Friday June 24th has been designated “Take Your Dog to Work Day” by Pet Sitters International. Begun in 1999 with a goal of encouraging adoptions, Pet Sitters Int’l suggests that we all take our dogs to work to emphasize the human/animal bond, and indirectly encourage people to adopt homeless dogs.
This could be a great thing to do; many of us take our dogs to work regularly. If you work in the dog world, it’s almost a gimmee, and one of the perks that I love about my job is that I can take Willie to work whenever I want (except, of course, when he is recovering from surgery). However, there’s nothing like being an Applied Animal Behaviorist to stimulate the waving of red flags when we read about something that, in some cases, could also be described as “take your dog into a completely novel and highly distracting environment and where you have no time to work with her if it flips her out.” Don’t get me wrong, I’m in favor of taking some dogs to work, but it’s truly not appropriate for some dogs.
Curious about how Pet Sitter’s Intl handled the potential of trouble, I went to their website and read their articles on “Preparing Your Dog for the Office” and “Introducing Your Dog to New People and Pets.” There was some very good information in them, including being sure your dog has basic manners and being sure your dog has had “practice calming down in a public place.” Yeah for them for making it clear that dogs need experience to be comfortable in new, stimulating places, and that their training needs to be “proofed” in highly distracting environments. They also advise teaching your dog to sit before greeting people or other dogs, and wisely advocate for loose leashes when dogs are greeting one another. All good, especially the statement “practice taking your dog out into the world.”
This is a key comment, but I do worry a bit that they buried the lead. I can’t tell you how many people I’ve worked with who owned “bold, slap-happy” dogs who cowered and shivered and refused food when taken to a new environment.
The fact is, it’s hard to predict how your dog will behave if he or she has never been in a public place. That’s why I love that the website suggests “practice taking your dog out…”. But, their emphasis is on manners, and not on the dog’s comfort level. I’d love it if they added some lines like: “Not all dogs would enjoy leaving the comfort of home into a new and potentially frightening situation, so don’t bring your dog to work unless you have already determined that he or she likes going out and about with you.” The point being it’s not just about manners, but also about your dog’s comfort level.
On a related note, I’m reminded of the time I took Cool Hand Luke to the radio station and was doing a live show with Larry Meiller on Wisconsin Public Radio. Luke was lying quietly under the table while I answered questions from callers about training and behavior. Luke had been the perfect dog up to that point (you know what’s coming here now, don’t you?) but mid-way through the show a workman stopped to look through the large glass window that separated the studio from the reception area. I hadn’t noticed him because I was facing the other way. What I did notice was an eruption of high-pitched barking from Luke as he lept to his feet, slammed into me and the table and sent the show’s producer in a panicked attempt to modulate the amplitude.
For the life of me I couldn’t figure out why Luke had responded as he did (remember, we’re live on radio now), until I observed that the workman had on knee pads–large, black circles that looked exactly like the fixed, hard eyes of a dog about to attack. And right at eye level too. Luke calmed down right away, and we all had a great laugh about it. Not long afterward I was told that the station had created a “no pet in the studio” policy. Go figure.
What about you? Do you take your dog to work? Is it harder for you to get work done when and if you do? (It is for me, but I also love it. Willie hasn’t come to work since his injury in February and probably won’t be able to until August or September. Ouch. Miss it.) Do other people bring their dogs and you’re glad? Wish they didn’t? I’d love to hear any stories you have. . .
MEANWHILE, back on the farm: Willie had a bad day yesterday (gut trouble, no idea why) and was too sick to do his PT. I spent hours last night just cuddled with him on the living room floor, me watching the Perfect Storm and stroking his belly. I am so thankful he is such a cuddly dog, not sure what I’d do if he wasn’t.
Outside it’s like a jungle right now, rain is frequent and the vegetation is growing visibly. Honest, you can almost see it grow. I feel such sympathy for the people in drought affected areas, wish we could send some of our rain down to you. But you don’t want the lightening–we had a horrific storm this weekend that got all of us up at 4 am, a riot of thunder and lightening that burned down the very special cabin of a friend just a few miles away from my farm.
In a quieter moment, here’s a native plant that loves shade and moisture, wild ginger at the base of a Maple tree. I just love the shape of the leaves…
Here’s Sushi at the living room window, watching me and Willie do his exercises. (When I brought her in right after I took this I was concerned that she had a tick by her eye. See the black dot? But it was just a speck of dirt, so don’t worry if you noticed it too.)
Jeff says
I wish I could take my dog to work. It would sure make the day go by so much faster. Heck I might even stay and work longer. I know when I work from home I work longer. The main reason I try to leave work early is to get home to be with my boy. However, if he was there with me it would sure make me feel better. Unfortunately, he would be pretty bored and probably confined. He likes going out to public places, we do this all the time. Just work once you get past the initial greeting of everyone then he would just lay there while I worked on the computer. When I am working from home he roams the house, amuses himself and me, plays with toys and gets to go out when ever he wants and sometimes I even go outside with him and work while sitting on the deck. So I wonder myself which would make him happier, coming to work with me and doing nothing and being confined to the cube or being home alone. I like to think being home alone but with all his toys and stuff is what he would want rather than being stuck in a cube all day. I know I am not a fan of it.
suenosdeuomi says
On our walk just this morning, I marveled at what seemed to be an Australian Shepherd resting underneath an outdoor table where a potter was working outside the studio. None of the dogs put up their guards, it felt all so peaceful.
My clients come to my home occupied by 3 furry ones. At first I was very concerned, but my pups quickly learned to stay (mostly) calm and look forward to their treat with the client’s departure. Some clients with dogs of their own have made it a point to bring such a treat themselves. To my surprise I had no adverse reaction yet in 4 1/2 years.
matthew says
When I was reminded take your pet to work day was coming up, I joked it would be cool to have my dog at work with me. That I could train him to go get the disk I forgot to bring with me when I was helping a user or go back and fetch some other tool or item I forgot to bring with me. Maybe put a little vest on him and make it his job to carry some things for me around the office. .all not serious considerations at all. Why?
Nothing like putting a people reactive dog in a “target rich” environment to make for a completely miserable day for all concerned.
On the other hand, maybe I could get everyone else to take the day off…then I could enjoy a day at work with my dog… 😛
Debbie says
When I bring one of my girls to the office, it’s never for very long and only one at a time. I brought Lucy (Cocker rescue) last week. She loves people, but decided she needed to bark at everyone who came off the elevator and this is a busy office, and not conducive to barking. I spent most of my time feeding her tiny pieces of treats to distract her *before* she could hear the door open. It worked well. Of course real work didn’t get done, but I never expect to get much done when I bring in a pup.
I bring them in to work on their people manners, riding the elevator, and walking down different stairs. We say hello (literally, since that’s their verbal cue that a treat is coming) to every person who comes in. One or two hours at the most, then back home we go while we’re ahead of the game. We always end on a positive note.
I think the important thing is to know your dog’s limitations and stress them out when they’re in new situations.
I’m so sorry about Willie’s belly troubles and your friend’s cabin. I hope everyone is safe.
Alexandra says
Unfortunately for my dog, I am a civil engineer and can’t bring him to work at all. My office is in town hall, which prohibits pets, and when I’m not in the office I’m on construction sites which are very unsafe for even the best behaved dogs.
Roberta says
I work in a hospital so I can only take my dog who has qualified for Pet Therapy. I have none right now but had a wonderful Collie at one time; she would evoke terrific stories from older persons of the dogs they had had on their farms. One can never overtrain for a very strange environment as I am finding with Justus. Sushi is lovely :).
Beth says
My male would LOVE coming to work with me (though I don’t work somewhere that would ever allow it). He’s the one who lies down, back legs sprawled, chin on the floor, in the crowded day-room of a nursing home we sometimes visit (he’s certified through TDI) while a dozen dogs and twice that many people (many of them in wheel chairs) mill about. He’s also the one that rolled on his back, grunting with pleasure, in the grass on the first day of agility class while most of the other dogs were standing nervously near their people’s knees. The one problem? He absolutely knows that he is not to pee in the house, but wide-open indoor spaces seem to make him a bit confused and he will non-chalantly lift his leg on a corner if I don’t watch him like a hawk.
My girl would probably be great if it were just people. If there were lots of dogs she would be ok, but she would watch me with laser-eyes to see what was expected of her and so would probably be exhausted after an hour or so.
Still, I’m not sure it’s such a great idea to push this, since so many dogs might be a problem and so many owners would be caught off-guard because they did not expect it.
lin says
Years ago, Eileen Mitchell wrote a wry, funny piece, about sneaking her dog into her almost-empty workplace: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2004/12/18/HOGS8ACCND1.DTL I must say that that made me feel better about leaving my own dog at home (who would NOT have a good time surrounded by strange people)
Karissa says
I am fortunate to be able to take my dogs to work with me (to one of my jobs, at least). They have all been with me every day since the day I got them. It is great socialization for them, it’s the BEST way to potty train a puppy (vs. leaving them at home for 9 hours, at least!) and having your dog with you 24/7 really makes for a great bond.
I always work hard to socialize my young dogs because they have a lifetime of agility trials ahead of them — the office environment is definitely helpful for that sort of thing. The only negative I can think of is that if a negative behavior does crop up, it can sometimes be difficult to correct if you are in the middle of something important (barking when someone enters, for example). Also, I found that my dogs are prone to being rewarded for bad behavior if I let them have the run of the entire office — A baby gate at the door keeps them where I can watch & monitor them. I even have a long mirror propped against the wall so that I can see what they are doing in front of my desk — especially important when you have a young one to keep tabs on during potty training. 🙂
Because this routine is old hat for them, my dogs sleep or lay quietly at least 75% of the day. They always let me know when it’s time to go home, as that’s when the playtime begins and they start getting antsy. They have amazing internal clocks.
