Why would you do this?

Laurelin

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#1
I took the girls to petsmart. We try to go once a week just for socializing and Summer loves the attention and treats. My girls are very well behaved in public and in the store. They walk right next to me and don't bother people.

There was a man there today with his two kids, one girl who looked to be in elementary school and a younger boy. They were at the isle with the snakes and birds and reptiles and I was wanting to pick up something for my fish tank so I was back by the fish stuff. I walked down the isle they were on after getting the fish stuff and the girl was at the end of the isle looking at the cages. When we passed by, she jumped and ran and hid behind her dad, very obviously afraid of the dogs. I noticed later her dad was pointing out other dogs to her, I'm assuming so she'd be aware and not startled like she was when mine came by.

About 10 minutes later, I was just walking around the dog food isles and by the dog beds I turned the corner and saw the man and his kids there looking at the cats (which for some reason are near the dog stuff). I stopped at the end of the isle to look at the x-pens and kennels. Been contemplating a new kennel for Mia. A man turned the far corner with two big shepherd-y type mixes. I see him around a lot and his dogs are impeccably well behaved too. I could see the girl start to go into a panic attack because she was stuck in between two groups of dogs and the man with the big dogs was walking towards her.

So needless to say I left so she wasn't cornered and terrified between the dogs but seriously WHY WOULD YOU BRING A CHILD THAT IS OBVIOUSLY TERRIFIED OF DOGS TO PETSMART? I felt so bad for the kid having to be there. Every time a dog came within about 20 feet of her, she'd try to hide or run away. You know there are going to be dogs in a petsmart. It just really made me mad.
 

yoko

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#2
I kind of get if it was maybe a single parent and they had pets. You can't always have someone watch your kids when you need to run small errands/shopping and with how crazy people have been lately I wouldn't be ok leaving a child alone in a car or at home by themselves.

But it sounds like they were there just killing time and so I don't really get that :/
 

JessLough

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#3
Because there are other reasons to go to Petsmart than to see dogs? Because the child wanted to go and look at the cats and other animals? Because the kid has just as much right to be there?
 

Laurelin

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#4
I didn't say the kid didn't have a 'right' to be there, of course they have the right to be there. But I still think it's just not a good thing to do to your kid to bring them to a place where they're as anxious and afraid of everything as she was. The kid was definitely not having fun, she was scanning around for dogs the entire time.
 

Cthulhu7

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#5
Because there are other reasons to go to Petsmart than to see dogs? Because the child wanted to go and look at the cats and other animals? Because the kid has just as much right to be there?
That's pretty harsh. I agree with the op that you wouldn't want to spend more time than necessary around something your child was afraid of. In this case, killing time at Petsmart was probably a bad call. If they were there to get something, then the best course would be to get in and out.
 

JessLough

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#6
I'm not sure how people are supposed to KNOW there'll be dogs at Petsmart. 9 time out of 10 when I go, the only dogs there are in grooming or boarding/day care. And that's not only one Petsmart.
 

JessLough

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#7
That's pretty harsh. I agree with the op that you wouldn't want to spend more time than necessary around something your child was afraid of. In this case, killing time at Petsmart was probably a bad call. If they were there to get something, then the best course would be to get in and out.
You're assuming they didn't buy anything. You're assuming the kid didn't ASK to go there. You're assuming the kid wasnt trying to hose a new pet.

Honestly, the guy that just kept walking towards her should have went around. When you have your dogs with you, you need to be aware of your surroundings, cause all it took was one loud complaint and his dogs privalege to be there would have been taken away.
 

Laurelin

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#8
There's always at least a half a dozen dogs there on weekend afternoons if a training isn't in session. If it is, then there's more. And usually on weekends they have some rescue or two set up with adoptable dogs.

I can't blame the other guy at all. It's likely he had no idea that there was someone that was scared of dogs there. I didn't notice until after I had passed them and made the kid startle and hide(they didn't see me coming either). Yeah I felt bad afterwards.
 

AdrianneIsabel

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#9
It's very possible he was hoping to help her work on her issues.

My boss's grandchild is afraid of dogs and came to my work the other day. We asked her to say hi to a puppy and when she cried and hid behind her mom we said, oh well, and walked away having a great time with the puppy without her.

I'm no expert but staying home and away from all dogs I assume will only make the fear worse.
 

Barbara!

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#10
Or when people bring their kids to the dog park and dont want the dogs to touch them....
 

Laurelin

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#11
It's very possible he was hoping to help her work on her issues.

My boss's grandchild is afraid of dogs and came to my work the other day. We asked her to say hi to a puppy and when she cried and hid behind her mom we said, oh well, and walked away having a great time with the puppy without her.

I'm no expert but staying home and away from all dogs I assume will only make the fear worse.
Yeah I thought about that too, but I think there would be better ways to try to acclimate the kid to dogs rather than a place where she doesn't know if dogs are lurking around the corner on the isle over. And I think it would also be very helpful if the dog owners in the area knew that the kid was afraid of dogs so they can avoid scary situations for her.

