Take Your Dog To Work Day

[Leah82]

Hi All,

I'm new to DOL, have just adopted a beautiful little Spoodle called Sarah (former puppy farm dog) and my partner has a Cocker Spaniel called Collie.

I've just found out about Take your Dog to Work day (on the 21st June for those not in the know) and will be approaching the powers that be about my company taking part.

Was wondering if anyone else has been involved in the past, what worked, what didn't work etc?

Currently I'm thinking step 1 would be send an initial email out to see if anyone has any serious objections (allergies or fears) before people start getting excited about the idea, then barring any objections get people to register interest by providing detailed information about their dog (breed, height, temperament etc) to make sure we don't get any big aggressive dogs (or too many dogs to handle). Once dogs have been approved, get the owners to agree to bath and groom them the night before and bring in all essential items on the day (lease, toys, bed, water bowl etc) as well as have a backup plan if their dog gets agitated or aggressive.

Let me know what you think. Will be bringing this to our CEO tomorrow.

http://www.takeyourdog.com

[Alkhe]

I hate to be a debbie downer, and I'm usually not, I swear! But to me, it just seems like a nightmare. So many things to go wrong, so much distraction, not much.. point?

I'd love nothing more than to take my dog to work, and sometimes when I have a foster who is recovering from something or needs to be monitored, it would be great to be able to take them to work with me. But it's just an inappropriate environment. At work, I need to work - I feel the same about people bringing their kids to work. It means they don't do anything because they're watching over their kids, and other people don't do anything because they're oohing and aahing.. and that's just with ONE person with kid at wokr. It would be the same with one dog at work.

Have more than one dog, and the problems just get exponentially worse. I personally think it would be a nightmare Or more accurately, it has too much of a chance to just turn into a nightmare.

Edited June 3, 2013 by Alkhe

[juice]

Big aggressive dogs, really. :laugh:

And how exactly to you intend to work out which dogs are ok to come to work? Breed based by the sound of it.

[brintey]

to make sure we don't get any big aggressive dogs

But small aggressive ones are OK?

I used to be able to take any of my large dogs to work if I had an urgent vet appointment after work (in a crate, in my office), however, someone brought their little dog in to work, who had 'separation anxiety and couldn't be left at home'. She seemed unable to keep her dog on a leash, in her office, or remember to take it out for toilet breaks. Being small and not confined it was constantly underfoot and several of us nearly tripped while carrying bulky objects. After that, no more dogs in the workplace for us. As usual, it only takes one inconsiderate dog owner to ruin it for everyone...

Hope it works out for you though Leah.

[cassie]

to make sure we don't get any big aggressive dogs

But small aggressive ones are OK?

Was about to say this!

I don't really understand the point of the exercise. If you want to meet everyone from your workplace's dogs then why not send out an email for a picnic or other social gathering outside of the office.

Maybe I'm just jealous, being a flight attendant I could never participate :p

[cassie]

I'm new to DOL, have just adopted a beautiful little Spoodle

Also just a friendly tip, this forum promotes purebred dogs, but we love all dogs. We don't however buy into the designer names, so please refer to your dog as a Spaniel x Poodle :) Welcome to DOL though and I hope you stick around :)

[Leah82]

wow, you lot are a welcoming bunch, I didn't realise every word I wrote would be hyper-analysed.

Big aggressive dog BTW is an example of the type of dog that wouldn't suit an office environment, especially when there are other dogs around.

Small aggressive would also not work out very well which is why as previously mentioned I would be asking for the dogs temperament.

and for the doubters here are some stats...

55 million Americans believe having pets in the workplace leads to a more creative environment

50 million believe having pets in the workplace helps co-workers get along better

38 million believe having pets in the workplace creates a more productive work environment

37 million believe having pets in the workplace helps improve the relationship between managers and their employees

I for one know that having a dog around can reduce stress. Nothing like being on a frustrating call to your internet provider and your dog puts a paw on your leg or tries to climb onto your lap, immediate stress buster.

[Loving my Oldies]

Leah it sounds like a wonderful idea and well done you if you can get it up and running.

As you can see from the first lot of replies, there are enough "rules and regulations" as to what you are" permitted" to say on a forum about dogs, let alone what is "permitted" in real life .

Yes. folks, "Take Your Dog to Work Day" is fraught with possibilities of what can go wrong, but surely these can be put across nicely and in an educative way and not being sarcstic.

And who knows, someone's mind may be changed about how dirty and scary dogs are. :)

[cassie]

and for the doubters here are some stats...

55 million Americans believe having pets in the workplace leads to a more creative environment

50 million believe having pets in the workplace helps co-workers get along better

38 million believe having pets in the workplace creates a more productive work environment

37 million believe having pets in the workplace helps improve the relationship between managers and their employees

I think many people might "think" they believe that, but it doesn't seem overly practical.

A fish tank or something, maybe even a canary. Dogs in the vast majority of workplaces however wouldn't work.

[Leah82]

Thank's for the support Danny's Darling. Hopefully I'll get the green light and can show you nay-sayers that it can work.

And with regards to Sarah's breed I'm actually not 100% on her heritage, for all I know she could be 3rd generation Cocker cross Poodle with a little bit of Cavalier in there as well as she's quite small.

So without wanting to offend anyone further I shall just call her Sarah.