All this said, I would gather to say that 80% of the dogs I know would probably be annoying in an office environment. If your dog doesn’t get out of the house much, going to work will be a super stimulating and overly exciting experience. A dog has to have good “settling” skills to come to the office, otherwise they’ll just be a giant, whining pain in the butt to everyone there.
BTW, my other job is at an animal shelter and my dogs stay home when I work there. I’m sure I could bring one in an emergency, but why risk disease and honestly, I have my hands full already when I’m there. 😉
Kat says
Recently when I had my orange tabby, Meowzart, to the vet I learned that orange/ginger/red cats are like red-headed people and have very fair skin that freckles more and more as they age. One of my concerns for Meowzart was the spots around his eyes. Sushi’s photo made me think of that.
Ranger won’t be going to work on Friday. My husband is off that Friday and I’m off for the summer. If my husband was working that day and interested in having Ranger come to work we would have worked it out that I delivered Ranger during the lunch hour when husband and his friends walk. Ranger wouldn’t likely have a problem with any of the things he might encounter at the office but he would have a real problem with boredom. He’d also be fairly disruptive in the work place because as a registered therapy dog his job is to greet everyone–a responsibility he takes very seriously. Consequently, a place with lots of people where he is not supposed to greet everyone would be a very stressful environment. Add to that the fact that people cannot resist Ranger and even though he would be told not to greet them they’d still be coming to meet him. Probably not a good plan to have him there if the normal productivity of the office is to be maintained. Taking him in for the walking hour though would be a nice compromise. Joy of pet ownership exhibited in spades, exercise for him, and the freedom to greet anyone they meet on the walk.
Ranger will just have to wait until Sunday for his go to work day. We’ll be working WagFest answering questions about therapy dogs and PAWS of North Kitsap and Bainbridge Island. Ranger will be in his element.
Karen A says
I am lucky enough to take my dogs to work most days. I work at a College of Veterinary Medicine, and you should see the good therapy that they are to not only the Vet Students, but also to the clinic staff and faculty.
One of the things that I noticed when I first started was that people would stop when they saw the baby gate in the door and would talk to me, but they would be looking at the dog out of the corner of they eyes. As soon as I told them that she was healthy, and that they could pet her they were all over her.
The line for a dog fix is even bigger on exam days.
Stacie says
I work in Payroll for a University. Several years ago our offices were in an old dorm and things were a bit more relaxed. I used to bring one of my dogs in occasionally. Especially on the day before the Thanksgiving or Christmas Holidays when I would likely be the last one in a building open to the public with checks to be picked up. One year two men from ROTC showed up to pick a check. Morgon, my curly-coated Border Collie, had been lying under my desk, unseen. As I got up and went to get the check, she got up, followed me to the safe, came back with me and lay back down. One man turned to the other and said, “Now, that’s a good dog.” I also used to take an afternoon off around Halloween and bring all three of my dogs in their costumes for “trick or treating”. They were always a big hit!
stephanie says
I used to take my greyhound, Timber to the doctors office I worked in as a receptionist. He did really well at going everywhere with me, better in fact than if I left him at home. In addition to good manners, I trained him to perform tricks to entertain patients when they would come in. He had a sense of who wanted to visit with him and could tell if there were some patients that weren’t as into dogs and he would greet people accordingly. If I left him home for any reason, or if he spent the day with my partner instead of coming in, people would ask about him and he would be missed.
A couple of years later I worked as a field biologist on the Kootenai River and was allowed to bring my dog with me into the field. Rocky, my other greyhound would ride in the boat on the river with my co-worker and I and his company was always enjoyed. He enjoyed running around and seeing what there was to see while we collected data. It was a wonderful experience to bring him along.
I understand that not all work environments are conducive to bringing your dog to work. I’ve been working in a Lab for the last few years and obviously you can’t have dogs in that kind of environment.
I do agree that it is important for people to have well behaved dogs if they are going to come to work. Had I not taken the time to train my dogs and make sure they were comfortable and confident in all sorts of different environments they would have been very distracting and not conducive to the work environment. I would encourage anyone interested in taking their dog to work to take their dog with them where ever they go, whenever possible to ensure that their dog is comfortable and can exhibit self control in new situations.
Debbie Schoene says
I work in a very small office–4 people–that is a division of a medium-sized company and am fortunate that our manager wholeheartedly endorses bringing dogs to work. In fact, some days there are more furry occupants of the building than there are employees! The mgr. usually brings two with her and altho my “main” office dog is my female ACD mix, I sometimes have 2-3 Springers asleep under my desk as well. Another employee occasionally brings her Lab/BC mix while the fourth doesn’t care for dogs at all! The three of us are very conscious of her general wariness of dogs so we make sure none of them pester her and there have been no problems. When interviewing candidates for job openings, it’s made very clear that the dogs are an integral part of the work environment and we’ve discovered that most consider it a perk…our most recent hire turned down a better paying job in favor of the atmosphere we had created. We are not an office that has client/public traffic…..if we were, I think having as many 4-leggeds around as we do might pose some problems. All of the dogs interact appropriately and other than the excitement caused by the occasional appearance of the UPS guy, are wonderful office-mates. I really like being able to reach down at any time and give my dog a scratch and I love the fact that they are getting more attention and stimulation than if they were home alone all day. I wish more companies were willing (and able) to offer this to their employees.
Michelle McConnell says
Wonderful points to ponder. As co-owner of a Natural Pet Store my dogs come to work almost every day…but there are days where they are tired and either stay in the back office and sleep or stay home. One of the store dogs is nicknamed “Wiggles” by our customers because of her greeting style and customers ask for her when she is not here. I do, however, have 2 other dogs who I know would stress at the store and I would not be comfortable with them here. You have to putthe dogs well-being first and dont just selfishly take your dog to work because you can.
We are in South Florida – Send rain please!
Debbie Schoene says
I meant to add that I loved your recounting of Luke erupting while on the air with “Calling All Pets”…..I must have missed that show! What a hoot!
Jessica says
I wish I could bring one of my dogs to work, I have a few that would cherish being here. Unfortunately I work for a large corporation that makes people jump through hoops just to bring a service dog in.
Alison says
When I visit businesses I love to see comfortable, well mannered dogs. Not all dogs are cut out for it though and not all places are appropriate to have a dog.
I would love to bring my dogs to work if I worked somewhere it was appropriate to bring a dog (not a hospital kitchen). It would depend on the environment though. New places are not a problem, but new people might be.
If I was in a place where only my co-workers were coming and going, I could introduce the dogs to each person and they’d be fine. But in a place where there were new people coming and going all the time (like a retail store), I don’t think my dogs would do well. My lab/Rottweiler mix has a tendency to lean his whole 80 lbs on people (nearly knocking them over) with his overly enthusiastic greeting. My Border Collie doesn’t like to be touched by people she doesn’t know (neither do I) and takes a while to warm up to new people. She prefers to sniff them, then ignore them or watch them from a distance for a while, then maybe if she deems them ok, she might bring them a ball, lick them or put her head in their lap. Dog savvy people usually understand and either ignore her or greet her from a distance, but out in public, there are a lot of people who seem to think every dog should want to be pet by every person.
There are a few hardware and farm supply stores around here that have a cat roaming the store. I like seeing the cats, and I’m sure they help keep mice away, but I always wonder what people with severe cat allergies think of this.
Laura says
Take Your Dog to Work Day has to be my least favorite day of the year. I use a service dog to navigate the wider world and most of the time we get along great. But if we go out on Friday i guarantee we will encounter two or more poorly behaved, untrained pets who were brought to work.
Gypsy will do her best to ignore rude dogs, and I will do my best to protect her from them. I want to remind people that not every dog out in the world WANTS to make friends with their dog. And not every dog is friendly! So when I am walking through your business with my service dog and your dog comes towards us, when I call out “Control your dog, please!” the correct response is NOT “Oh, it’s okay, she’s friendly.”
Please also remember that your dog is your responsibility when you have him or her at work with you. This means that you need to make sure your dog is confined to your space (leash or baby gate or closed door). When you have your dog with you on a leash, keep your dog close. Those extend-o-leashes that wind out and wind back are NOT acceptable. Use a regular leash 6′ or less and keep track of where your dog is in relation to you. If you see someone with a service dog, please call out to them, “I have a dog here. I’m at your 2-o-clock.” That way if they are blind or did not see you first they are aware of you and can avoid you and your dog.
I really do like the IDEA of bring your dog to work day, I just feel like it takes a little bit of preparation and a little bit of common sense. If you make sure your dog can handle being out in the wider world, and then ensure your dog is safe to the public and safe FROM the public everyone can have a great time.
Deanna in OR says
I’m sitting here in my university office, wishing a student would come to visit during my office hours. My border collie, Tenaya, is illegally laying quietly next to me. “Illegally” because animals are not allowed in campus buildings. But our other dog is at the vet all day, it’s too warm to leave her in the car, my husband (who often works at home) is out of town, and Tenaya is just unpredictable if she is left home completely alone…I’ve come home to chewed door-frames more than once. So here she is with me, for a couple of hours this afternoon, keeping me company while I prepare for next weeks’ classes.
