Archived AP question...

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whippingboy

whippingboy

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Is it true that you can no longer approach a guest with a dog (Super Target) and tell them to leave?
 
Only a service animal is allowed inside: it says so at the entrance.

But as impotent as AP is, they probably couldn't say anything to anybody about anything.
 
whippingboy said:
Is it true that you can no longer approach a guest with a dog (Super Target) and tell them to leave?
Click to expand...


I'd imagine they have had one too many cases where TMs have screwed up dealing with people who have Assistance Dogs.
Technically you can ask and if the dog isn't an Assistance Dog they have to leave.
But I've seen cases (not at Target) where employees have made people leave because they weren't blind.
Assistance dogs are used for veterans with PTSD , epileptics, and a number of other things.

Maybe Target is trying avoid problems?
 
Years ago we had a guest threaten to sue after a ETL told them they couldn't have their yorkie in the store and had to leave.

Turns out she suffered from severe depression and the dog was her companion. She even had documentation from a doctor saying so.

After that we were told to never question a guest about a pet and leave it up to leadership if we had doubts.
 
What @Retail Girl said is how we were trained in our group. If we question whether or not the animal is a service animal we can ask. If the Guest says yes, then we let it go. No, and we can ask that guest to leave. We really only asked if we saw a foreseeable problem; kids with a dog, animal shitting all over the place, etc.

Segway - who's cleaned up poop in the store? Animal or human? I'm sure there is a separate thread for that conversation.
 
Mhugh220 said:
What @Retail Girl said is how we were trained in our group. If we question whether or not the animal is a service animal we can ask. If the Guest says yes, then we let it go. No, and we can ask that guest to leave. We really only asked if we saw a foreseeable problem; kids with a dog, animal shitting all over the place, etc.

Segway - who's cleaned up poop in the store? Animal or human? I'm sure there is a separate thread for that conversation.
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Unfortunately 2 times for human feces. Once I found it after we closed and said to the LOD, "hey so and so I found crap on x aisle. ". All I hear is " what!? Repeat that?" " I found human feces on X aisle" lols were heard across the store
 
POGguy said:
Years ago we had a guest threaten to sue after a ETL told them they couldn't have their yorkie in the store and had to leave.

Turns out she suffered from severe depression and the dog was her companion. She even had documentation from a doctor saying so.

After that we were told to never question a guest about a pet and leave it up to leadership if we had doubts.
Click to expand...

A companion animal does not have the same rights as a service animal.
 
It's not our job to be animal control at Target. The STL, GSTL, or AP should handle this drama.
When I see a guest with a dog, I usually think it's a seeing eye dog or helper dog and I'm not going to go up to a blind person and say "hey can I see your permit that allows you to have a dog help you get around". It's just bad taste. Blind people already have enough drama to deal with in their lives. You badgering them or disturbing them isn't going to help.
 
POGguy said:
After that we were told to never question a guest about a pet and leave it up to leadership if we had doubts.
Click to expand...
This is what we are told.

Never had to clean up poop. We had a mystery pile right after I started which is the reason all tm are now hazardous trained...The lod almost lost her lunch.
 
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I handle this by walking up and asking if I can "pet the dog". Generally most people with say yes. Someone with a service dog will say yes and explain it's a service dog. If they don't say anything then I ask where the "service dog was trained". If they say "it's not a service dog" then I say GET THE FUCK OUT OF MY STORE. But really I ask them to leave Fido home next time.
 
I am a GSA and my ETL-AP has given me the go-ahead to ask people to leave. But I have to tread extremely lightly on the matter; basically, I say "Sir/ma'am, I'm afraid we don't permit animals in the store, unless it is a service animal." Unfortunately, they'll usually respond with, "It is a service dog." Then there's nothing I can do.
 
Wizard89 said:
I handle this by walking up and asking if I can "pet the dog". Generally most people with say yes. Someone with a service dog will say yes and explain it's a service dog. If they don't say anything then I ask where the "service dog was trained". If they say "it's not a service dog" then I say GET THE FUCK OUT OF MY STORE. But really I ask them to leave Fido home next time.
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Nicely handled, subtle and non-evasive.
Although a lot of service dogs really aren't supposed to be pet by strangers, at least when they are working.


I think the worst one I saw in terms of bad handling was a restaurant manager who made a veteran with extreme PTSD leave even though he had the license, because the manager thought it was fake.
Just because you've never heard of something doesn't mean it's not real.
 
Our state recently passed laws giving 'comfort/therapy' animals the same access as service animals so, when the plastic trophy wife comes up to my Starbux counter with her purse pooch peeking out of her Louie bag, she'll quickly state that he's a 'therapy' animal.
Doesn't stop me from telling her that he can't sit on my counter, tho.
Health laws trump your 'comfort', bitch.
 
redeye58 said:
Our state recently passed laws giving 'comfort/therapy' animals the same access as service animals so, when the plastic trophy wife comes up to my Starbux counter with her purse pooch peeking out of her Louie bag, she'll quickly state that he's a 'therapy' animal.
Doesn't stop me from telling her that he can't sit on my counter, tho.
Health laws trump your 'comfort', bitch.
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I do have issues with the people who abuse the system.
I'm sure it's a pretty small percentage but it's really frustrating because it makes all the people who really need the Assistance Animals suspect.

There's no way to weed them out and shame doesn't work, so I really don't have a solution.
 
I've cleaned dog crap out of a cart before. It annoys me when I see animals around the food side. I understand if they are a service dog, but when the little old lady is coddling her purse pup in her cart I get irate. I was told ap was no longer allowed to say anything at all, so I guess the dogs will continue to poop and leave hairs all over the store.

Sounds like humans are worse, though. :D
 
We have a lot of vets who have comfort animals.
The majority of them are well-behaved & the owners will usually carry a card stating the animal's purpose.
We had a lady pushing her kid in a cart with their small terrier. When the cashier asked if she could put the bag in the cart, the woman said yes.
The dog snapped & nipped my cashier's hand but the woman hauled ass out of the store before I could ask her if her dog was vaccinated.
AP reviewed video & saw a tag on the dog's collar otherwise my cashier might've needed rabies shots.
 
Retail Girl said:
I believe you can ask. And if the guest says it's a service animal, then you have to let it go.
Click to expand...

That's how it is here. And honestly should be that way everywhere... workbench has a best practice for guest relations that covers service animals (and breast feeding, oddly enough).
 
RedMan said:
The only time it bothers me is when their nasty dogs are sniffing groceries. Then I have AP ask them to leave. Service dogs don't sniff; pretend service dogs sniff and paw stuff.
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We've got one of those who comes in all the time. The dog sticks it's face in the produce. I asked the owner once if it was a service dog in training and she got up in my face shouting that she was blind. So, even though she didn't answer the question, there isn't a leader in my store willing to take it any further.
 
I have heard its super easy to get your pet registered as a comfort/therapy animal. With this in mind I am so getting a comfort/therapy cat to take with me every where.
 
We have 2 people who bring their mini pigs into the store..why?mare they trying to show them off? Please.

When someone comes in with a pet I always start the conversation with - I am an animal lover, which I am. I will tell them how cute their dog or puppy is. (I never touch their pet though) Then I tell themhealth laws don't allow your pet in the store unless it is a registered service animal. Otherwise we could lose our license to sell food. Especially if the health department decides to pop in and visit.
 
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