Also I got the idea from this article, so it's not just an American thing...

http://www.news.com.au/business/worklife/bringing-your-dog-to-work-is-one-way-to-lower-stress-levels/story-e6frfm9r-1226655449097

[Dory the Doted One]

Hi Leah, I have a "Dory Dog" :)

I also bring my dog to work. I have both Dory and Willow (9 week old pup) at work at them moment. And for a Monday, despite Willow being a MASSIVE distraction I feel pretty light hearted and now that she has crashed for a sleep (FINALLY), I intend on smashing my work in a big way. So I would say that my productivity has gone up. :D (As has my morale) But then we are a small work place and I'm the only one here right now. :laugh:

[Leah82]

And with regards to the point of the exercise I would also be looking at getting someone in from a pet rescue organisation to talk about pet adoption and knowing where your new puppy could be coming from.

[Pretty Miss Emma]

Dogs at work can work, but before you go to the powers that be make sure you have thought out all possibilities and have contingenies for everything. The things I would be wanting to present would be:

-how dogs will be contained/restrained

-how noise will be dealt with

-how disagreements between dogs will be dealt with

-how space will be allocated so that dogs have enough space without interfering with other dogs

-how cleaning/smell will be dealt with

-how supervision of dogs will be maintained (we have a policy that dogs must be supervised 100% of the time, so if you have to go to the toilet you must have someone who can supervise your dog during that time - this is just to prevent problems)

-how will interactions with other people be dealt with

-how will space be managed around people who do not want dogs near them

-will the be no go zones for dogs (eg eating areas, around phone rooms, etc)

-managing entering and exiting the building so no confrontations occur

-managing people who have no idea how to behave around dogs, what instructions will be given

-managing the handing out of treats (I often find everyone wants to give the dogs a treat!! Which can equal fat stinky dogs!!)

-toileting areas and cleaning up mess

-will there be a limit on the number of dogs that can attend

-how will the temperament of the dogs be known before they attend (it's nice to think that people can be objective about this but some people don't really know and don't know that their dog will/won't be suitable in the workplace)

-health statuses of animals (vacc's, etc up to date)

-what if an emergency vet visit is required for whatever reason

A lot of dogs find it really exciting to go to work, and can be a bit on the hyper side when they get there so that is something also that needs to be considered.

I really do think dogs in the workplace can be ok but it just needs a lot more planning than people sometimes think. Maybe some possible ways around some of this might be trying to organise a week of days where you can limit the number attending each day but everyone who wants a go can have one if their dog is suitable. Or maybe people could work half days in the office and half at home so the dogs aren't overwhelmed by a full day there.

But I do think if you go in with a well though out plan and have addressed every contingency you can think of then your chances will be hugely increased as compared tojust going in and saying it would be a nice idea! I hope your chat goes well, I'd be interested to ehar how you go!! good luck!!

[raineth]

I'm not sure how many people you work with, but I do think having a lot of dogs together could be be a bit fraught.

And as you yourself have mentioned it could really get quite tricky working out the practicalities of it all such as determining who has a suitable dog to bring to work.

Maybe you could make it 'bring your dog to work week' and people have a day where they bring their dog in, so there is just one or two dogs there on any given day?

I do think dogs can be wonderfully relaxing to have around. But I don't really imagine that having many dogs, who have never met each other before, all together, in one space designed for working and not for dogs, would be a very relaxing experience for many people, or for many of the dogs.

So if you just let veryone have a turn on a separate day it might work out a bit better maybe :)

[megan_]

Wow. What a warm welcome to DOL....

I think it depends on the size of the workplace. I work in a large corporate in the city, with a very, very open plan office. There is very no space for dogs to pee and the building is very busy and noisy. I spend a lot of time in meetings and if my two came into the office with me they'd spend a lot of time in the crate as I wouldn't be around to look after them.

[Staffyluv]

This big boy comes to work with me every day - lucky he isn't aggressive :)

Office worker boy 2.2013 by Jodie Moore Photos, on Flickr

[corvus]

My dogs 'come' to work with me - the whole 3m from my bedroom to my study. Epic journey. I actually really love having them around all the time. One day I will have to go back to working in an office and probably won't be able to take them with me and I'm dreading the day. I miss them so bad when I'm out for the day. Both have come with me a few times when I've been working somewhere else and it's definitely harder to get work done when they want to explore and so on, but they usually settle down and snooze after a while. One of my dogs probably wouldn't make a great office pal considering he tends to be territorial and alerts me to everything that goes on in the vicinity, but my older dog and my previous dog would have made great office dogs.

[HeelerLove]

My boss has said previously that I could bring my two in if I wanted to, but I haven't and I doubt that I will in the future unless I need to. As much as I would love to spend all day with them, I don't think I'd get much done. My girl would probably settle after the initial excitement of new human friends and therefore lots of pats wore off but my boy would spend the entire day snuffling in every single nook and cranny of the office while he looks for food crumbs, people on the phone would think there is a pig in the office :laugh:

ETA - Staffyluv, Ziggy is just gorgeous!!

Edited June 3, 2013 by BlueyLove

[Dory the Doted One]

:laugh: We call Dory the 'doorbell'. Sometimes we have people come to the back door when we are busy up the front. We often don't hear them knock...not a problem when Dory is 'on duty'. Everyone misses her if I haven't bought her in. And it is amazing how much we have come to rely on her warning us when someone is at the door.

[Pollywaffle]

Just wanted to welcome you to DOLers and say that my boy would spend the whole day seeking out belly rubs and my girl would be going for everyone's ankles..so probably not for us, but good on you for flagging it.

Edited June 3, 2013 by Pollywaffle