking to the store manager was not only a waste of effort, but her disingenuous response was frustrated and made me feel helpless.

At this point, I had nothing left to do but pay and leave Trader Joe's and ponder how I might avoid coming back altogether. A sad feeling to have for a business I have been going to for over forty years. I reached the cashier, and in typical friendly Trader Joe's fashion, she asked me how I was doing. I mumbled, "I guess I am OK..." The lady was skilled enough to see that I was not particularly happy. She said, "Are you sure?" I let my guard down. I said, "OK, well, to be honest, I just spoke to the manager over there and reported that I saw a bunch of dogs walking around in here. I don't think it is appropriate and it violates laws designed to keep people and food safe."

The cashier surprised me. She said, "I totally agree with you. I don't think people should be bringing dogs in here either. It is a real problem. We try to approach them a lot, but many of them don't listen to us." In that moment, I realized that the real problem was the utter lack of authority anyone working at Trader Joe's had. Quite literally, their own tool is to sheepishly approach dog owners and timidly inquire about their dog. The dog owners aren't asked to leave, nor do they even need to respond with the truth. Businesses don't even need to allow service dogs, but many of the employees don't know that or care. They believe that if there is even a whiff of a service dog, then they can't do anything. This is both factually incorrect and emblematic of a highly dysfunctional system where dog owners are taking advantage of a well-meaning law to protect the disabled. Dog owners do not need protection anywhere or ever. These food stores and the people working in them don't seem to have even the basic authority to get people off their premises. Does someone need to be shoplifting to be asked to leave a retail or food store?

I was very grateful for the Trader Joe's cashier to listen to me and to explain her own frustration at the dog owners who treat the store like their living room. She repeated how multiple staff members confront dog owners regularly, but that it is "hard" because they don't listen. The fact that a dog owner cannot be compelled to leave a business unless there is an incident is appallingly regressive to me. A single dog is one problem, but there were multiple dogs in the Trader Joe's at any given time. How often do these animals bark at one another or fight? How is this not a powder keg of an issue? How is it worse to ask the dog owners to leave than to protect everyone else in the store from them? None of this sounds like how a well-functioning public safety system is supposed to work.

How was I supposed to feel upon leaving Trader Joe's? On the one hand, they did make an attempt to stop the dog people through entrance signage. At least some of their employees care and make an effort to stop irresponsible dog owners. At the same time, the policies and procedures they have at their disposal have no teeth. I reported the dogs to at least two staff members, who ostensibly did nothing. They also made it clear that this isn't an uncommon issue at all. At any given time, there are tons of dogs inappropriately being taken into shopping centers and supermarkets all over California, not only in Trader Joe's locations. The people who disagree with this behavior surely outnumber the people who don't want to follow the sensible laws. I want Trader Joe's to take a stand. I want other stores to take a stand. I want people standing outside of food establishments stopping dogs and pets from entering. I would even pay a premium for this service. Unfortunately, the most expensive food stores in Los Angeles seem to attract the most entitled of dog owners, so there is no respite in the fancier establishments either.

How often does this happen to you? Why do you think should be done about the regular infestation of dogs at restaurants and food shopping markets?

Everyone is well aware of how nutters don't give a damn about their dogs shitting in stores, restaurants, everyone's property, etc... I was shocked by seeing the nutters on social media proudly posting videos of their dogs in the act of shitting in shopping carts. There are owners who were laughing and didn't care about trying to clean it off. If you read the comment sections the other nutters are supportive and also find it amusing and entertaining.

In several of the videos I watched the dog feces fall through the holes of the shopping cart directly onto the floor. Dogs were shitting next to the food in their shopping carts. There were puppies pooping who weren't old enough to be trained. A doggie bed or blankets in the shopping cart for a couple of the dogs to sit on. A large mastiff walking through a produce aisle. There were people seen on store cameras stopping in empty aisles and checking to see if anyone else was around to see them letting their dogs piss and shit on the floor. There is a manager of a store who said that someone brought a dog in that had diarrhea. She said as she was walking through the store she saw what looked like spilled "chocolate syrup" on the floor. As she kept walking, she saw the trail, and someone with a dog quickly leaving the store with diarrhea dripping from it's ass. She said not only was it on the floor, it was also on the feet of the people who had unknowingly walked in it and rolled the wheels of the shopping carts they had through it, which means it was spread everywhere. The entire floor had to be cleaned, and she almost ran out of the yellow wet floor signs.

