Why You Should not Tether Your Dog Outside a Shop

I love people who want to include their dog in their daily routine. I find it wonderful and I always try to pass it on to my clients.

However, tethering our dog outside a super market or any other store, may raise the prospect of many dangers. The reasons below will probably make you reconsider tying your dog outside a shop.

  • Leaving your dog tied and alone means that his attention is distracted by many factors, that may be scary for him. In many cases, dogs manage to take off their lead and start roaming around with risk of getting hit by a car.
  • You find yourself sure that you’ll be back in 2 minutes but unfortunately some incidents may keep you in the shop longer than you had expected. Meeting a friend of yours and have a chat, a long queue in the cash desk or a potential fight that the man in front of you, started with the cashier are only a few events that contribute to your delay.
  • You think you have tethered your dog onto a steady object but if the dog pulls the leash with all of his effort, he can easily escape and take that object with him as well.
  • There is a possibility to run away and get tangled in his lead so he cannot move on, or in a worse case, he can be chocked by his own collar.
  • There are people out there that could steal your dog without any hesitation in order to sell it (if purebred) or breed it. A passer-by could also think that your dog is abandoned which may result in taking the dog with him to save his life.
  • A confined dog can definitely feel insecure or threatened by a kid, dog or a vehicle, passing by and react unpredictably with bad consequences for everyone.
  • Someone may give him a food that he is allergic to, or even a poison.
  • A roaming or stray dog can approach your dog and a fight might begin.
  • You should also consider the possibility that a passer-by may untie him just for fun.
  • Most dogs are getting stressed when left alone and have no eye contact with their owners. This is because they can’t understand that the tying up is only temporary.
  • Unfortunately a mean person who doesn’t like dogs, might kick or hurt your dog in any way.
  • An anxious dog may start spinning around the object is tethered on and get chocked.

The examples above can occur in just some seconds and although some of you may find them extreme, they could happen to each one of us.

So, for those reasons, I suggest not to take your dog with you, if you want to go for shopping, unless you only visit pet-friendly stores.