Does Menards Allow Dogs – Are Stores Pet Friendly?
Menards is a home supply store that’s a supergiant in terms of retail or wholesale home improvement stores. They cater to a lot of customers of all different types, and they’ve been around for literally decades. However, some people wonder if they’ll be able to go into the store because they’re disabled – no, we’re not talking about a wheelchair, but with a service dog or their pet. Therefore, even though most Menards stores varied on whether they were dog friendly or not (some allowed dogs), nobody knows whether they’re pet friendly anymore. We’ll get down to the bottom of this for you in this post!
Since the COVID-19 Pandemic began, all Menards stores don’t let you take your dog in anymore (even the pet-friendly ones) unless they’re a necessary service dog for everyone’s safety. This is because many pets don’t actually display symptoms of the virus to most people.
What About Before the Pandemic Though?
Menards has always been a store that has catered to the world’s love for animals. They have been catering to customers for years, and some of them even allow you to walk into the store (and around it) with your pet. Before the pandemic, they had no definitive pet policy, nor have they ever displayed whether or not they were dog friendly. Part of this, is because you use to be able to take your dog in some stores.
Do All of Their Stores Let You Take Your Dog?
Menards has made it clear that the entire pet policy is more up to the local owner or manager’s discretion. Some stores don’t let you bring in your dog simply because they don’t want the responsibility for you, or anyone else if your dog doesn’t react. In the past however, they did allow you to bring your dog into the store as long as it was extremely behaved and you walked with a leash with your dog.
The reason that they allowed dogs in with leashes (and made sure that they had to be well-mannered of course) is because they didn’t want to cause any sort of distraction or disruption for other customers in their stores. Because they don’t have a legitimate pet policy, some people who are just looking for reviews might get a little confused.
The Pet Confusion
The reason that reviews might confuse some people, is because the dog policies at Menards stores vary by location, and some may say that they don’t allow dogs (but will allow service dogs in of course). Others just simply are lax by their policies as long as the pet owner and their furry friend aren’t causing any problems in the store.
What if My Dog Makes a Mess? And Other Advice
One thing that you need to do if you’re going to bring your best friend (meaning the dog), is to bring doggy treats with you. This will help you keep your dog contained so it won’t try to scavenge in any way. If your dog is skittish to other people, you may want to provide a muzzle for your dog too. You also need to be prepared to take care of any messes that your dog may leave in the store, and keep them clear of shelves so they don’t “hike their leg”.
Certain stores don’t let any pets in the stores though
Some locations, such as the Kansas City, MO location will not allow any dogs except for service dogs in. This is simply the owner and the store manager’s discretion, because it’s very crucial that in places like this, dogs are able to not be scared by strangers in highly populated areas. Not only that, but there have been incidents in some of the bigger cities, either involving the pet owners, or involving someone being mean to another person’s dog. With service dogs, people generally leave not only the handicapped individual, but also the dog itself alone.
Call Ahead to Avoid Issues – More Advice
Depending on what your service dog is for, you may want to get ahold of the owner or store supervisor before you head into the doors. Otherwise, if you have a service dog that’s simply for a mental issue or other handicap, you can tell the owner, and then keep your dog to yourself when you go into the store.
Why should you keep your dog to yourself? This will ensure other people’s safety, and this can also help to keep your pet from getting too anxious. Many times, while your pet may be a loveable dog that loves attention itself, someone just randomly coming up and petting it can be a health risk to themselves, or cause anxiety for your dog that will end up causing some sort of problem. The purpose of a service dog is to help you, not disrupt anyone else who is shopping. Of course, you may want to be prepared to let people pet your dog as long as you give them permission to (you don’t want to turn down too many people though – this would make you look mean or rude). If someone asks to pet your dog, you might consider letting them solely for the fact that this helps to improve the customer interaction that people may have when you are shopping in the store with your dog.
Conclusion
If you want to bring your dog into a Menard’s store, you need to realize that COVID has had a very negative impact on dog owners all over the world and being able to bring their pets into stores. However, once everything clears, it’s the general understanding that they’re going to go back to the way things were. The way things were, is that Menard’s stores were able to allow dog owners for the most part bring their pets into the store. You may want to contact the store manager before you just walk in with your pet so you don’t end up having animal control called on you though (it has happened in a few locations).
