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Pets

Mike Labbe

Mike Labbe

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Lincoln, RI
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Get The Picture
Do you have any pets?

How about a shop dog or cat?

We have a couple Toy Fox Terriers that often go to work Wednesdays and Saturdays. They have visitors of their own, every week, and have been very well received by customers. Only once was a customer afraid to come in because of the small dog.

I'll admit: I'm posting this to stimulate some social discussion :)

Mike
 
For many years, I preached that dogs in a shop just simply were NOT a good mix.

And I still feel that a large dog that is intrusive can definitely scare, put-off people, and is not a good business practice.

However, I have softened my position on the subject. And with Stella now spending about half of her time in our shop, I've relaxed my stance on the subject.

She is a 8lb Yorkshire Terrier - Poodle Mix, seldom barks, and simply heads to the door to see who is visiting when she hears the doorbell. Most customers respond with a heartfelt "Look at the Puppy"!

And although one or two individuals come to our store who definitely would prefer to not be greeted by little Stella. For those, we remove her while they are in the shop. But for most customers what we hear typically is "Where's your little shop dog?". :thumb:

John
 
We've had a shop cat since the beginning, though not always the same cat. The first cat wandered in and adopted us when we were getting things ready to open. She just refused to leave.

This one has been with us about 10 years. They were all rescues and sweet animals, but the current cat is particularly good about greeting customers. I frequently hear the Walmart has nothing on us.

There are a handful of repeat customers who are allergic or just don't like cats. When we see them coming, we put her in the backroom for a while. There is only one customer who has a serious problem with a cat nearby, and she always calls ahead. It has never been a problem.

I have never had a dog at work, but I would never hesitate to take a well-behaved dog. We currently have a royal standard poodle who weighs in at 90 lbs., so taking him to work just isn't an option. Besides he would run the cat crazy!:shame:
 
Our store does not have a shop animal (with the exception of plush.) My customers know that they are welcome to bring their pooch in to visit. I have Milk Bones for all furry visitors. Welcoming dogs has brought much opportunity. Usually I'll take a photo and post on social media too.
 
Of course I have these two...
They are Australian Shepherds and they each weigh about 50 pounds.
The tricolor one, Ginny, just turned 13 and the bi-color one, Maya just turned 5.

You can click on the photos for a larger view..
View attachment 1394
View attachment 1392View attachment 1391
I don't often have them at work, but they are very friendly, smart and well trained and they don't even mind the noise from the saw.
They're herding dogs and they mostly just try to herd me. :cool:

I had a customer who brought his dog into the shop while he picked out frames in the summer.
When it's over 100° in Phoenix people don't want to leave the dogs in the car.
I asked if I could give his dog a Milk Bone treat (I keep a few at the shop).
He said "OK" and later on I found out that he gave me a 5 star review on Yelp.

We get a lot of new customers from our Yelp reviews and we have 15 out of 15- 5 star reviews.
We actually would have about 5 more, but they are not included in the main area because the people reviewing us and giving the 5-stars don't have a long history or are new to Yelp...:noidea:
 
We have a cat at home, Bella. And she is one bella cat. Of course, she is somewhat independent, but as a Maine Coon she is very dog-like in her behavior and very personable. She will usually come when called, stop doing something if you tell her to, and loves to sit on your lap for hours.

I wouldn't mind having a cat at the office, but have never gotten around to it. I brought Bella in one day when we were having some work done on the house and she just hid behind the toilet all day. She doesn't like change. Or strangers.

I think a dog or cat in a retail environment is fine, if it's the right temperament. Even as an animal lover I have been several places where I was uncomfortable with the dog that was there. I think you have to be very sensitive to how "regular people" react to dogs.

Neil Zellman said:
When it's over 100° in Phoenix people don't want to leave the dogs in the car.
Click to expand...

Even in Vermont it is illegal to "leave an animal unattended in a standing or parked motor vehicle in a manner that would endanger the health or safety of the animal." Further, "Any humane officer or member of a fire and rescue service may use reasonable force to remove any such animal from a motor vehicle." and "The officer may not be held liable for criminal or civil liability for any damage resulting from actions taken".

Our all time record high temperature was 105° on July 4, 1911.
 