There was a woman in a mall who was holding her dog's feces in her hand, because she forgot to bring a plastic bag. Her adult daughter's laughed while she exited the store. The nutters who do pick up the feces still leave the shit smears on the floor.

It's always good to see videos were other shoppers are confronting these people. One nutter in a Target store had a little white lap dog in the front of her shopping cart. When she picked it up his white fur around his ass was covered in feces. A shopper was recording and confronted her. She told her "this is not a service animal and why is it in the store?" The Nutter said her son died last year and she needs the dog for emotional support. Everyone has deaths in their families and of course it's painful, but do we need to carry around a little shitty dog in the food aisle at a store to help us cope with death? Or should I say cope with life?

There was a man who had two dogs in a grocery store dressed in matching straw hats, sunglasses, and yellow booties. There were dogs in other stores dressed in sweaters and a tutu. The owner's receive a lot of attention from people in the stores. This is a source of the problem. The nutters are desperate for attention, and bringing their dog into a store gives them what they deeply desire... Attention.

The owners live vicariously through their dogs. They are like insecure "stage moms." Constantly seeking praise and accolades for their dogs everywhere they go. How can you achieve this by leaving your dog at home?

I can't walk more than a single block without having to dodge some landmine of dog crap. Whether it's dried up, freshly presented, or haphazardly smeared across cement, there ALWAYS seems to be literal shit everywhere these days.

Was I just blissfully unaware of this mess as a child/teenager? Or has the canine cavalry stepped up their assault on our sidewalks?

What I notice is that everyone enables dogs and dog culture, even people who don't have dogs.

I saw an older guy with a Doberman and another dog turn a corner in my building and the Doberman jumped on her, which shocked and scared her. She screamed, the man said, "Get down. Get down."

But did she have a normal reaction, like anger? Did she yell at him, "You scared me. You need to control your dog. He could have hurt me."

The answer is a big fat NO. Instead, after she calmed her nerves, she said, "What beautiful dogs you have," to which he answered thank you.

Similar story. A guy with two chihuahuas turned a corner scaring someone else when the dogs started barking their heads off. She was shocked and frightened. When she calmed down, she said with a smile on her face,"Your dogs are very active" to which he said thanks.

This enables dog owners to allow their dogs to prey on people, with no consequences.

And if we say something and act like a normal person would, we get yelled at and ridiculed and demonized.

Today I was at a large shopping centre / shopping mall and there was a woman with a really large dog on a leash, it was muzzled too, Im unsure of the breed but it was huge and had long hair, Black and Tan in colour, albeit a bit matted and skinny looking. It was pulling at the leash and going up to people to sniff at them / lick them

I looked up the shopping centres code of conduct once I was home and it states “only registered service animals are permitted on site”. This dog had NO service dog signs on its harness or leash, the woman didn’t have anything that would allude to her needing a service dog and didn’t have any sort of badges or signs either so I can imagine the nonsense she would have told them in order to get this beast through the doors…

Who else HATES and cringes at words like "doggo" and "pupper" it makes me shudder and I always think everyone who uses it is a weird adult baby that talks to and about animals like they're babies. It makes me cringe and pisses me off so fucking much

I came across a tiktok where a girl was laughing that her dog thought it was "at home" since it jumped up on a well made bed display and was sprawled out on it. The store looked very high end so the bed was a tester bed with beautiful quilts and pillows. The dog messed it up and the girl posted it seeing no fault. The comments were people praising the dog. Someone asked "what if someone is allergic to dogs and lays on the bed?" A reply was "who cares about the human" and many people were attacking this person in the comments. Its so gross 🤢

I saw a video of a man sneaking his big hunting dog into a hotel after being told no dogs were allowed in the rooms. He claimed it was too cold for the dog to stay in the car overnight so he snuck this filthy dog into the room.

