Why do pet stores...

CaliTerp07

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#1
always put treats at dog level? It's like a buffet for Lucy when we go!

Today she managed to snag two beef tracheas when we were walking around looking for treats. I was mortified. The shop owner was super sweet about it and offered them to us for free (she can't have beef, so we declined). Gah--my little shop lifting delinquent!

She's so stealth about it too--she'll be trotting along next to me, all eyes on me, and then *WHOOSH* she darts to the side, snags a goodie and scarfs it down as quickly as possible. Brat.
 

JessLough

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#2
So your dog can choose their own treats. They think if your dog takes it, it means you'll buy it cause your dog wants it
 

CaliTerp07

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#3
So your dog can choose their own treats. They think if your dog takes it, it means you'll buy it cause your dog wants it
See, I always thought that too--but then the owner said they had to keep moving them to higher shelves because the dogs kept taking them.

Maybe I'm the oddball because my dog will eat anything that even hints of being food. I guess if I had a super picky dog I'd be more concerned with what she really wanted.
 

Dizzy

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#4
Same with toys! I let Bodhi pick her own :D She picked a pink ball last time...... Pink ball in mouth, pink collar and pink and white harness... and people STILL call her a he.
 

Fran101

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#5
You're lucky! Most pet stores aren't as nice...I've seen dogs snag treats and employees ready like "um..you know you have to pay for that now.. right?"

It's like putting toys/candy at checkout lol they are hoping the kid will grap it and kick a fit so you will HAVE TO buy it lol
 

CaliTerp07

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#6
Same with toys! I let Bodhi pick her own :D She picked a pink ball last time...... Pink ball in mouth, pink collar and pink and white harness... and people STILL call her a he.
Yesss! I was fitting her for a step in harness today, and the employee asked me which design I wanted, and I said I wanted the girliest one they had! Her collar has a giant bow on it to make sure the world knows she is a little girl!

You're lucky! Most pet stores aren't as nice...I've seen dogs snag treats and employees ready like "um..you know you have to pay for that now.. right?"

It's like putting toys/candy at checkout lol they are hoping the kid will grap it and kick a fit so you will HAVE TO buy it lol
Thank goodness for nice independently owned pet stores. It was a smart move, because I'll definitely be going back now. If they had made me buy it, I'd probably avoid going back.
 

Beanie

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#7
Auggie did that to me at Petco once. They had big bone-shaped biscuits down at the bottom level of the checkouts, and I was standing there and he was sitting nicely. He looked up at me... probably checking to make sure my hands were full... then two seconds later he not only had a biscuit in his mouth but had already EATEN half of it. Mortified is definitely the word.
They got rid of those bins at the checkout, maybe because they had too many puppy thieves. =P Or problems with allergy dogs snatching stuff they shouldn't have...
 
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#8
You know, I've always wondered that too! When I was in Petsmart with Enda one day walking the isles, someone had been playing with one of the toys with their dog, or the dog grabbed it up, either way they left it sitting in the middle of the floor! I walked up with Enda, had her sit in front of it, picked it up, and put it back. Thankfully thus far the worst problem I've had actually isn't with the treats they leave out, but going down the food isles sometimes bags rip and a few pieces of kibble spill, get lost, and Jinj the food hound is always quicker than lightning if you're not paying attention!

The only thing I've reasoned in my head for them doing this is, you have a conscious mind that "you break it, you buy it", so when your dogs does grab up something you think, oh no! We'll have to go pay for that. Or, maybe they think it snags the owners heart more, if the dog does pick their own favorite treat/toy, so the owner thinks "oh, you really want that one, I guess we'll have to get it!", similar to the bouncing child cuddling a new toy, only I use to pay for my stuff with my own money...time for my dogs to get a paying job I guess!
 

Saeleofu

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#9
Fortunately my dogs have a very solid "leave it" which gets used in food/treat/toy aisles (Logan's got an automatic leave it, it's funny sometimes we'll walk down a treat aisle and he stares straight ahead because he KNOWS he's not supposed to touch lol), so it's a non-issue for me. But I'm sure most places do it so your dog can choose their own thing.