I would think maybe out in an open area with one really laid back small dog would be a better idea? Maybe, I'm no expert. To put it in training terms, it almost seemed like flooding, which I would think would make the fear worse.
 

ihartgonzo

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#12
I'm not sure how people are supposed to KNOW there'll be dogs at Petsmart. 9 time out of 10 when I go, the only dogs there are in grooming or boarding/day care. And that's not only one Petsmart.
I don't know where you live... but I worked in a Petsmart for 3 years, and there was always at least a few dogs in the store. At peak hours, there are several dogs in every aisle! And lots of people who didn't even leash their dogs, I'd have to chase them and give them a slip lead. There would be people there with their dogs the second we opened, and after we were closed, every day. Many Petsmarts (like mine, which I worked in) also have hotels in them, so there's a constant flow of dogs going in and out.

It's so irresponsible as a parent to "flood" your child with strange dogs walking around when you know they're uncomfortable, especially to wander through the store for no reason. You can go to so many stores where dogs aren't allowed and that have the same products as Petsmart. Service dogs are allowed in any store, however, and the child should be introduced to friendly dogs so that she's not living with that phobia for life. :(

Another pet peeve of mine is the opposite - children running around Petsmart like it's a playground, petting/grabbing/hugging dogs without asking. I saved a kid whose parents were completely ignoring him from being bitten in the face in the hotel lobby once. Like, the dog was inches away from his face, and I jumped in between them. People who are that irresponsible as parents are the same with their dogs, just careless.
 

Beanie

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#13
It's very possible he was hoping to help her work on her issues.

My boss's grandchild is afraid of dogs and came to my work the other day. We asked her to say hi to a puppy and when she cried and hid behind her mom we said, oh well, and walked away having a great time with the puppy without her.

I'm no expert but staying home and away from all dogs I assume will only make the fear worse.
Staying away from dogs won't make the fear worse, but it certainly won't help. Working on her fear of dogs is the only good reason I can come up with, but it seems like a pretty poor idea... you don't know what KIND of dogs might be at the store. You could be setting your kid up for a serious scare and definitely make her fears worse. If you don't have any friends with dogs, that makes it hard to work on, but it doesn't seem wise to take them somewhere you have no real control over the situation. But yeah, it's possible the dad thought going to the pet store would help her get over her fear. Not everybody has enough of a psychology brain to know what will and won't work. Plenty of people seem to think flooding is a perfectly acceptable way to get someone over a fear, and think it works.


It's a reasonable conclusion that a dog could be at a pet store where not only are leashed pets welcome to shop, but they have daily training classes as well.
 

crazedACD

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#14
It's actually too bad he didn't ask you if the kids could take a look at your dogs, and pet them himself. Try to help that phobia...everyone has dogs, the kids should learn how to act around them. It actually drives me nuts when I see people come in through the fish tanks or look at the mice and rats and tell their children "Ewwwww, those are gross! How scary! Ew ew ew..". That really doesn't help your children grow up phobia free.
 

Southpaw

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#15
I can understand bringing her with if there was something they needed to grab. Or even if they were just killing time and browsing for nothing. BUT I think as the parent he should have realized his child was not comfortable with dogs being around.... and therefore left at that point...
 

lizzybeth727

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#16
Working on her fear of dogs is the only good reason I can come up with, but it seems like a pretty poor idea... you don't know what KIND of dogs might be at the store. You could be setting your kid up for a serious scare and definitely make her fears worse. If you don't have any friends with dogs, that makes it hard to work on, but it doesn't seem wise to take them somewhere you have no real control over the situation. But yeah, it's possible the dad thought going to the pet store would help her get over her fear. Not everybody has enough of a psychology brain to know what will and won't work. Plenty of people seem to think flooding is a perfectly acceptable way to get someone over a fear, and think it works.
^^^This.

At least he wasn't forcing her to go up to the strangers' dogs... I've seen parents do that before. :eek:

And flooding DOES work SOMETIMES, not only with human fears but also with dog fears. It probably shouldn't be the go-to fear fixer - especially in dogs who can't explain what they're thinking and feeling - but it CAN work.

What's that saying about getting back on a horse? That's flooding.... If you fall off a horse and are scared to ride again, most trainers don't start you on a regimen of systematic desensetization, they tell you to get back on. And at least sometimes, it works.


Would I bring a terrified kid into Petsmart? No, but I'm also a psychologist and animal training specialist. Am I suprised that this dad brought his kid to the store? Absolutely not, it's really not the dumbest thing he could've done.
 
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#17
I can understand bringing her with if there was something they needed to grab. Or even if they were just killing time and browsing for nothing. BUT I think as the parent he should have realized his child was not comfortable with dogs being around.... and therefore left at that point...
That's how I feel about it. Obviously they have every right to be there, but as a parent why would you want to continue to subject your kid to something she was terrified of? If he was there trying to work on her fears, I think his methods are suspect.
 

Mdawn

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#19
Because there are other reasons to go to Petsmart than to see dogs? Because the child wanted to go and look at the cats and other animals? Because the kid has just as much right to be there?
That's kind of harsh, Jess.

You have a kid that is severely afraid of dogs; it isn't rocket science to determine that a pet store may not be the best place to take her because you MAY run into dogs and that MAY cause the kid to flip out.

There are ALWAYS dogs in the pet store I go to, whether its customers with their dogs or dogs that are being housed for the shelter. Always dogs and cats there.
 

Barbara!

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#20
Didn't read everything, but I think you shouldn't be so quick to jump to conclusions, though. Maybe they had to get stuff and didn't really have anywhere else for their child to go?
 

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