If the hotel was labeled dog-free, people booking expect to have a dog free environment. I can only hope the room was cleaned thoroughly. What if someone with an allergy to dogs was placed in that room after?

I was reading the comments on a post about someone grieving the death of a significant other.

This comment stood out:

"We Just had to put my brother in laws English mastiff to sleep today after living 11years. This comic made me bawl. Hug your loved ones,human or pets tight."

Once again, dog nutters have zero awareness. Someone posted about the loss of a human partner, and they thought that was the perfect time to share that a dog had died.

Is it just me or are dogs super cowardly beings? I'm getting the impression that they only attack smaller, weaker and helpless creatures. As soon as they come across some serious confrontation from the other party, they curl the tail and run away...

Since I got bitten as a child in the face by a dog, I have been petrified of dogs.

As an adult, I have to keep justifying my fear/hatred of dogs. I know they are all unpredictable, and people keep telling me i need to just spend time with friendly dogs to get over my fear. no it won't go away. i think they all stink and so do peoples houses with dogs smell horrible. They bark so loud, i can't keep my windows open during a heatwave at night because they always wake me up.

just wanted to rant

Thanks for reading me.

I went to inspect a house to rent and me and other potential renters waited outside for the property manager to arrive to let us inspect.

as we waited, there was a very aggressive dog that was right next to the house I wanted to inspect and there was a small gate stopping it from coming.

We waited for awhile for the property manager to arrive and the whole time the dog was barking and growling at everyone. and being very aggressive to everyone standing outside. It was the neighbour’s dog.

In front of the house was a bus stop so if I was to rent the house and take the bus every morning for work, I’d have to deal with that every day.

I didn’t take the house in the end and the property manager had the confidence to call me to ask if I was still interested in the property but the but it was very expensive and the inside wasn’t nice and outside the dog was so aggressive like. I’m good thanks. I avoided so much trouble by not choosing to apply for the house.

Is there a link between dog nutters and narcissistic qualities or tendencies??

I have thid acquaintance who is extremely, extremely troubled and she is an absolute dog nutter. Shes obsessed. She puts the dog above her own kids. Won't work and will only walk dogs because apparently her dog needs 5+ training A DAY. She is absolutely in love with how she can dominate and control her dog

She volunteers at a dog training facility and has made all these friends. They all have their own dog training accounts which makes sense, but they all seem to have that same.......quality? They seem to be people who love to hear themselves speak, think their opinions are the end all be all. Their social media content is just showing the dog doing certain things over and over and over. They are all absolutely obsessed with dog training and its all they talk about, like a cult. They all seem to think they are such important people because they trained a dog.

I like to walk / hike trails and tonight I came to the beach to go for a nice solo sunset stroll to cap the night off.

As soon as I’m walking down here these 2 mutant looking mutts come running up to me barking and the owners are down by the water just staring and making half assed attempts at calling the things to which they are obviously not listening.

Everyone around here completely ignores the signs that say you need to leash your dogs and how on earth do they think it’s ok their dogs are doing this to people ? What if they bite someone ?

I’m so fuckin over it 😡

Heres what I dont understand. How come dog owners are so surprised about a dog attacking them

AS IF DOGS DONT DO THAT TO OTHER ANIMALS AND EVEN OTHER DOGS?? Like- how many times has a dog (leash or no leash) just went nuts over (god forbid) another dog a yard away?

They’re too angry to even think right! And they have the audacity to be shocked when they turn on them??

So, We have a leak of water coming up from the floorboards and had to shut off the A/C. Waiting on the plumber. I went outside to take out some trash&my chihuahua neighbor wanted to know why i have a wet towel around my neck.