Tenaya is used to being out and about, loves people, and has an excellent down-stay, so I can get away with this, once in a great while. I have an office door that I can close (although it is open now for my office hours). I have brought one or the of my dogs to my office at night or on weekends, when I had to work, to feel more secure, but only rarely during the day. I wish I could bring them more often.
I do keep a careful eye on Tenaya when someone enters my office, mainly so that she doesn’t mug them for attention!
But it’s definitely not appropriate for every work situation, especially in more open office environments, and depending on the dog (and the human).
Sharon says
I only bring my dog to the office if I have to work on the weekends. Going to new places isn’t too bad, but meeting new people is tough for her. Unfortunately, it’s a very difficult thing for me to practice, as I know very few people who not only are willing and able to meet my non-gregarious dog, but to follow my instructions on greeting her.
I always love getting to meet other people’s dogs, though.
Patrice says
Oh, how I wish I could bring my dog to work. But I work in a very corporate environment crammed with cubicles, and there is no space, literally or figuratively, for a dog.
But decades ago, I worked the night shift in a pre-press plant as a job planner. My desk was well away from the machinery, and there was hardly anyone else around. I brought my dog sometimes. For breaks, I’d walk and she’d run up and down the long carpeted hallways. It was heaven to have her there.
There was no official policy about pets, but I’m pretty sure that if I’d asked permission, they’d have said no. So I didn’t ask, and I didn’t do it very often.
Jen says
While on one hand I would love to be able to take my Doberman, Elka, to work with me at the library, on the other hand I know it would take time to first acclimate her to the library building itself and all of its smells and sounds, and also to acclimate her to the constant stream of people throughout the day.
A lot of people address Dog Manners from the human end of things; i.e., what society expects of your dog when he or she is out in the world. Society, unfortunately, does not expect said dog to have feelings on the matter (though if you’re lucky enough to travel in Dog Person circles, that’s changed, obviously).
Of course, another problem I would address while taking my Doberman to the work is the assumption that she is obviously a vicious killer. Granted, it would make patrons a lot nicer to us when they are informed that they have overdue fines!
NG says
Many stories of taking your dog to work follow the pattern that’s described above. Dog comes to work, dog flips out at some point, no dogs at work policy is created. So I have the opposite one. My company, that shall remain nameless, had a no dogs at work policy and I, well, had a dog who needed to come to the office with me once a week due to a scheduling issue. So I decided to go along the lines of “better to ask for forgiveness than permission”. My dog is very well trained (multiple obedience titles) and comfortable and quiet in a crate. I brought his show crate and put it under my desk (thankfully I had a hard wall office). We came and left through the back door, and during the day he stayed in the crate, with some breaks to go outside and train. Of course my co-workers knew he was there, but he was so quiet and well behaved, that nobody cared. It helped that any time he was seen outside, he was heeling on a loose leash next to me, or working on obedience exercises. This lasted about a year, at which point it was pretty much a given that we have a dog in the office. Then another person did the same: dog, well trained, quiet, in a crate. Then several more. By the time this got up to the “not-so-understanding” HR department, we’ve gone several years with bringing dogs into the building with absolutely no problems. At that point, it was requested that we have the official dog policy, which became “yes you can bring a well-trained, well-behaved dog that you manage at all times.”
What is my point in all of this? That bringing a well-behaved dog in public can actually produce a benefit of better dog access for everyone. Yes, it is a lot of work to manage your dog at work. In particular you can never disengage from scanning the environment to make sure the dog does not have “an incident”. But I think many (especially non-dog) people have the knee-jerk reaction that dogs belong in back yards or dog parks. Seeing more dogs out in public can have a benefit for everyone.
Donna says
I totally agree with what you are saying; some dogs are “homebodies” and a chaotic work environment would not suit them, they would rather be at home on the couch. I was just at a “Horse Camp” which granted wasn’t a work environment, but which made me think how annoying other people’s dogs can be around horses, and I was glad they were not permitted although I missed my own dogs fiercely!
One place that I have really enjoyed dogs is in hair salons. I have gone to some specifically because I enjoy the resident dogs, two of them have had Italian Greyhounds who have obviously enjoyed the environment and the people, and are treated with great consideration by everyone.
I also recently toured the AKC offices in Raleigh, where lots of employees had x-pens around their cubicles and had their dog with them. That seemed to be a great situation for dogs and people.
But I can certainly imagine it would not work for either the people or the dogs if the dogs were stressed, (and plenty would not be happy campers, either because of inadequate preparation and training or basic temperament) or were allowed to be annoying because of clueless owners.
Rebecca C. says
Most average dog owners I know should probably not take their dogs to work without significant work. Heck, I worked at Petco for a few months and a significant number of people who take their dogs into pet supply stores probably shouldn’t (good place to proof behaviors though, imo). I can’t even count the number of snappy little purse dogs that tried to take my elbows or fingers off while I was scanning items.
I know neither of my dogs would be happy to go to work with me. One of them would be fine, he’d curl up and relax all day with a kong, but he’s reactive to strangers (so that’s a big fat NO). The other would harass people to play ball all day. He settles down around us just fine, but strangers randomly (to him) reinforce him by throwing the ball so he has trouble settling around one when the possibility of playing is there.
By the way, your cat is GORGEOUS.
Jess says
I took my 3 1/2-year old Aussie girl to work and she slept all day at my feet. I made sure to tire her out at the park before coming into work, and I take her out into the world every chance I get, so I think we were set up for success. Since the age of ~4 months we’ve gone to the beach, hiking, road trips, parks, errands, camping, walking around our busy downtown neighborhood, herding and anywhere else I could take her, so she is used to many varied situations and people. It was awesome having her at work with me and I would love to do it again.
Donna and the Dogs says
Great post. Another thought is, even if a dog has been comfortable going to the office before, if everyone brings their dogs on the same day – the dogs might not be comfortable with one another.
Jacqui Naud says
Fortunately, I’m retired. My “work” is my dogs. They are with me all the time I’m at home and even come with my on errands when those errands are to place where I can bring them. Before I retired, I worked for the State of California. “They” would not allow pets inside the building with the exception of seeing-eye/therapy dogs. The reason given was that some people are allergic to dogs and others simply don’t like them. Frankly, my dogs would have been bored silly in my office. I know I was. Our day starts with a 3 mile walk, then a trip to the local dog-park for some serious ball throwing. Then it’s breakfast time, play time, and lots of naps. Another walk in the afternoon, and that’s a dogs’ day.
ABandMM says
Unfortunately, now that I work on a Medical campus, I can’t bring my dog to work with me, even on weekends. When I worked in a university setting (undergrad/grad, with a big campus) I would sometimes bring my dog to work. This was usually at night and on weekends and when I had an office separate from the research lab and would be working on my computer. Both the dogs that I have had were very good in public and meeting both people and dogs. I made sure they had a good walk so that they would lie down on their mat and take a nap. As someone mentioned above, when I brought my dog to work, we would ride the elevators, go up and down the stairs and walk on the different types of flooring (linolium, concrete, floors with grating and metal surfaces).
A few times, I did have to bring my dog up into my office during the day, usually due to Vet appointment. Well, I look at it this way.. colleagues often brought their kids to work when the kids were sick, had a snow day or they otherwise didn’t have kid care. This wasn’t much different in my book.
The best situation I had was when doing corn research in OR and our corn field was fenced in. I brought my girl “Morgan the Corn Dog” to work with me and that was about 5 straight weeks of being outside all day long in the sunshine walking up and down rows of corn doing the pollinations. Morgan would dig these mini “trenches” every six or so rows. That way she could be cool lying in the dirt and watch me as I did my work. The pictures I have of her out in the cornfield with me are my favorites and she was such a happy dog.
Fortunately, my dogs are very comfortable being out in public. But I do agree, people need to be honest about their dog’s temperament and really think about the dog’s comfort level in public (and very unfamiliar) places.
Khris Erickson says
I’m a humane educator at an animal shelter and part of the job is visits off site to day care centers, schools and other facilities. People scheduling programs with me almost always want me to bring an animal, and when I first started 7 years ago I knew that it wouldn’t be a good idea to bring a shelter dog into that kind of environment, nor would it be fair to the dog. So I brought my dog Holly with me to work on the days when I had off site visits scheduled.
Holly was born to do that kind of work. She adored kids and wasn’t phased by anything they might do. My biggest problem with her during programs was that while I was presenting to the kids she’d creep away from me to go lie down in front of the kids for petting. Unfortunately she was extremely stressed at work in my office and became very anxious if I left my office for even a few minutes.
I ended up getting a puppy (because I wanted one, not for work), and leaving Holly at home. And, as a previous poster said bringing a puppy to work makes housetraining very easy. Mystic came to work with me every day, and his socialization consisted of coming out for 5 minutes almost every day to say hi and get treats from kids in scout troops that had come to the shelter for a tour.
Mystic is now 7 years old and he adores children. He comes to work with me every day and goes on most of the off-site visits that I do, and is the summer camp mascot. And because he was raised coming to work he is no trouble at all — he had learned that when I’m busy at my desk his job is to lay in his crate and be quiet. He’s a favorite of the other staff and when they come into my office to talk to me they spend our entire conversation petting him. My other dog comes to work as well, and it was a bit more of an adjustment for her since she wasn’t used to it — but she’s adapted and spends most of her day sleeping under my desk.
I don’t think it’s harder to get work done because my dogs are there — sometimes it actually gets me to take a break when I probably need one. And it does make it more likely that I’ll stay at work later since I don’t have to rush home to let the dogs out — although maybe that’s the downside….
