Office supply: Dogs bring loyalty and more to work
By Linda Lombardi
ASSOCIATED PRESS
reprinted courtesy San Diego Union Tribune 6/16/07
June 16, 2007
You feel so guilty Monday morning as those big brown eyes watch you head out the door to work. Sure, every day can't be the weekend, your dog seems to say. But couldn't I come along and just curl up under your desk?
Well, at some companies, he could. And here's your chance to convince your workplace to join the party, at least for one day: Friday is the ninth annual Take Your Dog to Work Day, as declared by the trade group Pet Sitters International.
Your boss may scoff at the idea – the kind of thing they do at those big California tech companies with their wacky, Frisbee-throwing corporate cultures. And it's true that firms like Amazon and Google are well known for their pet-friendly policies.
But they're not the only ones. And companies that welcome pups are passionate about the benefits to both the firm and its employees.
Andy Wright is chief operating officer of Mercedes Medical in Sarasota, Fla., a medical supply distributor, which has 35 employees and six to 10 dogs in the office at any given time.
“We have anything from Chihuahua to Labs, to German shepherds to Great Pyrenees.”
Wright is enthusiastic about the advantages of a doggy workplace.
“It's great for morale,” he says. “It reduces the stress level for employees.”
Also, he adds, “It encourages loyalty,” because staff who leave would likely be unable to bring their dog to their new job.
The employee loyalty factor is no small matter. A poll of dog owners by dogster.com and SimplyHired.com – which recently introduced a Web site to search for jobs at dog-friendly companies – finds that 49 percent of respondents would switch jobs to be able to bring their dog to work, and 55 percent would be willing to commute a longer distance.
Of course, some workplaces are unsuitable for canines. At Mercedes Medical, dogs aren't allowed where medical supplies are stored, and not all dogs are good candidates.
But most of the issues that arise can be easily addressed with a little common sense, says Melissa Hertzler, president of natural cosmetics company Honeybee Gardens in Leesport, Pa., who goes to work with her dachshund, Ginger.
“If you have a client coming over and they're going to be in a business suit, you'll keep the dogs out of the conference room so it doesn't get hair on it,” she says. “Our customers who know us know to expect it.”
Both companies emphasize a few obvious basic rules: Only dogs that are friendly to both dogs and people, and well house trained, are allowed; no puppies before their vaccinations are completed.
reprinted courtesy San Diego Union Tribune 6/16/07
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