Can I Take My Dog into Asda? Yes/No (Find Out Why)

can i take my dog into asda

As dog owners we don’t like to leave our pup out of things. After all, they are part of the family so should be able to come on all trips with us, including going shopping! And if you have a well-behaved dog, it stands to reason that you trust them to come into your local store.

If that shop is Asda, you might be wondering whether it’s a dog friendly supermarket and what their policy on dogs is… I decided to find out. Here’s what I discovered:

Can I take my dog in Asda? You are not allowed to take or carry your dog into Asda stores. The only exception to this rule on the Asda dog policy is if your dog is a service or guide dog helping you due to a disability. Asda is not dog friendly in the traditional sense, and as to date has no plans to change their policy.

So, there you have it… you can’t take your dog into Asda unless it’s a guide dog. But even then, you might get into some trouble as I found from news report in 2015 – you won’t believe what happened (scroll down further to see).

The Asda dog policy: is it dog friendly?

Whilst it might make your life a lot easier if this supermarket simply relented and said that dogs are allowed in Asda, you need to take into account the reasons why they have this policy in place and why Asda isn’t dog friendly.

One important factor is health of safety; for example, your dog could come into contact with fresh foods, meats, and so on – leading to dangerous contamination. Dogs can also be hazardous and potentially trip people over in a store such as Asda.

are dogs allowed in asda
Dogs are not allowed in Asda, so you will have to tie yours up outside unless it’s a guide dog. (image copyright M Taylor)

Then you have people who might be allergic to dogs or who are just really scared of them. You can imagine that Asda’s dog policy is designed with the intention to not get involved in any potential lawsuits!

When you add all of these factors together, you should soon understand why Asda don’t let you bring dogs into their supermarkets. Here’s what their policy states:

“All dog-owners are asked to leave their dogs outside, unless the dog is assisting a person with a disability. Asda staff also offer customers with guide dogs help with their shopping, if they would like assistance.”

Can I carry my dog in Asda?

Just because you have a small dog that doesn’t change the rules. Small dogs are also not allowed in Asda, and don’t think you can simply carry the dog in a handbag or under your arm – it’s a hard and fast rule applied to all dogs.

According to Asda’s dog policy and you are not allowed to carry your dog into their shops, and it doesn’t matter if it’s a small dog breed (think chihuahua) either.

Ultimately the rule is the same for all dog owners. You cannot bring your dog into the Asda stores no matter the size unless it’s a guide dog.

Asda is not dog friendly.

What does UK law say about dogs coming into shops?

The UK does not have an over-arching law about whether dogs are prohibited from coming into shops or not. In fact, if you own a pub, store, or public place it’s down to your own discretion as the venue owner to decide.

If you are a dog owner, look out for a sign on the door of the shop. Dog friendly venues will always have signage in the window saying that dogs are allowed inside.

However, when you get to large corporations who are part of a global chain such as Asda, they tend to have dog policies that are applied to each and every store with no exceptions. You can typically find the policy on whether dogs are allowed in on their websites.

If you cannot find the store’s up to date dog policy, one quick phone call or email into their customer services team is the best route for getting an answer.

However, there is legality around certain aspects that has been set out by the UK’s Food Standards Agency. This Scottish organisation is responsible for food safety law for the whole of the UK. This legislation is all about premises where food is prepared for public consumption.

Here’s what the FSA says:

“Adequate procedures are also to be in place to prevent domestic animals from having access to places where food is prepared, handled or stored.”

That essentially means that dogs should not really be allowed into certain types of stores… and this applies to Asda very well, as they have an in-house bakery and a kiosk for fresh meat, cheese and fish. Asda also display a large amount of fresh dairy, fruit and vegetables all over different aisles.

Why are guide dogs allowed in Asda then?

Although dogs are not allowed in Asda stores, assistance and guide dogs are permitted.

This is despite a very embarrassing incident in 2015 where a blind woman was ejected from an Asda store in Liverpool because she had her guide dog with her!

Despite telling security that she was registered blind, the security guard said she didn’t look blind ordered her and her dog out of the shop!

Obviously, this was a mistake on Asda’s part, but just goes to show that improvements need to be made in how they train and educate their staff for such incidents.

In response to this terrible public relations disaster, Asda have made their guidelines on the matter clearer and had this to say:

“We are genuinely sorry for how the security guard on duty in our store treated this customer, it was not acceptable. The colleague isn’t originally from the UK and wasn’t familiar with guide dogs being allowed inside shops. He has now been retrained.”

Guide dogs are exempt from banning rules

Under the Equality Act of 2010, guide dogs are exempt from rules by businesses banning dogs. As a national law, all businesses under the United Kingdom, big or small, are legally required to allow guide dogs into their stores.

This is because guide dogs are classed as a ‘mobility aid’, meaning that it is a reasonable adjustment made by the law to ensure that disabled customers get equal treatment.

Guide dogs are also especially well-trained (they even go to a special school!), which means that they can be trusted not to sniff around food areas and contaminate them. Their focus is solely on the person they’ve been assigned to.

In other words, no shop in the UK is allowed to ban a person from entering with a guide dog, and that includes Asda and any national store (for example here’s Tesco’s dog policy).

Do dog friendly policies differ between stores?

Whilst most of the national supermarket chains have very similar rules about dogs being allowed in (apart from guide dogs), there are some exceptions to the rules which you can see below.

  • John Lewis: This store conducted a trial period of letting dogs in and decided in July of 2019 that they would let dogs in providing the dog was well behaved, on a short lead, or was carried by their owners.
  • Waterstones: This bookstore are far more laid back when it comes to our canine friends. They let the individual store manager set their own dog friendly policy. Some Waterstones even leave drinking water outside for dogs.
  • Selfridges: In what is probably a more unique approach, Selfridges only allow dogs into their smaller branches. The only dogs they permit are smaller ones that can be either carried by their owner or placed in something called a ‘holdall’ – which is essentially a carrier bag made for small dogs to be transported in!

Conclusion

And there you have it. The question on whether dogs are allowed in Asda is pretty simple. Small dogs can’t come in, large dogs can’t come in – in fact, no dogs can be carried or brought into Asda unless they are guide dogs.

However, this might change in the future, and Asda may one day become dog friendly. We’ve seen how John Lewis can change their policy, so you never know what the future holds!

For now though, you can take a dog into Asda, but only if it’s a guide dog!

Handy Hint: If you live in the United States, the Asda equivalent is Walmart – here’s what their dog policy is.

Marc Aaron

I write about the things we've learned about owning dogs, the adventures we have, and any advice and tips we've picked up along the way.

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