Melissa says
I work from home, so my dogs are always with me. I miss them terribly if I have to go out for the day. I would say I get less work done than I would if I worked in at uni without them, but having said that, I probably get more done overall because in an office I always spend more time chatting to people than I do to my dogs at home. I love it, despite the fact my younger dog seems to think that when it’s just me at home he should be extra vigilant.
I have taken them to an office a couple of times and they cope very well, but it’s hard to work when you’re forever trying to keep an eye on them in case they annoy someone or get up to wickedness. It’s true that you never can tell what’s going to happen. I was walking the dogs in one of our regular spots yesterday when someone turned up with a remote control helicopter. It hovered over the dogs’ heads and they watched, transfixed, as it slowly set down not 2 metres away. As it happened, neither barked at it and Erik just badly needed to poke it and once he’d done that he was happy to just watch. I thought he would have gone off his nut. And this morning we were at our local dog park and there were some people doing work on the other side of the swamp that borders one side of it. Erik felt this was highly irregular and spent several minutes keeping them in his sight and giving us a loud running commentary on what they were doing. The other dog checked it out and decided they were legit and lost interest after that. It’s fascinating what matters to them. One day when I have my doctorate and loads of research money I’m going to study how dogs categorise visual stimuli.
Luna says
Yes, I bring my pup to work. And yes, it can be very stressful. I work on a farm which pre-dog seemed to be the perfect life for a dog. “Oh wow.” I thought “Luna will spend her days lying lazily under a tree and while I am out working in the fields.” Turns out that she WANTS to spend her days eating compost, digging holes, playing with the other dogs in the middle of the veggie fields, chasing the tractor, greeting every single visitor to the farm with loud barks etc. Yes, we are working on ALL of this. My beloved pup is a little over one now and still not “lounging under the trees with her friends.” Instead, every day we arrive at work and go on a romp in a safe area away from the fields with the other farm pups and then she goes inside for most of the work day except for bathroom breaks and occasional walks. While it is not what I imagined (yet) it is wonderful to be able to go for a lunch time walk, let her out to go to the bathroom when needed, stay late at work and not worry that the house is destroyed and more importantly have my best friend with me in the car ride to and from work.
Any suggestions would be much appreciated. Especially, how to teach a dog to stay out of fields. She understands the concept but she and the other farm dog (who is about 1.5 years old) just get too rambunctious together and forget where their little paws are in the excitement of playing. I guess I just need to wait another year or so for them to mellow out a bit.
AnneJ says
Well, I am at home all the time, so it’s no issue for the dogs to be with me all day, but I do have to give them practice going to public places so they see more than just the farm. Sometimes I take them to visit my husband at work at lunch time- he’s a vet- but he would never take a dog with him because he’s got too much to do and they would just sit in a kennel.
Erin says
I love taking my dogs to school with me. As Guide Dogs in Training, we start going out together right from the beginning. I have to agree its all about the prep work and having a back up plan. Whenever one of my dogs comes with me, my backpack always has more things for them than for me, and my cellphone is with me and charged as my backup plan. So far, my dogs have all been ready for their first day of work and I’ve only had to use my back up plan once (when the puppy I had with me went into heat during our first class!) I am certainly missing taking them with me now as I work at a shelter and taking them with me would present a large disease risk.
chloe De Segonzac says
I take my dog Baruch with me to work unless it is very hot outside and I’m on a job where she will be more comfortable waiting in the truck. She is a Border Collie who is very noise sensitive and miserable if one of the sounds that scare her is present. She considers the truck a refuge, so have every dog I have owned in the last 20 years, because they spend a lot of time there starting from the first day I get them. I have removed the passenger seat and padded the floor. She has a round bed behind my seat, and a dog water bowl at the ready. I have two jobs. I am a landscape gardener, and a pet sitter/walker. A couple of my regular dogs also come to work with me–the dogs who intergrade into my pack easily. Most of the time they are just tied up on people’s porches, or under a tree. One Border Collie/Aussie, Savvy is off leash and always keeps track of me. I was raised in France and we like our dogs to come along as much as possible. Very good manners is a must though.
Amanda & the Mutts says
My puppy came to work with me every day from 9 weeks until he stayed home for the first time at about 5 months of age. I work nights, I’m the only one there for the majority of my shift, and I live in an apartment where an upset puppy who needs to potty while I’m at work will not be well received by the neighbors. At the very end of my shift my boss comes to the office and she regularly commented on how amazed she was that he would just quietly sleep next to me all night.
I don’t like expecting a puppy to “hold it” for very long when left at home, so this was my primary reason for bringing him at first. A really nice side effect is that he learned from day one what it meant when “Mama needs to work” and it’s time to chill out, lay down, and be quiet. He is a HUGE Mama’s boy and it makes him very happy just to be able to be near me as much as possible.
Now that’s he’s older, even when he does come to work with me I prefer to leave him in the car for most of the time (if it’s cool enough) because having him sleep on my dirty office floor stains his hocks and elbows and I don’t really enjoy trying to get the stains out to show him. (My office is in a sort of warehouse-type building so even if it’s swept regularly it’s always dirty.) In winter, he’ll be happier coming with and sleeping in the nice cold car than in the house. (He’s a Samoyed)
If I worked in an office with lots of people, I would be far less likely to bring my dog. I am also extremely wary of other people’s dogs because I am not interested in somebody’s poorly trained/behaved dog making a bag experience for mine so I probably wouldn’t bring my dog much if other dogs I didn’t know well were there. (for this same reason I almost always go to the local dog park at sunrise when nobody else is there)
My other two dogs have come to work with me once or twice through the years and they think it’s the dumbest idea I have ever come up with. Not only is it exceptionally boring, but the floor is MUCH harder than the couch at home, and every time I have to go check something in another office or get up to get something out of the filing cabinet I wake them up. Coming to work with me is just too much work. 🙂
Lisa W says
My first dog came with me everywhere. Back then, I worked at a university pottery studio and she was the studio dog. She was so used to being out and about, nothing phased her. But, the university decided to institute a no dog policy, and I decided to open my own studio, so Sadie and I still got to go to work together.
My next two dogs were studio dogs until I decided to switch tracks and get a job in an office setting. Eventually, they got to go to work with me when I worked in a place with an office at the end of the hall, and we made a custom gate to block the hallway just outside my door so they had my office space and could lie in the hall and see who was coming and going. It took a little acclimation at first, but both of them settled into being really good office dogs. The only problem was a co-worker’s dog and one of my dogs decided they were true enemies. We kept them apart and tried to let each other know when the dogs were coming to work (although that wasn’t always successful). Luckily, she worked upstairs so the dogs were physically separated. On the days when my dogs came with me, I worked longer and worried less.
I tried to take one of my current dogs to work with me at my last office job. I did it on a day when there would be few people around, and she could get used to things. She is super friendly, a little anxious, and gets a little over-excited. She did pretty well except when it was time to leave. There were two sets of steep stairs going down and she looked at them and froze (she bounded up the stairs going in). No amount of coaxing could get her to take a step. No going out and coming back to the top, no bribes, no watching me go down and back up, nothing. She had never responded this way before, she has stairs at home and in general, is always ready for the next adventure. I picked her up to carry her down the stairs but was afraid she would flip out on the way down and hurt herself or me (she’s 50+ pounds)! Luckily, a co-worker had a collapsible wire crate, and we put Phoebe in the crate and the two of us carried her down.
When we got our current second dog, taking her to work for a few hours every now and then was part of her socialization therapy. While never totally relaxed, she did learn to settle and had many friends and admirers.
I now have my own business and work from home, which suits us all much better.
Katy says
Being a college professor, summer is my time off, though I probably will go into the lab to do some research tomorrow. When I am doing lab work, I don’t bring the dogs, but when I am teaching, I sometimes do bring one of the dogs. Both my dogs have been well-socialized, brought into public situations frequently, and I started by bringing them in on weekends or in the summer for just an hour or two. Last semester, because we were training as hospice volunteers on Fridays, I had Yuki in once a month for the entire day. The dogs are both boundary trained, so I can have them in my office off-leash without worrying. Claire tucks herself under my desk and naps, while Yuki lays in the doorway and watches people. I bring a towel to lecture and after he greets each of my students, Yuki just plops himself on the towel and sleeps. The students love having him. He gets lots of attention before and after class. I also will have students come to my office just to see him, because they are missing their family pets or are having a stressful day.
Sometimes I even use the dogs in my animal behavior class, to demonstrate certain behaviors. Two years ago, I had all my colleagues bring their dogs in (the biology dept has more dogs than faculty) so we could replicate the inequity aversion experiment; since all the dogs are well-behaved and familiar with one another, it was a great use of resources and a great excuse to have the building full of dogs.
The only time there has ever been a problem was when one of the non-science profs visited our building with his (ill-trained) dog. I refused to let Yuki meet his dog because it was little and exciting, which I knew would make Yuki’s head explode with desire to play. The guy was a little upset that I wouldn’t let them meet and then his dog went nuts, barking and lunging, which was very disruptive since classes were in session.
Gretchen says
As a dog walker, I’m lucky that my dog, Rubin, comes to work with me as my dog dog walking partner every day. I also have an evening job as a swim and massage therapist for dogs (www.wellspringsk9.com) and while he can certainly come to work with me at the pool, I’ve learned that after a long day of walking and playing with our dog clients, he needs 1) some down time and rest and 2) some time away from me.
