All In A Day's Work

Sherpa hangs out in an MSNBC cubicle during Take Your Dog To Work Day. James Cheng / MSNBC.com

Today is the ninth annual Take Your Dog To Work Day. Sponsored by Pet Sitters International, this is your chance to take your dog to work and introduce him to your colleagues. Do you work like a dog? Let your dog see what you do all day!

Maybe your boss won’t be thrilled about the idea, but many of the most successful companies in the U.S., such as Amazon.com and Google, are known for their pet-friendly policies. According to people who work for companies which welcome pets, having pets in the office is great for morale. They say having pets around greatly reduces the stress level for employees. They also say employees are more productive because they don’t have to worry about their dog being left home alone all day. In addition, allowing employees to bring pets to the office encourages company loyalty: employees know that if they left it would be hard to find other companies which would allow them to bring their dog to work.

The employee loyalty factor is no small matter. A poll of dog owners by dogster.com and Simply Hired.com, which recently introduced a Web site to search for jobs at dog-friendly companies, finds that 49 percent of respondents would switch jobs to be able to bring their dog to work, with 55 percent being willing to commute a longer distance.

Take Your Dog To Work Day was created in 1999 by Pet Sitters International as an opportunity to show others the great bond that people can have with their pet and to encourage those without pets to adopt their own. Pet Sitters International estimates that as many as 10,000 companies in the U.S. and Canada opened their doors to employees’ dogs during the annual event held last June.

Advocates say that allowing pets in the workplace is a growing trend. “It was very popular in the late '90s,” said Len Kain, co-founder of Dogfriendly.com, which publishes pet travel guides. “It kind of died down after the tech industry bust, but now it’s coming back.”

Kain said that more companies are looking into dog-friendly policies because they improve staff morale and camaraderie and encourage employees to work longer hours. “People will stay longer if they don’t have to leave to let their dog out,” he said.

Medium to smaller businesses are most receptive to allowing dogs at work, Kain said. "The less people in the office space, the easier it is to reach consensus on a workplace policy. Many of the larger corporations have a lot of legal issues, insurance regulations, that sort of thing."

Golden Lasso, an advertising and design agency in Seattle, fits that profile.

“I know that for me, having dogs at work seriously reduces my stress level," said employee Amanda Williams. "It really puts things into perspective to be all freaked out about some project and to look down and see a dog smiling at you.”

Kain said companies with strict policies have the most success with dogs at work. Two rules of thumb: The owner must be in control of the dog and the animal must be leashed and out of the way, especially from people who are uncomfortable or afraid of dogs, he said.

Some guidelines
For a pleasant workplace experience, here are some tips:
• Dogs must be tied to a standard six-foot leash or in a closed office or cubicle. Some employees will put a small folding fence, or baby gate, in front of their cubicle door so their pup cannot roam around.
• Dogs that are aggressive toward people should not be taken to work.
• Dogs must be flea-free and up-to-date on rabies vaccinations.
• "Three accidents and you're out": Some companies require dogs to stay home if they go to the bathroom more than twice at work.

More information about Take Your Dog To Work Day can be found at the Pet Sitters International web site and in a previous article at MSNBC.com, "Dog Days of Summer."

This entry was posted on Friday, June 22nd, 2007 at 7:42 am and is filed under General Dogs' Topics. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.