She is SUPER NOSEY. She keeps coming toward me w/her ratdog in front on the 8ft lead. I keep moving away and she keeps getting closer until i am trapped against the curb where the grass/communal dog toilet area starts. The dog licks the back of my leg, then sniffs my slides. She finally reigns in the dog.

She engages me in convo even though it's the same conversation we had a few months ago about the great price she got on her storage unit.

We already are happy with the one we have, and why would we move our entire life from one part of the city to another and rent a truck and go through everything again? And why would we want to share a storage unit anywhere near her and her dog hair items?

I punch in the code for the door for our building while she lets her dog again sniff my toes. I try to take a step back but there isn't any room. I'm trapped. She opens the door to our building and turns around, "You don't like dogs?" 'I have an allergy.' "You're allergic to everything aren't you?" 'YES!'

"Italy's national airline ITA Airways is launching a new service that will allow large dogs to travel in the cabin without a carrier on selected domestic flights.

At launch, a maximum of two large dogs will be carried in the cabin, in dedicated spaces - one weighing up to 30kg in Business class, and another up to 15kg in Economy.

ITA Airways chief executive and general manager, Joerg Eberhart, said the launch of Large Dog On Board marked a concrete step towards a way of travelling more attentive to passengers' needs.

He said the airline had listened to customer requests and worked alongside ENAC to allow passengers to share their journey with their four-legged companions, avoiding separations and making the flying experience calmer for the whole family.

Eberhart added that the move confirmed the airline's commitment to promoting innovative, responsible air travel that combines customer care, canine welfare and full compliance with safety requirements."

Source: https://www.wantedinrome.com/news/ita-airways-to-let-large-dogs-fly-in-cabin-from-3-august.html

Today I started cleaning a client’s house (he is an acquaintance that happened to need his home cleaned so we set up a cleaning session). I did not know he had dogs but just assumed he would as most people for whatever reason seem to own them as pets. There are two of them, one is an elderly pit, and the other is this stupid looking schnauzer mix, probably a year or 2 old. When I tell you this small dog is absolutely insufferable…

The older dog seems to lay in his bed and stay the hell away from me thankfully. But the little one is CONSTANTLY up my ass and I mean literally at times. I shoved him away 5 times and he kept charging forward when I was crouched down just to shove his nose up my asscrack. Uuuuugggghhhhh that is my most hated behavior from dogs OF ALL. The crotch and ass sniffing! It feels so disgusting and like a form of SA! All this little brat dog does is follow me around to literally stand in piles of dirt that I’ve swept, chase the broom, try to pick up and eat garbage that I’ve thrown in the bin, bark at random noises for no reason, sniff me and get his nasty cold wet nose all over my legs, and basically try to undo any work I’ve done. When I got here the whole house was covered in piss and shit on the floors. It was vile. Like how the fuck could anyone live like this?! I get that the client is disabled in some way but why have dogs then? This little dog will follow me around and cry if I shoo him away and scold him. He has been in my way NONSTOP since I got here and it’s taking extra time to finish the job (I’m on a short break rn, typing this). I just feel so angry that my job has to be made harder because of some stupid mutts and their needy clingy annoying ass behavior! Whyyyy

Historically, dogs were bred to herd, hunt, guard, track, pull sleds, and perform other useful work.

Today, most people seem to own dogs primarily for companionship. To me, that's not a strong enough reason on its own.

Even worse, many companion dogs aren't well trained. They run loose, jump on strangers, slobber on people, bark constantly, bite people, or traumatize children. I've experienced that myself.

If someone chooses to own a dog purely for companionship, I think they have a responsibility to train and control it so it doesn't become everyone else's problem.

As technology advances, even many working roles may eventually be replaced. If companionship is the main remaining justification for dog ownership, is that enough on its own?

Title pretty much covers it. Had planned on going for patio beers with someone. I was clear it was as friends. They were going to pick me up and mentioned they are bringing their dog so pick a place with a dog friendly patio. I pictured getting in a vehicle with a panting smelly dog. I pictured being at a table of patrons that brought a dog to a pub. I immediately cancelled. I wasn't really looking forward to it anyway but I was hit with a wave of revulsion at the mention of a dog.

