People who lack respect for the rules enough to bring a pet into a store that has a sign that says "no pets" - will lack respect for a manager who tries to enforce the rules. They'll make a fuss, they'll distract the other customers, they'll make the entire place feel uncomfortable to the employees and customers, they'll waste the manager's time, they'll escalate and make demands, they might end up with the police and more yelling and disruption of business, and it'll ultimately cost the store money. And for what? To prove to a pet-owner that the pet-owner is a piece of crap whose dog has more humanity than they do?
Most managers aren't willing to die on that particular hill. They have a business to run. So as long as the dog isn't "doing" anything disruptive, they won't do or say anything to the pet owner. Especially if the senior corporate management has decreed that the local store manager is not -permitted- to do anything more than give the pet-owner the hairy eyeball and keep quiet.
I will say a huzzah for Ay Jalisco. I ate there early last week, outside. Lady with a small dog on a retractable leash asked if she could get a table outside on the patio. The waitress told her to hold on a moment, went inside, and came back out again. Told the lady sorry - no dogs allowed. The lady claimed it was a "therapy" dog. The waitress held firm. She followed the law and the spirit of the law: "therapy" dogs are not "service animals." And "service animals" are the ONLY animals protected by the Americans with Disabilities Act. Proprietors have the right to impose specific rules: "four on the floor," no leash longer than 6 feet, non-retractable, and the dog MUST be heeled when it's not walking. The only rule this lady was obeying was that the dog had all four feet on the ground. It wasn't heeling, she had a retractable leash pulled out to nearly 10 feet.
In addition - a manager/employee has very strict rules about what they can and cannot ask: they can ask "is this a service animal?" If the owner says yes, they can ask "what service is this dog trained to provide?" And the owner has to answer that question.
That's it. They can't ask "what service does this dog provide "FOR YOU?". Only what it's trained to do, in general.
However, the lady volunteered the information that it was a "therapy" dog - which means it's not a service animal. So the waitress then had that opportunity to tell the lady nope - can't come in, can't eat on our patio.
I gave the waitress a bit of an extra tip and told her I was SO glad she stuck to her guns.
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