Rubin is a nervous boy — wound tight as it were — and exercise has helped him stay more calm and relaxed most of the time. He’s also very attached to me and his anxiety can sky-rocket at times, especially if the routine changes too much. For instance, while I’m working in the pool with another dog and he is waiting for me in the office, he gets very upset and has a hard time settling down in his kennel. I feel it’s better for him to stay home for a few hours without me (my partner comes home from work and they go out for a walk and hang out together) then to put him in a situation where he is anxious.
Previously, I was a middle school teacher and I was lucky enough to be able to take him to work with me there, too. But odd behaviors developed. He became very protective of my students (whom he LOVED) and when a “stranger” entered the room, he barked. I kept him on a leash and often assigned one student or another to be with him, which he liked, but he always kept his eye on me and had a hard time relaxing with all the activity in the room. Students running down the hall outside the classroom made him jump out of his skin (mine too!) and if I left the room without him, he whined until I returned. He got better as the year progressed, but still there was a level of anxiety if the day was hectic (which, let’s face it, is commonplace in a middle school).
There were times, though, when he’d lie under the desk of one student or another, resting his head on their feet while the students quietly worked and this is when, I believe, he was the most content. He’d often choose a student who was the most “in need” — having a rough day, sad or upset, or often the student who was the least popular — to spend time with. While it was, overall, a great experience for everyone involved, I didn’t take him every day because it was emotionally exhausting for him at times, depending on what was happening in the room.
Which is, I suppose, my position on taking your dog to work — if it can help everyone relax and stay productive (including the dog), then I think it’s a great idea. If not, why stress out a dog to mark a human-constructed day?
Donna in VA says
In the past I have brought my sheltie to work with me. I got less done because he seems to get bored and whiny – although we took a break at mid-day and he had his Kong. I have my own office and was able to block the lower part of the door with a wire roll-around filing drawer. Max was very well behaved at the office although he might occasionally bark if I left him to go to the copier or such. If I had an unexpected meeting, I had to find someone to handle him since he would bark if left alone. I started by bringing him to the office on Saturday for a few hours when nobody else was around, so he became familiar with the office layout, all the rooms, the elevator. He is used to being in all sorts of public places but does not really want to interact with strangers. However he quickly learned who had treats and where they were kept and would go off in search of these women if he heard their voices and I granted him temporary freedom.
In the spring, someone else in the office adopted a small dog, which she brings with her every day (she works half’-days.) It was decided that one dog in the office is enough and so I have not brought mine to work since then. However he is quite fine at home and we get plenty of other exposures to public places on a regular basis.
em says
When we first brought Otis home, it was three weeks before the end of the semester. I was working mostly from home, but I had one day of teaching that only involved two actual hours in class, but would have meant spending seven or so hours out of the house (including travel time and gaps between classes). This was troubling because Otis was new, not fully housebroken (not accident-prone, but not accustomed to long stretches without a break) or crate-trained, recovering from entropion surgery and had to be prevented from scratching at his eyes.
Fortunately, since I worked at a large, at that point dog-friendly university campus, I was able to take a chance that paid off, and brought him to class with me, fully intending to pass him to one of my wonderful between-classes colleagues if he caused too much trouble. I caused quite a stir, striding through the halls with a great dane in one hand and a big fluffy blanket in the other, but people were overwhelmingly happy to see him and his quiet, calm, not-too-nosy demeanor put dog-uncomfortable people at ease. He was so low -energy at that point that all I had to do was spread the blanket on the floor where I wanted him to go and he’d be on it almost before it hit the ground. He’d lie quietly behind me at the front of the room, surprisingly undistracting for a giant live animal, while I taught.
Score! I thought, I have the best behaved dog in the whole world! By the third and last week, though, he was feeling better and getting much more challenging to manage. He seemed to really like going to class, and certainly loved travelling around campus basking in the adoration of his many admirers, but he no longer wanted to nap, he wanted to mingle, and that WAS distracting. I could always tell when he stood up behind me (he’s stunningly quiet when he moves) because I could see twenty pairs of eyes following his motion. Who wants to discuss Gelasian Doctrine when you’ve got a DOGGIE to watch? I could sympathize, but it wasn’t ideal. We pulled it off (barely), and finished the semester before he became irrepressible. My current campus is less dog-friendly, but even if it weren’t, I would only bring him in if I don’t actually need to do any real teaching, not so much because he won’t behave, but because asking him to do so isn’t really fun for him, and my students can’t concentrate when he’s there. Otis COULD come to work with me, but I doubt either he or I would really enjoy it. Since I seldom need to leave him alone for long stretches, I just don’t bother. Sandy would be out of the question. She LOVES people but she is SO excited by them that if she can’t greet and circulate, she’d be miserable, not just bored.
I also wonder, given prevailing cultural norms, people who prefer not to interact with dogs in public or in their workplaces always feel comfortable expressing that preference. A year after his stint as teaching assistant, the university where Otis and I taught actually passed a no-dogs policy prohibiting faculty from bringing non-service dogs into campus buildings. Several professors had done so for years, so I wonder how they reacted, but the policy cited not just health and safety concerns as I might have expected. (I love seeing dogs out and about, but my first reaction years ago when I heard about Bring Your Dog to Work Day was to think, ‘How impractical! What about people allergic to dogs? Afraid of dogs? Many if not most workplaces can’t be conducive to the presence of dogs…”) I asked my students before I brought Otis into a large, well-ventilated room and I never let him get within twenty feet of them uninvited, but I was aware, in the back of my mind, that a student who DID object might be in an uncomfortable position. The memo also mentioned that the decision had been made for reasons of cultural sensitivity, that students and faculty from some ethnic and religious traditions objected to the presence of dogs in their classrooms or workplaces, and that dogs would henceforth be prohibited at least partly out of respect for their feelings.
I love seeing dogs when I go about my day. My favorite is probably my dentist’s. Her practice is adjoined to her home, so it’s more practical than it might be for other medical offices, but I love having Cocoa the chocolate lab keep me company as I wait in the torture-chair. Bringing dogs into the workplace can be fantastic, and in ideal conditions, I’d like to see it more, but it seems that there are lots of complicating factors to consider on both sides.
Lisa says
I have to support the idea that you pay attention to what your dog wants. I’m the second owner for a lovely dog, and when I first got him I was so happy that I could bring him to work with me to make the transition easier. And I was lucky, he’s both very people oriented and somewhat shy so while he’s open to being approached he seldom approaches on his own, and is not at all reactive to strangers. Then I changed jobs, and he couldn’t come to work with me any more. He seemed fine with a vigor0us off-leash game in the morning, followed by a Kong and amusing himself by watching the world go by out the living room window, followed by second game when I got home. After about a year of the new routine I had a chance to bring him with me to work at my new job. He was his normal self with the co-workers, happy to hang at my feet under the desk and happy to say hi if someone wanted to meet him and play a little game of tug rope. But after about 2 hours he kept trying to leave my office and go lie down by the outside door. He couldn’t have been more clear – this place was OK but he really wanted to be home watching the squirrels.
KellyK says
I did have a coworker bring his puppy in once. While the cuteness was appreciated, the fact that he peed on the floor wasn’t.
I know taking my dog to work wouldn’t fly at my job. It is a pretty quiet office, so I think she’d do okay. As shy as she is, though, I wouldn’t want to subject her to new people and a new place all day long.
Now, if I were working a couple hours before heading off on a vacation where we were taking her, I might see if I could bring her in. Likewise, if we had some outdoor after-work event, like a picnic.
KellyK says
I think that if you want to take a dog to work, you need to really carefully plan how you will get stuff done in the dog’s presence. It will definitely seem unprofessional and irritate everyone around you if you aren’t getting work done because you’re dealing with the puppy dog.
If you’ve worked from home at least a few times, you might have a better idea. (I’ve done that on occasion, and having the dog sleeping at my feet is a great way to work. Until she started snoring and my coworkers thought *I* had fallen asleep in a phone conference!)
carmen says
Great article! I am a college professor and take all 4 of my small dogs to work (one at a time, of course). The students invariably comment on it in person or on the evaluations, saying how it makes them feel relaxed and lifts their mood. However, I always ask permission from the class first and say that I won’t bring them if anyone lets me know it’s not comfortable for them. They are attention hogs, though and love being petted and loved by the students, especially my american eskimo and my bichon mix. I arrive at class early so that they can pet them and the novelty wears off a little, and then I feel like we still get the same amount done.
Others at my college have started bringing theirs as well. Students love it. A few other professors don’t like dogs, but I never have mine off leash or allow them to approach anyone without permission, so even the ones that aren’t dog people have told me it’s ok with them. I think college is a great place for dogs.
Amanda & the Mutts says
It’s interesting to see all the comments by university professionals. UW Green Bay completely bans dogs (with the exception of service dogs, of course). I could not even take my dog for a walk there. They have an absolutely beautiful arboretum there with many trails and in my 5 years of attendance I almost never used it b/c I could not walk with my dogs. Such a shame.
chloe De Segonzac says
A little ad on to what EM said. Dogs at the dentist. What a relief for me who is so scared in that chair. being able to rest my hand on the back of my last dentist’s whippet. I loved loved it. that’s where retired/rescued greyhounds should go! I had something to look forward to.
JJ says
from a previous post: “…reasons of cultural sensitivity, that students and faculty from some ethnic and religious traditions objected to the presence of dogs in their classrooms or workplaces, and that dogs would henceforth be prohibited at least partly out of respect for their feelings. ”
I am so curious what those ethnic and religious traditions might be. I’ve never heard of such a thing. I’ve heard of individuals who are not comfortable around dogs. I’ve never heard of a religion that is anti-dog.
