Family dog goes shopping at Publix

Feb. 25—HIGH POINT — Picky pooches prefer Publix.

Just ask Luna, a 6-year-old American Staffordshire terrier belonging to Dallas and Christena Clark who one day last week squeezed through the cat door of the couple's home in Wendover Hills to escape, ambled half a mile or more to the Publix supermarket at Westchester Square, tripped the store's automatic door and waltzed right in.

Witnesses report Luna followed her nose — where else? — to the meat department but also visited the deli and the checkout aisles before returning to the meat department, apparently hoping to score some choice beef or chicken.

Alas, she didn't get so much as a hot dog.

Instead, a Publix employee corralled the canine customer and took her outside to search for her owner. When that failed, store associates called Guilford County Animal Control officers, who scanned Luna's microchip and learned she belonged to the Clarks.

"I was on the golf course, so my wife went and picked her up and got her home," Dallas Clark recalled.

Clark said he was surprised the 60-pound dog was able to slip through the cat door, but not that she found her way to Publix.

"I'll have her in the car with me sometimes when I go to Publix," he explained. "When I come out of the store, she sees I've got something in the grocery bag. I guess she put two and two together and figured out Publix is where you get food. She's a very smart dog."

Luna often accompanies Clark to pet-friendly stores such as Home Depot and Lowe's Home Improvement, so she understands how automatic doors work and apparently had no trouble navigating the doors at the Publix entrance.

A Publix manager confirmed Luna's visit and said it's not the first time a dog has managed to enter the store.

It may be Luna's last visit, though. Clark narrowed the cat door so that the cats can still get through it, but Luna can't.

According to Clark, this was Luna's second solo adventure. A couple of years ago, he said, she got loose and found her way to a McDonald's, where a concerned couple drove her to PetSmart and got her microchip scanned.

jtomlin@hpenews.com — 336-888-3579