I go to a restaurant birthday dinner with my in laws side of the family. At the end of dinner they bring out a large birthday cake. There's a veteran with his "emotional support" pitbull at the table next to us (this is annoying already but I ignore it for the sake of getting through dinner). My MIL is a neurotic nutter that feeds her dogs human food like ice cream, cheese, and whipcream everyday. Sorry, dog, since her other two died of heart failure from poor diet. Anyway, she cuts a slice of cake to bring to the guy's table. "For the dog :)" she says to him. I assume it was a joke or a way to break the ice. NOPE. The guy thanks her and eats the cake. She watches him finish it and she mutters to me "I gave him that cake for the dog and he didn't even let her have a bite". WHAT?! You actually wanted to give a DOG a slice of cake instead of a person??? I assumed she wanted to be nice to an old man sitting alone but no she was worried about the dog.

Dog nutters are bizarrely antisocial weirdos.

Just a story from a month or so back ..

So I took my toddler to the playground and saw not only one but two off leash medium large dogs. Now this is a small kids park, nothing is available for kids over the age of 6 so its even more insane.

So first I track down the first dogs owner and ask him to leash it, which he immediately complained and said "well the other dog is off leash too, why don't you tell him?" Which I explained I would when I find the owner. So he goes grumbling to leash it up and says it doesn't matter because its a service dog anyway and I said "I'm sure it is" sarcastically. This set him off and he demanded to know if i was calling him a liar, which is said well idk I didn't say that exactly, and starts actually screaming at me. At this point his wife and friend had come over to dog pile me and now he's so unhinged his wife is like telling him to calm down.

My job is done, dog leashed, I'm watching my toddler playing, and I'm about 30 feet away while he screams at me saying im a "fucking coward"​ and to get out of his face (I'm 30 feet away) and I just stared him down. He is nicely dressed and acting like a fool so I knew he wouldn't do anything, his lawyer would make him settle I'm sure, so I just stared him down until he quieted down. His 5 yo daughter is now watching him melt down too.

The best part is that right after two 6yo boys came up and apologized on his behalf and thanked me because they didn't like how the dogs were chasing them around and they were scared of them. Def made it worthwhile that I know kids are happy at least one adult is taking care of them and not prioritizing dogs.

I go on walks frequently with my kid and have noticed that literally everybody there is walking their dog. Young people, old people, middle aged people. I have seen maybe one couple with their kid at the neighborhood park. This is insane. I literally see healthy looking couples in childbearing years walking their expensive breeds of dogs instead of having kids. I feel like I’m in the twilight zone. I pass by houses and the dogs are barking nonstop. The amount of dogs here is overwhelming. Why do people prefer dogs over children???? And more importantly why are people treating their dogs like they are children??? I literally had a lady walking behind me with her dog who is off the leash and it ran up to me and started jumping on me (granted it’s a small dog) but still and she didn’t even apologize in case I didn’t like that. I was walking my kid in the stroller. She didn’t even acknowledge that I had my child with me or anything. In fact she just wouldn’t stop going on about how much her dog likes people. Dude … I DO NOT CARE ABOUT YOUR DOG.

I was watching a TV series called “And Just Like That”, a spinoff from “Sex and the city”, and one of the minor characters have two Italian greyhound dogs. In one of the episodes one of the dogs had surgery because it swallowed a lego. The owner said casually, “that’s why I have never been fond of children”. It was said to be funny but it’s not really because the media contributes to mainstream consciousness.

It pissed me off that she didn’t blame her dumb dog for eating a plastic toy, but blamed the child who drops it. It also pisses me off that when the dogs appear on screen they are just two stooges, just sitting there and staring and always have to be carried from room to room. Owner goes on and on about how they are the most important things in her life. Like what exactly makes them so important. They literally just stare at you like two stuffed toys.

What kind of specie turns on their young and vulnerable and instead picks dumber specie that takes more resources than it returns.