Dogs at Work

[PoodleMommy]

I was watching Extreme Workplace today and they were talking about Google, which has got to be the most awesome place in the world to work.. free meals all day and snacks and coffee, a gym, laundry room, nap center, etc. etc... basically you have to see it to believe it.

Well I noticed a number of dogs so I googled google's dog policy (haha!)... anyway dogs are allowed at work subject to some stipulations... so I am thinking WOW thats GREAT but in the comments to the article everyone talked about how bad that was to have dogs at work, seriously not one person was for it.

So what do you think, Yay or Nay to dogs in the workplace... I am talking about non animal related workplaces obviously.

I would think it is great because you dont have people rushing to get home at lunch to walk the dog, or worrying about the dog. Even though it might be a slight distraction, I would think a happy worker is a productive worker, right?

[smkie]

Depends on the dog and the owner. Victor had to learn not to bump people who are working. Not to go to the door when people came in. TO stay down if someone in the building is afraid of dogs. YOu need a dog that minds and an owner that is aware of the surroundings and how the dog is interacting.

Paul Messner Puppets has their own dog/mascot. DOris use to live in the building but now she goes home with the owner.

[Fransheska101]

I think if its well handled, it could be a great idea

of course, disruptive or dogs that distract their owners from work obviously shouldn't be allowed. but calm, friendly, well behaved dogs IMO would be more than welcome

paul frank has a similar program but with dogs runs and such where the dogs can play

As long as owners fulfill their work duties and dogs are friendly with the other dogs as well as people that come in/out, i think its an great idea and a great way to deal with work related stress!

of course, I think an area should be seperated for people who are bothered/don't like/are allergic to dogs so they can have some peace lol

ive taken romeo to class a couple of times.. most people didn't even notice he was there lol i could see that kind of thing working in the work environment

[lizzybeth727]

I agree with Smkie, it's a good idea but not for every dog and every owner.

[CaliTerp07]

I would LOVE to be able to bring Lucy to work...but it doesn't make sense in my type of work.

1) My office doesn't have cubes/offices with doors to separate workers, so if a dog chose to wander, it very easily could go say hi to the whole company.
2) I never sit at my desk for more than an hour or two at a time. I'm going in/out of meetings, asking people questions, etc all the time. What do I do with her when I have to run upstairs to ask a question? Take her with me? Tie her to my chair and hope she doesn't bark?
3) Lunch. Again, what do you do when you run out to get lunch? We can't eat at our desks (no food near computers), so the dog would either have to come to the conference room where everyone was eating, or come in the car when I went to go get food.
4) Allergies, fear of dogs, etc. If people had to be grouped by "dog lovers" and "non dog lovers", it'd be pretty difficult. Again, if someone who didn't like dogs had to come into my room to ask me a question, they'd be overwhelmed by dogs, and would probably stay away. Loss of productivity.
5) Dogs are unpredictable. If there were dozens of dogs in an office, something is bound to happen. Who is responsible then? If an accident happens on work property, I think that's a workman's comp suit. I doubt too many companies want to deal with it.

I think it's the kind of thing where if you have a small company and one person brings in his/her dog, it's fun. But in a large company, it'd be a mess if all of us brought in dogs. In my building alone, there are 300 of us. If even 1/4 brought in their dogs, we'd have 75 dogs sniffing, barking, exploring, throwing up, chewing, etc. Just a recipe for stress and trouble!

That said, I've commented many times that my frustrations would be a lot lower if I had a dog to rub after intense meetings

[stardogs]

I work where dogs are allowed and I do not choose to bring my dogs to work. Things I've noticed:

- it's very distracting to others when the dogs are alert barkers, have fear issues, or generally are obvious in their presence. My next door coworkers have 1 dog that is fearful of new people so every time someone enters she goes into a barking fit and the other coworker's dog barks at noises she doesn't like - if one of the owners is not in the office the two dogs will bark for long periods if they hear a noise.

- it allows the employer to keep an employee at work later because they don't have to worry about pets at home needing out. My coworkers often don't take lunches or they work 10-12 hour days 6 days a week because they can just take the dogs out throughout the day. My field already has an inherent issue with employees not being able to separate home life from work life and this certainly doesn't help.

- it prevents absenteeism when a pet is sick or injured

- not all employees realize what a stressed dog looks like and this can cause major issues for the dog and coworkers both. The fearful dog above is not one that I would feel comfortable bringing to work because she is so easily stressed and because the barking causes such problems - I honestly don't know how her office mate deals with the noise at times. Another coworker has a dog that can be guardy in the office due to an eye condition (he's visually impaired); the barking can scare people, it poses a risk to fellow employees or visitors, and the dog is always on high alert - she's now bringing him less frequently because she's started to notice the stress level.

I only bring my own dogs to work when i have to because they are assisting with one of the classes I teach or a similar event need. My oldest cannot be left alone or she barks continuously and she does tend to guard the office due to her anxiety issues and that severely impacts my productivity. My middle dog comes but has to be crated, whereas at home she can be loose. My youngest comes occasionally, but he's crated just like at home and there aren't any real benefits to him coming.

[MicksMom]

Like others have said, it depends on the owner, the dog and the job. As you can see by this picture, Caleb goes to work with me. He spends the first part of my day in the copy room with me, but he's not allowed on the playground, so he hangs in my truck for that part of my job (I park next to the playground).

[FoxyWench]

i think its a GREAT idea to have a dog friendly work place...
depending on the dog, the person and the job.

i do think however that there needs to be rules in place that are the same for everyone...
perhaps the requirment of passing a CGC test over a certain age, as well as noise restraints.

[PoodleMommy]

Originally Posted by FoxyWench

i think its a GREAT idea to have a dog friendly work place...
depending on the dog, the person and the job.

i do think however that there needs to be rules in place that are the same for everyone...
perhaps the requirment of passing a CGC test over a certain age, as well as noise restraints.

the rules are pretty strict if you read the policy... any aggressive behavior and you are asked to remove the dog, more then 1 "accident", excessive barking, etc... plus the dog must remain in your office, so the common areas are safe for non dog people.

[FoxyWench]

in that situation then, SURE id love to work in a place like that, infact i think having an office job...having my dogs there would be a HUGE help in terms fo handling a stressfull call ect.