Warning, blunt talk: I’m a huge supporter of being tolerant and respectful of other ethnic and religious traditions – UP TO A POINT. The only thing I could think the above quote might refer to (and I’d like to be educated if I’m wrong) is countries where (thousands? hundreds of thousands of?) dogs are treated and eaten like Americans do veal animals. If that is the cultural area the college was trying to respect, I see no reason to do so any more than I respect Americans/American culture on the issue of cows. (I am American. The point here is that I’m not exempting my own culture.) Heck, let’s bring dogs *and* calves to work. 😉 Let’s worry more about increasing human sensitivity to unnecessary animal suffering than being sensitive to horrifying cultural norms. If bringing a dog to work helped someone from such a disadvantaged culture change their mind, that would be a good thing.
JJ says
A bit off topic, but: On the subject of college students really needing dog-time: Our local humane society does a fund raiser by bringing shelter dogs to the college campus one afternoon and renting them out for 15? minute intervals.
I’m assuming they pick dogs who would enjoy this. I know that the students totally love it. While some people may be nervous around dogs, lots of studies show the benefits of having furry creatures around. I think that over-all, it is a public good – as long as the dogs are OK.
Susan S. says
I took a Weimaraner to work five or six days a week for 31 years, three sequential dogs. They were shop dogs: greeters, companions, & very friendly security dogs, although potential robbers & shoplifters must not have known that. They could duck back into the office if they felt uncomfortable, & we kept the front door open five or six months a year, (Wisconsin weather kept it closed much of the time), so they could wander out & sleep in the sun on the sidewalk. Occasionally one would come shooting in to hide behind the counter just before a day care class would pass the store, or a woman pushing a double stroller, or a mechanical sidewalk sweeper, or an unfriendly dog. They had the responsibility of staying around & behaving well & the freedom to approach or escape whatever or whoever passed by or came in. They all became bombproof before long & we were extremely proud of them. It was a situation not unlike the ones Temple Grandin evokes from her past, when dogs were allowed to make their own decisions & reactive dogs were rare.
Janelle says
I worked in an office that allowed dogs. Several people brought in their dogs, maybe once a month, and it was fun. One guy had a Corgi puppy, and decided to bring her in every day. He blocked off his cubicle, but she often got out and ran around. She also made noise constantly. After about a month of this, we got notice that we were now a “no dogs allowed” office.”
I also worked in an office where a gal brought in two young kittens and kept them in her cubicle, kitty litter and all. They lived there about a week, until the manager found out and kicked them out.
Angela says
I brought my BC Dax to work starting at 9 weeks – I agree with everyone who said that was helpful for house-breaking and crate training. I’m also a university professor, and my office is in a sparsely populated hallway, with only a handful of dog-loving grad students as neighbors. I could count on their enthusiastic help to take care of puppy Dax if I had to step out of the office for a few minutes. Bringing him to campus was also amazing for his socialization. Ian Dunbar’s puppy book recommends having your puppy meet 100 people in the first month. Not a problem with the undergrad guys in my lab volunteering to take Dax out for potty breaks in between classes, where they could count on attracting gaggles of undergrad girls to fuss over the cute puppy 🙂
Dax looooves all people now!
I still try to take him to work when I don’t have a lot of meetings out of my office.
It was also important to us to be able to take him to outdoor restaurants and other public places (our much older dog is extremely well mannered in such places), so we’ve been working on that as well since he was very little. We usually take dog dinner in a kong, or some sort of chew treat to encourage good settling behavior. We have a well behaved 2 year old at this point, and our dogs are welcomed by name at our favorite restaurants.
Sharon says
@JJ : “from a previous post:
Jodi says
I’m a special education teacher and take my dog, Lexa, to work. It’s amazing! I adopted Lexa, a wirehaired dachshund/schnauzer cross when she was 11 months old and started taking her to school immediately. Because I have a quiet classroom with no more than 5 or 6 students at a time, Lexa was able to get comfortable with the environment fairly quickly. Now she’s over 2 and she can’t wait to get to school in the morning! She lies on her bed most of the day waiting for the next person to come in and interact with her, which happens frequently since my classroom is a revolving door for students and staff. There’s a beanbag chair next to her bed for students to read, calm down, or take a break with her. I also utilize her to teach empathy and perspective taking to students with challenges in social awareness. She comes 4 days a week and gets a day off on Wednesdays to go to doggy daycare. Even dogs need a day off!
It was challenging for me to get work done for the first little while, but she seems to have figured out when it’s work time or play time for me. Lexa has a calm but upbeat temperament and lives for affection, so this has been an ideal job for her. She has just as important a job as I do! One challenge has been that she sometimes barks when she sees or hears people in the hall or outside the window. She has a fairly strong guarding instinct, and it’s been challenging to thwart since I’m busy teaching or meeting when she’s doing it and can’t take the time to work on it. She also loves jumping on people to greet them, which I could train out of her fairly easily, but I can’t train it out of all the humans who constantly reinforce it because most of them (but not all of them) enjoy it. Fortunately, Lexa is small and gentle when she does jump.
I think having dogs in a school environment is an incredible experience, but it needs to be the right dog with the right personality in the right environment. I’m fortunate that I’ve had support to do this, but there was a lot of thought put into it to make sure that it would be a situation that would work for me, the school, and of course for Lexa.
chloe De Segonzac says
I was new to your site when I wrote my answer a few days ago. Now that I’ve had a chance to look at your blog I realize that you are collecting data on dog behavior. So here are the questions I didn’t answer.
Yes I take my dog to work. I am a gardener. They come to work from day one so they are used to sounds and sights.
Yes it is more time consuming to have a dog come along because I have to set up her space on a porch or a nice shady spot, and sometimes it is mighty inconvenient because I cannot have lunch with a friend if it is hot out (where will my dog be during that time) sometimes the home owner did not warn me of a situation at their house, ie kids birthday party, other workers on site…But one thing’s for sure she’s tired when we go home she’s had plenty of input, by 6pm I have a dog ready to retire for the night, and of course as any dog would, she loves being with her person all day. An other good thing is I don’t have to worry about leaving her home too long.
Also, the first four/six months there is training involved, that takes a lot of time off my work, and with my present dog, she HATED not being able to see me and would howl very very loudly. I clicker trained her out of it by clicking treating when she would be quiet–that took a lot of time.
I’ve had jobs where I couldn’t take my dog, it felt very unnatural to me.
em says
I hesitate to say, because the memo was not specific (this wasn’t something I was aware of, either), but since then, in speaking to some friends, I heard….I want to emphasize that this is third-hand and that I don’t at all really know what I’m talking about, I’m just relating what I’ve heard…that people from some muslim countries have a tradition of viewing dogs as unclean, and that in some asian cultures dogs, particularly black dogs, are considered bad luck or harbingers of evil or some such. I’d be as interested as JJ to hear from a reliable source on this issue.
I agree that there are limits to cultural sensitivity. I HAVE heard horror stories from people on the west coast of service dogs being harrassed or treated with hostility in ethnically mixed neighborhoods. I absolutely don’t believe that behavior like that should be considered acceptable, nor should we tolerate anyone abusing or neglecting an animal out of respect for cultural norms, but when we bring dogs into the workplace, we are sometimes bringing them into environments where other people are a more or less captive audience. People who are bothered by the presence of dogs, for whatever reason, may not have a right to prevent ME from having a companion dog or moving around most public spaces with him, but they do have a right not to be made uncomfortable in their own homes, schools and workplaces. (This does not extend to service animals).
When I brought Otis to class, I was most worried about students fearful of dogs. Otis is a LOT of dog, wasn’t exactly looking his best with his eyes bright red and swollen, and indeed, I saw people cross the street or flinch away from us as we walked down the sidewalk every day. Many more people come dashing across TOWARDS us, but if one of those flinchers was a student of mine, they’d have been in a tough position, having to choose between objecting and maybe offending me and ruining it for the the rest of the (very enthusiastic) class or sitting in a class they’d paid thousands of dollars to attend, frightened and uncomfortable. I feel like I had a good rapport with my students, and I didn’t pick up any unhappy vibes, but despite the fact that no one objected at all, a couple of people were definitely a little nervous at first. I did everything I could to make it as calm and controlled a situation as possible…Otis himself spent most of his time asleep in a corner, he didn’t bark, jump, or make sudden movements when greeting people or walking through the halls, students could approach Otis if they wanted to, but they never HAD to, he never was allowed to approach them, and everyone seemed to relax pretty quickly. I’m grateful that I was able to bring him with me, I’m certain that Otis was happy to come, and I think most of my class was grateful to see and interact with him, but I guess I can also understand why the university might not approve of dogs in the classroom.
Joye says
I’ve brought my dog to work with me several times. I adopted him in mid-december 2009 and since the office is quiet between Christmas and New Year, he was here for a whole week that year. He was still scared of everything at that point but it went fairly well – certainly no worse than just walking around the neighborhood. Not so in more recent times. While he’s gotten much more comfortable with other surroundings the office continues to be a challenging place. People popping out of offices – unexpectedly for him – as well as folks walking into mine brings the protective side of his nature. The worst might be that he has taken a particular disliking to our CEO and our CEO doesn’t like dogs to begin with. He barely tolerates them on the occassions where someone had a compelling reason to bring one in (most of us don’t bring them in if he is going to be in the office unless there is a special reason to do so).
JJ says
Sharon and Em: Thanks for your replies to my comment. Very interesting.
