Is My Dog Allowed in Home Depot? Best Practices & FAQs

For many people, their dogs are their best friends. What do you do with your best friend? You go places with them and hang out together! This becomes a little more tricky in the human-animal relationship because not everywhere accepts animals on the premises.

Whether you’re building a new doghouse for your buddy or Fido is supervising you while you build a new fence to keep him in, trips to Home Depot are inevitable. So, you might be wondering if the hardware store is dog friendly. The answer: yes and no—here’s how.

What Dogs Are Allowed in Home Depot?

Home depot—like many other stores—doesn’t make its policy immediately clear on animals visiting the store with their humans. In this case, that’s likely because there is no official corporate policy dictating whether dogs are allowed in the store or not.

As a general rule, it’s left up to each store to decide. However, the consensus is that most Home Depot locations honor the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) regulations and allow service dogs in without discrimination.

That being said, many locations are also okay with your buddy coming with you as long as they are well-behaved and don’t cause any trouble. To save yourself any potential hassle, it’s a good idea to call your local Home Depot before visiting to ask if they are okay with you bringing your pal along for the ride.

Best Practices if You Bring Your Dog to Home Depot

Suppose a Home Depot location is okay with any dogs coming in. In that case, they will only remain that way if owners are responsible and respect the perk of being able to bring their canine. Here are a few things you can do to help preserve the ability to continue bringing your dog.

Keep Them Leashed

Even if your pup is a well-behaved dog, ensure that it’s kept on a leash at all times while in Home Depot. This makes other customers more comfortable if they are nervous around dogs. It also prevents the off chance that your dog decides not to listen and runs off.

Plan Ahead

We all know how a Home Depot trip goes. You go in for one thing, get distracted, and 3 hours later you’re pushing a massive cart to the front. In order to prevent accidents, make sure your pup uses the bathroom before you go in. No one wants to clean up a whoopsie in the middle of Home Depot.

And if you think it may be a long trip, it may be best to leave the pup at home, especially a young one who has to go to the washroom often.

• See Also: How Old Do You Have to Be to Work at Home Depot?

Treats, Treats, Treats

When you take a small child somewhere, you should always have a stash of treats. It’s no different with a fur baby. Depending on when you visit Home Depot, it could be extremely busy with a lot going on. Sometimes, even a non-anxious dog can get a little edgy with all of the commotion. Bringing a few treats can help reduce your pup’s stress and make the visit enjoyable for everyone.

Closing Thoughts

Many Home Depot locations post signs specific to that store on whether or not they accept dogs visiting with their owners. If your dog is a trained and certified service dog, you rarely have to worry regardless of a sign or not because it’s kind of an unwritten policy to allow service dogs—non-service dogs being allowed is a bonus.

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Featured Image Credit: Jonathan Weiss, Shutterstock