Well, you CAN take pets to both Petco and Petsmart, but I personally hate when people bring their dogs there with them because it totally freaks me out. That's the only reason I prefer Petco to Petsmart. There are less dogs! Whenever we go to Petsmart, I freak out standing in line for the cashier because there are dogs in front of me, and behind, and they almost always try to pull their owners to me (something that scares the daylights out of me). When we go to Petco, there's usually just one or two dogs and they are in the dogs section (far away from the birds section) so I don't really have to encounter them. I wish people would be more considerate about taking their dogs INSIDE the store and especially at the cashier line, because no all people shopping at pet stores are used to dogs. Many people shopping for their birds, rabbits, cats, hamsters, rats, fish, and other pets aren't used to dogs, and it really freaks them out when one goes after them or even tries to go near them in the store. It always makes me so scared that I forget to buy the birds a new toy, or something I need to see before buying.