Beth says
To JJ: I know some cultures do view dogs as unclean and as outside-only animals; having them inside would be somewhat offensive to those people. I think we should respect these views in a workplace, as it’s not unreasonable to leave your pet home.
Laura says
When I applied for a new job at a veterinary pharmaceutical company I asked if I could bring my dogs to work. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to leave the job I had so I decided this would be my decision maker. The powers-that-be said no. I decided to take the job anyhow. I have been here for a year and a half but have known my boss (not the person who said no) for almost 20 years. I often tell him I miss my dogs – sometimes only an hour into the day. I would be a lot happier and would work longer if my dogs were with me. IU can’t wait to get home. I would be happy if I could at least go home at lunch. I miss my dogs. I miss my cats too.
Annie R says
@JJ and Sharon, I used to work in an inpatient research unit on a major university campus, where one of the ongoing studies was on biorhythms in blind people. So we had a couple of study subjects who had guide dogs and would stay overnight. Unfortunately, a couple of the part-time RN’s were older Turkish women, and really feared dogs and considered them unclean. Their professional position required them to work with these subjects anyway, but it was very hard for them (even with these very well-behaved and “civilized” guide dogs!!)
The worst part was that one of the subjects had “gotten into it” with one of these nurses over needing to take his dog outside after hours, as it was required that she go with them to be sure they got back in safely. She didn’t want to accompany him and the dog, and he was offended that he even had to discuss this; it was a necessity, after all! And also refused to pick up and refill the dog’s water dish. So the subject would bad-mouth this nurse to the other nurses who did like the dogs. It got very tense at times.
As a bit of an aside, one of the most fascinating things I discovered was that another subject’s dog, a beautiful black Labrador, would not fetch a ball rolled down the hallway. He’d chase it, then stand there looking at it, or take it in his mouth briefly but put it down again. When I learned from Trisha about developmental stages, which I’d also learned about as a nursing student, it made me wonder if the lack of fetching drive (in a Lab!!!!) was due to the dog being raised as a guide dog from a young age and encouraged to do lots of other things, but probably not to fetch.
Anyway, now I work in a different hospital system in the Quality dept., and although I can’t take them to work on weekdays on the medical campus, our offices are in an outbuilding, so when I work overtime on the weekend, I bring my two mellow elder dogs in and they settle down and rest after eating a few treats at the beginning. But there’s usually no one else there, so it’s easy to calm down and sleep. Harder to do if there are people there to make a fuss over them. I wish I could take them in; I’d love to work in a yarn/crafts shop when I retire and can do something fun part-time, and it would be great to have a dog in a store like that. Dream on, I guess!
Thanks Trisha for all your wonderful practical advice and grounded perspective!
cathy says
A relative of ours works in a large office where they can take their dogs to work every day. She has a large dog who went to work one time, but was aggressive so that was the only time up until this Take Your Dog to Work Day. We saw pictures of the dog in the office sniffing another large dog with a corgi and a couple of little dogs and toys on the floor. I’m glad they had a good day but the owner is in denial.The usettling thing for us was that at Thanksgiving she bit my husband when he entered the house. We knew she had a history of agression and but not that she also had bit people before this! This bite was on the back of the leg and left a large bruise and one tooth broke the skin. After the bite they took her out of the room for awhile but then let her back in and warned her when she eyed my husband. The owners kind of brushed off the bite and my husband didn’t say how bad it was because he didn’t want to ruin Thanksgiving. But he’s afraid of the dog. They sedated her for the Christmas visit so she could be in the room and once the drugs kicked in just slept. The owners aren’t bad people, but I would not want to work in that office with that dog loose!
JJ says
Annie: Thanks for taking the time to share your story about the nurses you used to know. That story gives me a lot to think about.
I find myself particularly torn at the moment about the entire issue. When faced with this kind of question, I try to ask myself how I would feel if the tables were turned. The best I could come up with was to think about spiders. I am afraid of spiders. I asked myself, how would I feel if someone brought a tarantula (the ultimate fear factor for me) to work? It probably would make me feel uncomfortable. But that is not a cultural issue. That is a me/scardie cat of spiders issue. I don’t know whether my uncomfortableness should be reason enough to prevent the person from bringing her pet to work. I think that maybe I should look on it as an opportunity to work on my phobia of spiders. Or not. I don’t know.
For me, the much bigger question is about a cultural norm of seeing a particular animal as unclean. I can’t think of any parallel to that feeling which I can relate to. It seems to me that we are talking about a superstition here, like being afraid of black cats or stepping on a crack on the sidewalk. As members of the human species, do we want to support and nourish such beliefs or work to change them? It’s an honest question. In the last few days, I have gone back and forth on this issue for myself – sometimes hourly. I think it is helpful for everyone to try to wrestle with the question for themselves.
In the mean time, I’m inclined to take a situation-by-situation approach. Hard and fast rules like “no dogs in any work place in any place in America because we need to be sensitive to different cultures” would not be appropriate in my opinion. At the same time, some sensitivity and working around individuals who have such superstitions might be appropriate. That’s where I am at right now with my thinking.
So, take your dog to work if you can and if the dog is OK with it–and try to be understanding if someone takes offense at your dog’s presence. That’s what I would do if I were allowed to bring my dog to work. (Which I’m not, much to my and Duke’s sadness.)
trisha says
Re dogs being offensive to some people and cultural differences: The best analogy I know of is our relationship with rats. Both dogs and rats, if not considered companion animals, flourish in human settlements by eating garbage, are highly flexible, social and intelligent. As many of us know, rats make great pets, but we are also culturally conditioned to be appalled if we see a wild one in our kitchen, right? It helps then, to understand that in some cultures or areas of the world, people react to dogs as westerners react to rats.
Betty says
When my now 9 year old Dal was a puppy I brought him to work every day with me. I had a spare crate I left at the office and a way to barracade my office door so he could be out of the crate some. I loved it, he got great socialization and seemed to really enjoy all the people coming by to pet and play with him. But it was a bit distracting AND being on the third floor was a bit difficult when he had to pee! I always carried him up and down because I didn’t want him to go in the stairwell and it was faster. Then someone in a neighboring office, different company, brought in a Beagle that howled the whole day long. Shortly after that building management banned dogs from the building. My personal feeling is it’s a nice thing to be able to bring them when they are young and need the extra time and attention and for socialization but once they are adults and can get through the day without going out every hour it’s best if they stay home most of the time, at least in an office type environment. They are distracting. I’d like to be able to bring my guys or one of them occasionally like if they needed daytime care or something but generally wouldn’t bring them every day even if allowed.
My sister brings her Cavi with her every day and always has since puppyhood. He’s four now and so dependant on her he whines and fusses if she just goes out to get the mail and back. I love that my dogs want my attention but I don’t want to create a dog that can’t be left alone even for a few minutes. I don’t think it’s healthy for them or me!
JJ says
Trisha: I appreciate the thought, but your analogy doesn’t help me. I wouldn’t react well to a wild rat in my kitchen, but I wouldn’t react well to a wild dog in my kitchen either – for almost the same reasons. (And wolves make bigger piles.) We aren’t talking about wild animals in uninvited places who are causing property damage. We are talking about pet animals. For me, that’s the point. I’m probably just not tuned into my own culture well enough to feel the analogy.
Kat says
Thanks Annie and Trisha, for those interesting insights. I’ve been trying to imagine what it would be like if I were those nurses and the guide dog was a rat. I can see that there would be a large ick factor but surely as a nursing professional you should try to overcome that cultural bias and do your job. I think that often in this country we forget that tolerance is a two way street. One of my online friends has a pair of service rats–rats trained as service animals–that help her manage a medical condition. She needs them in order to function. I admit that were we ever to meet in person I would have to master my initial “ick, it’s a rat” reaction but I would do so since I understand that she needs her rat to alert her so that she can manage her medical condition. Since we’re talking about a highly trained rat who has been taught not to be intrusive I expect I’d adjust fairly quickly. The fact that I find rats icky should in no way be a reason for her to do without their support (as I understand it one rat out with her at a time but two trained rats). On the other hand someone that brings their barely trained rat to work and lets him scamper around the halls I think is rude and inconsiderate. My ick factor isn’t being respected. Balance, respect, tolerance and common sense applied to any situation with animals goes a long way. Example: Our local Lowes home improvement store welcomes well mannered dogs. I had Ranger with me one day and as usual everyone he met was fawning all over him. When we started to check out he put his paws on the counter in order to see the cashier and solicit more petting (I gave up trying to have him not stand with his front paws on the counter long ago since 98% of the time the cashier rewards him with the solicited petting). The poor cashier reared back in dismay because she was afraid of dogs. I immediately told Ranger “off” and had him sit quietly by my side while I apologized for him frightening her. I explained that as a registered Therapy Dog his job is to get people to pet him and he was just trying to do his job figuring that might be an explanation she could grasp. I didn’t try to persuade her that her fear of dogs was unwarranted or anything just offered the explanation of his behavior and an apology and I think his good manners and my acceptance of and respect for her fear did a lot to ease the situation. The next time we saw her I told him “off” before he even started to paws up on the counter and had him sit quietly. She asked a question about him and I answered (don’t remember now what it was) and she asked if she could touch him. One quick touch but she marveled at how soft he is and I felt like another brick had been removed from her wall of “dogs are scary.” Short version, I respected her right not to be frightened by a dog and did my best to keep my canine companion from doing anything frightening and she respected my right to have him with me under store management rules.
trisha says
JJ: I see your point absolutely, but remember that most people react to my advice to get a pet rat by saying
“YUCK! I would NEVER get a rat!” Most westerners are conditioned to respond to rats by shivering and withdrawing in disgust, so much so that they can’t make the transition from “wild rat” to “pet rat.” I think it general it is critical to be sympathetic to people who have grown up being afraid or offended by dogs, remembering that they have had no opportunity to learn who they can be. (Kat’s story above is a perfect example of how to do that, thanks so much for telling it!)