If everything was above dog height, what would go down below? Or would it just be wall from waist down, and only stuff on the top part? I see the variety/selection at pet stores decreasing by a LOT if that were the case. So I suppose the other answer is: because that's where there's room for it.
 

JessLough

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#10
I'm so glad Rosey won't take something unless she's told to choose something -- and even then, if you say ONE, she'll only take one. I don't think it's ever crossed her mind that she could take one before being told... Its like there's a barrier that disappears when I say it's ok LOL

The ferrets, on the other hand, anything is fair game -- and the employees are usually ok with that cause they get to play with them :p
 

CaliTerp07

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#11
If everything was above dog height, what would go down below? Or would it just be wall from waist down, and only stuff on the top part?
No no, the sealed bags or boxes could easily go on the bottom. The Zukes, the Buddy Biscuits, the canned foods, whatever. It's the open cases of rawhides and bully sticks and chewies that are just begging to be "borrowed" on the low shelves that are frustrating.
 

AdrianneIsabel

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#13
To work on "leave it" lol

I totally pay more (about 5 bucks a bag) for the nicer store in town, I also try to sell them to all of my clients. Service goes very far with me.
 

Kimbers

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#14
For me, it's always the garden stores that get me. I'm used to checking for stray cookies at pet stores and telling her to leave it as we pass, but why the heck would a gardening place sell bully sticks?
 

JessLough

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#15
For me, it's always the garden stores that get me. I'm used to checking for stray cookies at pet stores and telling her to leave it as we pass, but why the heck would a gardening place sell bully sticks?
It would sell them for convenience to it's customers. Same reason why gas stations sell milk :p Many places are doing it now, selling "off" stuff in their store so their customers only have to make one stop. I go to places more that I can buy multiple things I need than going to 3 different stores.
They'd have bully sticks on the bottom because it's a gardening place and not thinking about dog customers, since it's not a dog place.
 

Southpaw

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#17
Juno's a thief too. Sometimes. I just keep my eye on her. And if she grabs a biscuit mehhh oh well. I'd be lying if I said I've never taken a jelly bean from the candy aisle at Target lol.

She'll grab tracheas and bully sticks too but those I can at least take from her and put back. Usually she grabs those because I'm allowing her to sniff and choose which one she wants - then I buy it.

When I worked at the pet store I never cared if someones dog was sneaky and stole a treat, even though technically I was supposed to have them pay for it. Its one (super cheap) biscuit, you have a giant box opened at nose level, it's going to happen! The only time it bugged me was when people thought the biscuits were there for the taking while they shopped. Um no. But even then I was too non-confrontational to say anything.
 

BostonBanker

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#18
Ugh, I don't buy anything off the lower shelves in big pet stores. I've seen too many people put back things their dog was chewing on, and too many times I've seen dogs lift their legs on stuff. I don't worry about the smaller, locally owned shops I go to, because things are so much more managed there. But Petsmart/Petco? That's poop bags and training.

Then again, I grew up with a mother who never let us have Swedish Fish (remember when they used to have the open containers, and you'd buy them for a penny each?) because "everyone has had their hands in there".
 

Laurelin

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#19
Summer was chowing down on some spilled beneful the other day in petsmart. She always finds the loose kibbles.
 

sillysally

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#20
Fortunately my dogs have a very solid "leave it" which gets used in food/treat/toy aisles (Logan's got an automatic leave it, it's funny sometimes we'll walk down a treat aisle and he stares straight ahead because he KNOWS he's not supposed to touch lol), so it's a non-issue for me. But I'm sure most places do it so your dog can choose their own thing.

If everything was above dog height, what would go down below? Or would it just be wall from waist down, and only stuff on the top part? I see the variety/selection at pet stores decreasing by a LOT if that were the case. So I suppose the other answer is: because that's where there's room for it.
Well, at out local PSP they have the open bins where you van get bulk treats *right* at average dog level-that can't be an accident-lol.
 

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