Homebrew store owners that have their dogs hanging out?

I'm not sure how I feel about this. Don't get me wrong I love dogs and it's always nice to be around them. I just can't get over the possible sanitation/food grade issues. I know hops and yeast are sealed and much harder to be contaminated but grain sitting in open bins? Pet dander on my equipment is not something I like thinking about.

Dog brushes against something nasty>brushes against you>you brush against grain bin>???????

Maybe the boil would kill any of what I'm thinking of. Maybe I'm nuts but I have to admit it skeeves me out a little bit.

Thoughts?

Edit: I realize a lot of homebrewers own dogs and probably think nothing of it. But a store?

i wouldn't have a problem (one around here does as well) for a big reason... Was it airtight and secured before it got to the shop and transported?
malts have bacteria on them anyways, have wevels, etc. a little supposed pet dander wouldn't hurt me but thats my opinion and i've never seen the shop you're referring to... so it could be a worse case than my guy (actually 2 around here do and i go to both.. haha)

I guess my thinking is you wouldn't have a dog hanging out in a restaurant or deli and the sanitation aspect of brewing should be even more stringent than a restaurant IMO. Dog hair will end up in or on the product.

I guess it wouldn't make me boycott a store. It just doesn't seem right to me for some reason.

guess it would depend on the situation

if the dog is running around outside and then allowed to have free run of The store, I could see an issue
but if the dog is a house dog then usually they are well groomed

also look at the hygiene of the general store. if it is dusty and the floors have gain all around, the dog just might be a problem but if the owner keeps the store up, sweeps and mops, et el, then the dog is probably treated the same way

It is up to you I guess
any other HBS near you? or is it time to go mail order and not even being able to see the inside of the store you are getting things from?

Grains typically are exposed to all manner of nasties before you get them, bugs, rats, etc. this is true for all grains, brewing, cereal, flour etc. I wouldn't worry too much about it. Also, remember it's all getting boiled.

bajaedition said:

guess it would depend on the situation

if the dog is running around outside and then allowed to have free run of The store, I could see an issue
but if the dog is a house dog then usually they are well groomed

also look at the hygiene of the general store. if it is dusty and the floors have gain all around, the dog just might be a problem but if the owner keeps the store up, sweeps and mops, et el, then the dog is probably treated the same way

It is up to you I guess
any other HBS near you? or is it time to go mail order and not even being able to see the inside of teh store you are getting things from?

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The store is clean and the dog is clean but I don't know.

Funny you mention mail order. I was looking into it last night because the good store is 30 minutes away and the store with the dog is small and you run the risk of going there and them not having what you need in stock. I called yesterday to see if they had Safale 05 and they only had 04. Plus the good store is charging 3.50 for an ounce of hops. I could pay for a vacuum sealer with the savings of my first bulk purchase. I make a lot of big belgians and the grain bills are usually similar so I'm thinking bulk grain too. Plus I'm moving to the mountains in a few months so quick trips to the LHBS will be few and far between.

/offtopic

ETA: I'd be ordering from NB or Midwest and I've been to both of their stores/facilities. No dogs hanging out.

Yeah, you're being overly skeeved out for no reason.

Hops: Boiled and sealed.
Yeast: Sealed.
Grain: Resulting sugars boiled.
Extract: Boiled and sealed.
Mineral additions: Sealed and most of them boiled.
Flavor adjuncts: Sealed and many of them boiled.

Equipment is the only potential problem, and that's only if you use the equipment without cleaning it first.

elkshadow said:

I guess my thinking is you wouldn't have a dog hanging out in a restaurant or deli and the sanitation aspect of brewing should be even more stringent than a restaurant IMO. Dog hair will end up in or on the product.

I guess it wouldn't make me boycott a store. It just doesn't seem right to me for some reason.

Click to expand...

A dog in a restaurant would be affecting the food after it was cooked. The items in a homebrew shop would be wasted eating them with turning them into beer.

I brew inside around my dog all the time, but I do keep him away when bottling. By the way a lot of ppl didn't seem to have a problem with someone bottling beer when they had a cold which I would think is worse than having a dog around when buying the items to make wort

The people who work there are just as likely...... or more likely for that matter......to be a source of infection/nastiness as any dog. I have never seen a dog cough of sneeze on my beer ingredients.

Lots of people have dogs in their houses, who may even go in the kitchen while cooking, or sit under the table while eating.

if it was some mangey mutt that was using the grain bucket like a fire hydrant i might have an issue.

That's Speciesism!

I mentioned this thread to my dogs and they were both terribly offended! They said it's bad enough they aren't allowed into really cool places like restaurants or butcher shops, but they fear they will be kept out of other places in the future, like barber shops, hardware stores, and homebrew supply shops.

Naw, I'm kidding. They were cool with it.