JJ says
Trisha: Thanks for the follow up. I see your points, especially about being sympathetic to people. That is a concept I can get behind.
What I think is telling about Kat’s story, which I also greatly appreciated her sharing, is that the moral was not, “never bring your dog to Lowes because he might scare someone”, nor “Lowes should have a rule against dogs being in the store.” Instead, the moral was, “if you bring your dog to Lowes, be sympathetic to people who are afraid of dogs and keep your dog under control.” I can totally buy into that. For me, the point that relates to these discussions about bringing dogs into the workplace is: if Kat hadn’t been allowed to bring her dog to Lowes in the first place, the employee would not have had a chance to grow like that.
I try to do the same thing, respect wise, with my dog since I take Duke into Lowes and Home Depot all the time. In the winter, on terrible rainy days (I live in Oregon), we will go to one of those stores sometimes and buy stuff that I don’t need just so I can take my dog on an outing that doesn’t involve getting drenched and muddy. Shopping with Duke is pleasant and fun and gives us a chance to work on training in a distracting environment. When we go to businesses like that, I try very hard not to let Duke approach anyone who does not want to be approached. If a mistake happens, I instantly and sincerely appologize. If I need help from a Store person, I ask if they are OK around dogs before I let Duke get too close.
99.99% of the time, people are thrilled to see us. Customers and employees alike go out of their way (sometimes crossing the entire store) just to approach Duke. I’ve seen people with tears in their eyes as they tell me about some dog that they loved and lost as they fawn over Duke. (And as Duke leans into them for a good ear rub.) One woman told me that “this made my day” and that she didn’t want to go to Lowes with her husband that day but since she got to pet Duke and see him do his tricks, she was really glad she came. Her whole demeanor went from looking depressed and moving slowly to being all smiles and full of energy in about 2 minutes.
I’m glad that Lowes and some Home Depot stores allow dogs even though there is a chance that someone may not be OK with it. My posts have been reacting to the idea that a school created a dog-free environment in order to be respectful of people from other cultures. The conclusion that I’m starting to come to is that as long as everyone is respectful of each other, having a dog-open environment can work out great.
JJ says
Hey, I just re-read your post. Trisha wrote, “…most people react to my advice to get a pet rat…”
???? Wow, I think I’ve read all your books (except the newest one which I will read soon) and seen your awesome videos – including the one on cats and I don’t even own a cat. What’s this about rats? Do you really advise people to get them as pets?
You don’t have to answer. I know how busy you are. I just did a double-take on that sentence. I’m really curious. I had a co-worker once who told me how much she loved her pet rats, but she had to stop getting them because they don’t live long enough and it broke her heart when they died.
trisha says
JJ: Gotta run home and let Willie out (cross paws, diarrhea this morning, sigh!) but yes yes yes, rats can be great pets. But yes too, they only live 3-6 years or so. I’d have a hard time with that part myself. I’m still hoping vet medicine will double the life span of our dogs!
chloe De Segonzac says
…’as long as people are respectful…’ And I think this is the point. This is a big big world with so many variant people/need/ understanding/ cultures. I do not believe we can just rely on the assumption that we all have the same concepts of what is respectful. I grew up in France, we had dogs accompany us everywhere. City dogs were well trained, and by that I mean lying down by their human’s side sleeping.
I couldn’t even get people to recall their dogs when I was on crutches, my dog on leash, taking a walk. So here we are then, should we say 10% of dog owners can bring dogs to their job site? No, we can’t so it becomes the ‘norm’ which is to say the rule to not have dogs on job sites. Just the other day I had a contractor in one the gardens I maintain who had his dog off leash on the newly seeded lawn. After three ‘please call your dog’ I told the owner of the garden that it was just fine but I would have to charge her to redo the seeding, and of course that did the trick. I think the effort should be put towards having dogs trained, because most of the time it is not so much disrespect but complete lack of control over the dog/rat/cat/miniature horse…etc
chloe De Segonzac says
…And I am sending very gentle calming thoughts to Willie. I hope he recovers quickly. We love them so much, it is heart breaking when they are sick.
Michelle says
I work in an office, I can just imagine that no work would get done if we all brought our dogs to work on such a day. My guy is better off lead with other dogs than on lead, and I can just imagine the drama, it would be like open day at a dog park. Have always thought it would be great if there was the ability to have one dog on every floor though. Bodes would happily mooch and schmooze his way through an office day. Am sure there would be willing helpers to take them for a 15 minute occasional spin round the park across the road to keep them entertained and might be a good stress reliever for the two legged office bound critters.
s says
I work from home so I get to take my dog to work with me every day, which is a good thing since he can’t stand to be alone!
I would think dogs would be disallowed due to allergies – I know some folks who have severe allergies to pet dander (and of course couldn’t put those people in my car or take them to my home – pet dander galore).
I also have some sympathy for those afraid or not comfortable with dogs. One of my kids years ago had a very scary experience with a dog – a nice dog who meant him no harm, but completely scared him and made him PETRIFIED of dogs. He wouldn’t go near them and we had to not go to certain family member’s homes for a period of time because he was so scared and they were less than sympathetic (my dog, my home, your kid deals). We attempted to get him past the fear (we’d had dogs in the past even so he’d had many good experiences) but it was no dice for a few years. He finally got over it but I can tell you, regardless of folks in stores or in parks saying “he’s friendly I promise” while my child shrank away from a dog on his lead angling towards us, I certainly did not appreciate canines in stores I did not expect them to be in or at ballgames or other places where “no dogs allowed” signs exist. Even if a dog didn’t come near us, my son was in a panic.
Cora says
It sounds like so many of these stories underscore the need for respect and consideration on the part of the HUMANS involved in the interactions. I’ve nearly stopped going to dog parks because so many of the people there are badly behaved and don’t control their dogs, even when asked nicely. If only we were as easily trained as our canine companions!
LS says
I work in an academic building at a small college and I often bring my dog, Obi, with me during breaks and in the summer. He is a TDI certified therapy dog and his days at the office with me have been great help in training him. I enlisted the help of my co-workers when teaching him to sit while greeting people and to “say hello” on command. Everyone was very proud when he passed his test! Some people on campus still walk over just to see if he’s here and say hi. I put down a blanket for him and he sleeps most of the time. He has a very mellow personality and settles calmly anywhere once he knows what to expect of a place. It’s great for me because it reminds me to take breaks and a short walks. He loves his ‘work days.’ He has a prancing bouncy step when he knows he gets to come to work with me!
My other dog never comes with me. She is a much more high strung dog and can’t ever settle down and enjoy outings. She paces and whines and looks out the window and sits and stares at me….. She is a dog who is much happier with her home and her rountine. She stays home with her own special peanut butter Kong treat when Obi comes to the office and everyone is happy!
LS says
I do agree with the person who says that it’s frightening for some people to encounter dogs, especially children. I know some of the children of my co-workers are frightened of dogs. I think that it is important for dog lovers to respect that not everyone is a dog lover. My dog is very good about either “say hello” or “stay with me” and he normally doesn’t greet people who don’t initiate friendly contact with him. I can’t take much credit for that, because he seems to have an innate sense aobut whether or not people are comfortable with him, especially children. It helps enormously in his therapy work reading with kids at the library or visiting nursing homes. The more I live with dogs, the more I realize how important it is to recognize their strengths and natural gifts and give them chances to grow in that direction. My two dogs are polar opposites of each other! Same house, same rules, same training…totally different results.
Mary Beth says
My dogs come to work with me regularly. They make public appearances in parades, Safety Expos, kindergarten, nursing homes, preschool, you name it. They help me capture stray dogs(but only when I can ensure their safety first!)
They pick things up that I’ve dropped. They protect me. They pull me up the stairs when I’m tired!
And they find a day as my “Deputy Dog Warden” to be entirely exhausting! I have a nice bed and chewies for them under my desk when its time for some “time out-quiet time”. Still, after about 4 hours, they’ve had enough and are wishing they’d opted for their routine at home. My other half works a different shift than I do and isn’t too far away, so I often have him trade me dogs or else take my sidekick back home about mid day.
It took me years to realize that although the dogs were enjoying being with me, and liked the jobs I had for them, that they couldn’t keep up with an 8 hour work day.
My high drive dogs can’t even remotely compare with the Border Patrol’s version of high drive dogs, but their dogs can work long shifts happily while mine wear out!
Rita57 says
It was a happy day at my new job when my bos suggested I bring my dog with me. I’m alone at an alarm sentral afternoon and nights. At first the different alarm sound were frightening and she was uncomfortable. Eventually the alarm sentral felt like home with it’s little living room, kitchen and halls outside the large sentral room where we can take a break, make a meal and play ball.
When my dog finally got the connection between the alarm going off and me silencing it somehow from my computer, she settled down and will now come get me if I’m down the hall when an alarm goes off with a face that says “Aren’t you going to tend to this!? Follow me, I’ll take you to your computer!” and she’ll follow my every move until I hit the button.
During night shifts she goes to sleep in her sleeping bag, ignores all alarms and nothing but an intruder could disturb her.
My workplace is in a deserted area. No one can sneak around the building unheard and I feel very safe, and fortunate to be able to bring my dog with me to work.