Bringing your dog to work

MiikeB

Does anyone work somewhere that allows this?

I would probably take a 5k/yr pay cut to be able to do this.

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Iristheangel

That would be awesome. I wish I could bring my cat to work. He seems to be confused and thinks he's a dog :P

wes allen

Canine Coworkers: Wired's Best Friends | Wired Science | Wired.com

Some places are cool with it - I have a couple fiends that can. I would love to work at a place that does, even if I can't bring any of my four crazy dogs in. Just seems like it would be a good vibe.

ptilsen

I've seen a few, but not many and no where I've worked. It seems to be almost exclusively a small business thing.

Better to work from home, where your pet is always at work (although that can be horribly distracting).

TBH since I don't own a dog, I would not want to work somewhere that allows this. I love dogs, but when I'm in the office I want fewer distractions, not more. Kids are even worse. At my last job, there were a few days I just about got up and went home (WFH was discouraged, but doable) because the CEO kept bringing his kids in.

wes allen

ptilsen wrote: »

Better to work from home, where your pet is always at work (although that can be horribly distracting).

For sure. I take mine on walks around trails for 15 minute breaks when I am working from home or studying.

TheMontu

I know some of the "hip" company's here in SF allow it..would be cool..too bad my dog would get bored and be bad all day.

MSP-IT

I wouldn't be happy with animals in the workplace.

networker050184

TheMontu wrote: »

I know some of the "hip" company's here in SF allow it..would be cool..too bad my dog would get bored and be bad all day.

That's what I was thinking. My dog would get bored and start 'exploring' everything in the office.

emerald_octane

My coworkers do it, but they are extremely bad about it and It gets on my nerves. These folks are not the cool ones who are respectful with their pets; They need to be told the following:

1) Not everyone likes pets, and not everyone remembers the name of yours.
2) Please don't allow your pet to walk around in my office . it aint cute.
3) If I am trying to get actual work done and I come up to speak to you, please don't direct all the conversation to involve your pet. I need an expense report signed, I don't care about your rover throwing up on the neighbor kid.
4) If I am physically pushing your pet away from me when they attempt to jump on my leg please do not sit there and laugh. control your beast.

volume

I'm at work to run my servers and network, I really don't need to worry about your dog **** on my floor too.

MiikeB

Iristheangel wrote: »

That would be awesome. I wish I could bring my cat to work. He seems to be confused and thinks he's a dog :P

Apparently google allows dogs but not cats. In their description they say something along the lines of "While we respect cat owners decisions, we are a dog company."

PS did you get my PM Iris?

Plantwiz

A working dog is one thing, but I definately would not be in favor of bring a dog to work. It is bad enough when people bring them to county parks without a leash because "their dog is awesome' despite having two dog parks in the community AND a leash law.

A sure way to have your dog with you though is start your own business...set the rules! (will work great right up until someone's dog bites another dog or person working there).

And Iris, not sure about your cat, but mine HATES the car so the ride in would be brutal.

ptilsen

A cat at work would be a nightmare. I have to lock mine out of my office just to get anything done at home. Image at work, a cat exploring everything; walking on all the keyboards, just because; attacking cursors; chewing up network cables. No, I think a cats at work would be disastrous. It would make dogs and kids look like productivity enhancers.

Iristheangel

@Plantwiz - My cat is a big weirdo. He's happy in car rides as long as he's not in a cage or crate. I'm good about putting him in a crate but the SO usually lets him out when she's driving around with him and he just plops in the passenger seat and watches the world go by

paul78

There's a study published last year from VCU that indicated that there may be some benefits with stress-reduction in the workplace with pets - Benefits of Taking Fido to Work May Not Be Far 'Fetched' – VCU News Center

I did work a while back at a consulting company where one of the employees did bring his dog in every day. It was a small consulting company and no one really was bothered by it. But I can definitely see the risks doing this at a bigger firm where it's harder to control.

I don't particularly care one way or another for dogs but I have to admit that it was very nice to have a non-judgmental and easy-going presence in the office even if there was the occasional slobber. After particularly arduous moments, having the dog come over into my office to provide a reassuring nudge was quite comforting.

lordy

My boss occasionally brings his dog which is very well received.

I always feel that it relaxes people, unless they are afraid of dogs, of course. You can play with the dog and his toys for a few minutes and it allows you to take a small break. The dog is also always a good topic for small talk.

All in all, I think it's cool. I would like to have a dog myself but I have neither time nor room for it so I enjoy it if there is a dog at the office.

Plantwiz

My puppycat is all 'dog' right up until the car. Maybe if I let him drive he'd stop yowling...

It may just depend on the type of business, when I worked on a commerical farm, we had all sorts of critters running around and one cat and one dog would find some rodent like thing and bring me a daily present

Even as busy as those two were, we still had a healthy population of coons, oppossum, mice and bunnies.

I enjoy pets, but just don't like them in the work environement...around here, too many already treat them like children and therefore act like the beast has the same rights.

cygnus21

The only issue I have with this would be if someone had asthma, or allergies. it could cause a major medical incident. I love animals so I wouldn't be too bothered personally, but some might.

Mike-Mike

i love dogs, but I wouldn't want people bringing them to work...

related story:

I used to work with a really dumb guy in a call center. The call center hired a blind person who had a seeing eye dog. Dumb guy got mad since they told him he wasn't allowed to play with the dog. He then kept trying to play with the dog and got written up. Then he was mad he got written up. He never understood why he couldn't play with the dog.

DevilWAH

I would be happy to have it, and have worked where it was possible (although did not have a dog at the time).

the problem is that some people have very well trained dogs, like mine will be happy sleeping in there bed under a desk and only come out if the are called out. I have no issue with people playing with them but they know not to make a nusence of them selves. but what happens if some one wants to bring in a dog they cant control, or they have tied to the desk all day where it barks and whines.

As other have said some people are allergic and others feel scared or uncomftable around them. So in generally I don't thing dogs at work is a good thing. Maybe a dog friendly day once a month or so would be nice though. Although I work in a research institute that deals with animal diseases so its an out and out NO. We have a 3 day quarantine period where we are not allowed to go near farm animals if we have been on site.

Of course if you work on a farm or as a wildlife ranger than it might be very different, and pets at work is expected