My dogs are all over my "brewery" when I brew. The only time I keep them away is when I start cooling the beer, and until it's inside the fermenter with an airlock on it.

Barley & Blue love to hang out in the brewery!



MC

just remember that hops is classified as a toxin to dogs.

Sent from my SCH-R970 using Home Brew mobile app

My dogs hang out with me when I brew...and nearly everything else I do, whether I like it or not. My problem isn't sanitation. It's that they know too much.

For me it would depend on the situation.

I've been a lifelong dog owner. I love dogs and like having them around. I also don't think the dog's presence in the shop significantly increases the risk of infected beer.

But...

Unless the employees are very diligent about cleaning, stores with dogs inevitably begin to acquire a strong pet odor.

If I owned a LHBS, I would want the wonderful aromas of hops and malted grains greeting my customers - not the scent of a dog bed. Dog smell wouldn't bother me in a LHBS, but I would prefer no dog. For many other people, dog smell and presence is off-putting, just as it is with the OP.

Assuming he wants to maximize the success of his store, I would strongly recommend the LHBS get rid of the dog.

elkshadow said:

I'm not sure how I feel about this. Don't get me wrong I love dogs and it's always nice to be around them. I just can't get over the possible sanitation/food grade issues. I know hops and yeast are sealed and much harder to be contaminated but grain sitting in open bins? Pet dander on my equipment is not something I like thinking about.

Dog brushes against something nasty>brushes against you>you brush against grain bin>???????

Maybe the boil would kill any of what I'm thinking of. Maybe I'm nuts but I have to admit it skeeves me out a little bit.

Thoughts?

Edit: I realize a lot of homebrewers own dogs and probably think nothing of it. But a store?

Click to expand...

Is it store in westminster (Garrison and 88) ?

Dogs in the brew shop? Meh. If you are allergic to dogs I can certainly understand your concern.

You could really gross out yerself and look up the allowable levels of insect parts and rodent evidence in raw grain. How about all those shop owners with full beards? Talk about dander in the grain!

Like Canuck and brick, we have multiple dogs wandering through the household grain storage area and trying to get into the wort on brew day. I have heard that countries besides the US allow dogs in restaurants. Otherwise naaah, I gots lotsa other things to worry about.

My cat knows that the wort going through the chiller into the carboys and bottling time are the absolute best times for trying to jump on my lap.

I put the dog (He's a big friendly Lab) in LHBS to good use. My Wife is a sucker for fuzzy, friendly pooches and will get totally distracted scratching their ears and talking baby/puppy talk with them. I use that distraction to add a couple things to my basket and then when we get home, She'll say something like; "I don't remember looking at that or was that in the basket?" The reason it works so well, is that She'll pay so much attention to the dog that I can check out and be heading for the door and have to call Her away from the dog.

Turnabout is fairplay though, when I take Her to Joanns or Michaels, She'll send me to the feathers/beads/threads section saying; "Maybe you can find something on sale for your flytying!" and then of course She'll fill her cart.

My LHBS owner's dog's name is Saaz. I think more places should be able to have dogs hanging out. As long as the atmosphere is one where people will look down every now and then so as not to trip over or hurt the dog. Of course outside is best if the weather is good. If I owned a hbstore I would def use the liberty to bring my dog to work as long as he was well-behaved.

If we ever had a dog in our store the Health Department would shut me down so fast.....
Yes we are inspected by the local Health Dept, Just had to put in a three bay sink and hand wash station to wash the grain scoop. If you eat or drink it, its food, if its food, it has to be inspected.

Btw wife and I have three dogs at home.

Guy! Lighten up. Dog's are family, they are cleaner than you dirty HomoSapien's

elkshadow said:

The store is clean and the dog is clean but I don't know.

Funny you mention mail order. I was looking into it last night because the good store is 30 minutes away and the store with the dog is small and you run the risk of going there and them not having what you need in stock. I called yesterday to see if they had Safale 05 and they only had 04. Plus the good store is charging 3.50 for an ounce of hops. I could pay for a vacuum sealer with the savings of my first bulk purchase. I make a lot of big belgians and the grain bills are usually similar so I'm thinking bulk grain too. Plus I'm moving to the mountains in a few months so quick trips to the LHBS will be few and far between.

/offtopic

ETA: I'd be ordering from NB or Midwest and I've been to both of their stores/facilities. No dogs hanging out.

Click to expand...

Mail order is a way of life with me, the closest HBC is 90 miles away.
plan your brews and order I say

riconek said:

Is it store in westminster (Garrison and 88) ?

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No but I've been to that one and instead of a dog, they have a surly young guy who rolls his eyes when you ask him something.

This one is in the Littleton/Centennial area.

Should have put a smiley on that first sentence.

