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In what can only be seen as a step in the wrong direction, John Lewis is now allowing customers to enter their stores with their pet dogs. While the John Lewis stores and indeed many shopping centres have in the past resisted this request by pet owners, they are now saying that, if the dogs are well-behaved, there can be no objection. A successful pilot was run in Peter Jones on Sloane Square in London. Euphemisms such as "four-legged friends" are being used to make it more acceptable. The Trafford shopping centre in Manchester, for example, still forbids dogs from entering the centre. However, since the John Lewis store has a separate entrance, dogs can enter the store directly without going through the centre. Statistics show an increase in dog ownership in the UK. Apparently 24% of the adult population now owns a dog, with a national dog population of 8.9 million. Pet ownership in general is increasing. No figures are available on how many of the 76% of adults not owning a dog would prefer to be able to shop among humans only. One way of driving customers to shop online.