Very early in the shop's history Catherine and Frank had a yorkie who often came to the shop with them. Then we had a part time employee who brought his weimaraner in and she was so well trained it made it easy. But she could be intimidating and protective when I was alone with her (on one occasion that was good). I have also brought my beagle Emma to work when absolutely necessary and as she has gotten older it is not a problem.

Now we welcome furry friends to visit with their owners (our customers). Some have brought their own toys to play with and other want to explore and greet everyone.

It makes for a nice day when they visit :thumb:
 
Great Topic! If you know me you know I am an animal lover. We had Claude (my profile pic) as the shop cat for years. He adopted us and never bothered anything. He could be a bit of an attention hog so I did watch and have to shoo him away a few times but most customers loved him. I had one lady that screamed when she saw him across the room. I just put him in the back and it was fine. He is not 16 years old and retired. He is at home with my menagerie and had adapted very well. I have one (little girl) sitting right by me as I type this so I always have "help" around.


I know there are those that feel an animal in a business is not professional but to each his own. It seemed to relax most people.
 
Anyone who has talked to me for more than about 10 minutes knows about Hank and Ellie May, two Labrador retrievers, who are our store dogs. Because they are retired guides, they are exceedingly well behaved. Also they are 10 and 13, which helps as well.

They have a big following, and the employees catch grief when the dogs take a day off. There area a few who will tap on the window for us to move them to the office, but that is rare.

Some people come in, visit with the dogs and then leave. And anyone is welcome to bring a dog into the store so that we can fuss over their babies. It is my belief that the more we deal with Baby Boomers, the more we will have to accept dog children in our stores.
 
I think you are right, Ellen about baby boomers and dogs. And I would like to know how to adopt a retired guide dog. I have room for one more, but don't have the time and energy to train a puppy right now. I am busy trying to train a 9 yo human....
 
LOL Greg! When my kids were younger I was training my dogs (3 of them at the time) and had the kids helping. Well, I got in trouble more than once for correcting the kids with the irritating noise I used to get the dogs attention. But it worked!!! My daughter will never let me forget that one. :playful:
 
I could never have a pet at the shop. I have a sister who hates shopping at stores where people have pets. I would not want to lose even a single customer due to having a pet at the shop.
 
Gregory K. Norris said:
I think you are right, Ellen about baby boomers and dogs. And I would like to know how to adopt a retired guide dog. I have room for one more, but don't have the time and energy to train a puppy right now. I am busy trying to train a 9 yo human....
Click to expand...

Go to www.guidingeyes.org (or it may be www. guiding-eyes.org). There is a link about adopting dogs. E
 
I had every intention of Sam coming to work with me but he hated it from the word go. Never has been able to settle in here. Stays at the door and gets upset at the traffic. Had a neighbor cat I called Tom Jones that came by for a couple of years and made himself at home but I find I have a slight allergy to cats so won't be getting a full time shop cat.
 
Mo Elyas said:
I could never have a pet at the shop. I have a sister who hates shopping at stores where people have pets. I would not want to lose even a single customer due to having a pet at the shop.
Click to expand...

I agree. From my experience, there are "cat people" and "dog people". I would not want to offend either and would not want to risk a potential incident if a customer brought in an animal that did not respond well to a "shop pet". It's just not worth it. I also believe that you are losing customers by having a shop pet, whether it be someone who is allergic or simply uncomfortable being around animals. In most cases, they are not going to tell you that they didn't come in because of your shop dog/cat, they simply aren't going to come in.
 
I have a sign on my front door that says "Beware of Attack Poodle". Mardi is a 90 lb. Royal Standard Parti Color that I adopted a little over 10 years ago. He was 18 weeks old and had never been on a leash, nor worn a collar. He only weighed about 30 lbs. then. I brought him to the shop the next day and almost every day since. He occasionally will greet customers with his baritone bark, but rarely leaves wherever he is napping to check out visitors. If he does, he gets one sniff before I tell him to lie down (and he does).
I just adopted 2 Smooth Coat Fox Terrier(ists), Mackintosh and Stickley, but I have serious reservations about bringing them into the shop. At least not until they have matured a bit. Right now, they are into everything. Nick-names are Thing One and Thing Two.
 
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