EDIT: Come to think of it they have a dog at this one too. A little one. Now I remember!! Wow.

bajaedition said:

Mail order is a way of life with me, the closest HBC is 90 miles away.
plan your brews and order I say

Click to expand...

This is going to happen. I can cut my cost of ingredients almost in half. And with the savings, you guessed it!! A mill and a vacuum sealer!

Never bugs me. My LHBS is super dog friendly and their grain is in sealed containers. In fact, anything not sealed should simply be washed before use anyway (carboys, spoons, paddles, etc).

Epimetheus said:

Dogs in the brew shop? Meh. You could really gross out yerself and look up the allowable levels of insect parts and rodent evidence in raw grain.

Click to expand...

This is exactly what I was thinking. I don't think there's a grain silo that's been built that doesn't have rodents running around in it. They piss and crap in the grain. The wort is boiled anyway and you'll most likely see any dog hairs floating around it. Fish them out and press on.

I chuckle every time I see stuff about cleanliness and such (which I am very mindful of and do my due diligence with). I think about what it must have been like 500 years ago. I can picture the first monk to the brewery in the morning fishing the dead rats out of the vats.

There's an old saying, "If you like the food at a restaurant, don't look in the kitchen."

Don't go on vacation in Belgium. You'll see dogs in restaurants there.

As metioned above, if a dog in the homebrew shop bothers you, you realy don't want to know what's in grain and other foods.

I was stationed in Europe a total of six years. Dogs in brew houses, wineries, bakeries, butcher shops, restaurants, etc. Dogs everywhere. Like others here, my dogs are in and around my "brewery" without a second thought. ...and I wouldn't have it any other way.

I always have my dog around while brewing and can guarantee I have dog hair in every beer I make. This doesn't phase me. With that being said, depending on the sanitation of the environment as a whole and the cleanliness of the dog, it might not be great. My dog is clean and hasn't been rolling around in the dirt, the dog in the store might be.

Someone has to clean up all the grain dust on the floor after I mill.

Here's another thing to think about: You're worried about a dog being around bulk grain storage containers.

That grain didn't grow in a greenhouse. It grew in a big ol' field, with -- at best -- a two or three strand barbed wire fence around it. But probably not even that. Who knows how many deer, coyotes, raccoons, skunks, opossum, etc. wandered through that field, brushing the grain as they went, nibbling on some here and there, pissing on some every now and then.

I wouldn't worry about the dog.

Dog aroma, depends upon the pedigree. Of the hounds, beagles really have no aroma. They are also so damn cute and loyal.
Hair of the dog in your brew might be a preemptive strike against a hangover.

flars said:

Dog aroma, depends upon the pedigree. Of the hounds, beagles really have no aroma. They are also so damn cute and loyal.
Hair of the dog in your brew might be a preemptive strike against a hangover.

Click to expand...

Offhand, I can think of three stores I have frequented that had a "shop dog". The first, a canoe/kayak store about an hour south of where I went to college. Had two BEAUTIFUL Huskies that would greet you at the door, and then stop by to check up on you every now and then while you were browsing. If they didn't come greet you, you didn't even realize they were there. The second is the lumber yard here in town. Owner brings his dog (not sure breed, almost think Australian Shepherd) in with him every day. She stays behind the counter most of the time - and again, if you didn't see her, you'd never know she was there. And lastly, a boat dealership that a couple years ago also started selling guns and ammunition. This summer, the owner started bringing his labrador retriever in with him. Very clean dog, obviously a "inside" dog. Although admittedly, with that one, since I have a lab at home myself, I might not notice the dog aroma anymore.

Dogs are awesome. Get over it, or don't shop in their store. Simple as that.

HA! I initially read the title of this thread of this thread waaay wrong. My LHBS may not be able to get away w/ that since they also sell pet food and toys.

dkwolf said:

Here's another thing to think about: You're worried about a dog being around bulk grain storage containers.

That grain didn't grow in a greenhouse. It grew in a big ol' field, with -- at best -- a two or three strand barbed wire fence around it. But probably not even that. Who knows how many deer, coyotes, raccoons, skunks, opossum, etc. wandered through that field, brushing the grain as they went, nibbling on some here and there, pissing on some every now and then.

I wouldn't worry about the dog.

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You left out ****

rocketsan said:

You left out ****

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It was implied...

If the health department is cool with it, I'm cool with it.

I'm actually PO'ed at a the health department in SC, as they asked a brewpub (who shall remain nameless) to either serve food on paper plates, or not allow dogs OUTSIDE after a complaint from a patron that another patron had put their food plate on the ground for their dog to clean up. They decided to NOT serve food in paper plates... which means, no dogs on the outside deck. *PI$$ED OFF*

Double wrong there.

MC

I'm cool with a dog in a shop. Now cats I would have a problem with.....leave an unattended grain bin open, and you might get more than grain with your order.