I’ve been working my new job for about a month now and one of the things that surprised me at first was the number of dogs I see. One guy brings his dog into work every day, and others bring theirs in from time to time. Personally, I love it. I love animals and these are well behaved dogs who are clearly better off hanging with their human all day rather than being left alone back home.
But it makes me wonder if it does bother some people. Some people don’t like dogs, are alergic to them, or even afraid of them. How OK are you with the idea of people bringing dogs into work in an office setting?
I voted other because you didn’t give us the “YES!!! I LOVE IT!!!” option.
I always love seeing friendly critters at work. There is a man who walks his dogs through the parking lot at work and when I see him from the window, I RUN outside to call the dog’s names and get rewarded with licks and tailwags. Its such a nice 5 minute break.
My boss allows me to put cats in carriers in the very back of the warehouse, but thats just for transport. I’m not allowed to let them out in my office, so everyone goes to the back and admires them. There have been times when I’ve had kittens under my desk and I’d sneak them out to bottlefeed them, but I’m not supposed to do that.
I know someone who takes his cat to work with him and I so want to work there.
I love workplace dogs that are well-behaved. Workplace cats, including bookshop cats, are a problem, as I’m allergic. I think for anyone with allergies, any workplace or retail establishment with furry critters should need to post signs so that people know before they walk in and get a lung full of dander.
I see many small businesses with dogs or cats in the offices. I like dogs and cats, but a lot of people don’t, so I can see where it’d be a problem.
I had a temp job with a mover who brought his “mellow” dog in. He was a great dog, but the guy said, it spoiled his dog as, he got used to be fussed over and petted by the customers all day. So when he got miffed whenever he had to stay home as he wasn’t getting constant attention like at the office.
When I worked in a hotel, we had a house cat. It was funny as the cat could take the elevator, and it would really amuse people. And no, the cat didn’t know how to use it, because I worked the overnight shift and my job was to see the cat wasn’t walking around on the upper floors. It was Florida and we had an open air lobby so the cat lived in the lobby.
I voted yes-ish because, while I am very fond of pets, one persons idea of well behaved may not coincide with anothers idea of well behaved. I personally do not mind an affectionate pet coming by for attention (rubbing, licking, etc.) every now and then, but someone else might. If that pet belongs to an immediate superior they may not feel comfortable voicing their displeasure. Given that it’s a place of work and not leisure, I think it safer to err on the side of professonalism and caution and be absolutely sure that everyone in the workplace is comfortable with the situation before allowing pets.
That’s my problem. I’m NOT allergic. I have a dog and a cat. And people who won’t visit me at home because they are allergic to one or the other. When they do come, they look miserable after a while - or they medicate.
I think when the animal in question is a service animal, allergic coworkers can be asked to suck it up and medicate.
But I don’t like walking around in a haze of medication or putting things into my body I don’t need to. I’d assume at least some allergy sufferers are the same. Asking them to suck it up so that my wonderful, well behaved, beautiful and well loved dog can sleep under my desk isn’t right.
And if you work in a small office where everyone says its fine, you are setting yourself up for the day you have to make an employment decision - hire the allergic person who is best qualified for the job, and piss off the rest of your employees changing the situation regarding pets at work, or discriminate against someone for a medical reason. It isn’t like pet allergies are so uncommon that isn’t likely to happen sooner or later.
Oh, my wonderful, beautiful, well behaved, very sweet, submissive dog is great with other dogs. We take him to the dog park. He’s well socialized. If I brought him into an office with other dogs, he’d probably do fine.
With the exception of one little Westie that walks down our street every afternoon. For some reason, my dog HATES that dog with the passion of a thousand suns. Those two dogs in the same office would be a bad situation.
(I’ve asked my dog why he hates that other dog and he says “head tilt, pant, pant pant, front paw in air.”)
No animals at work unless they’re employed there. Mousers? Fine. Guard dogs? Fine as well.
But between allergies, fears, friendly animals wanting to meet everybody, not so friendly animals wanting to mark their new territory, un-neutered animals, friendly people not knowing how to react to the animals… nope, there shouldn’t be any non-Homo Sapiens animals around here, it’s neither a farm nor a business catering to pets and those who own/are owned by them.
I love seeing animals in businesses, and it makes me more likely to go back and shop there again. But I’ve really only seen this in very small shops and whatnot, where there aren’t really a lot of employees with conflicting pets; I can’t really see it working well in a large office environment.
I have a dog and am fond of dogs in general. But workplace is not synonymous with kennel.
If the business permits dogs and the employees are all OK with it, that doesn’t bother me. Some businesses (i.e. gas stations, certain retail operations) can have pets on the premises and it’s a plus as far as I’m concerned. If my physician’s office had a German shepherd roaming around it would generate a :dubious:. Personally, I’m sure my Lab would love keeping me company in the pathology lab (tasty treats!) but it wouldn’t be totally professional.
Some people say their dogs are well-behaved and sometimes, they are. But you all know “well-behaved” means nothing to lots and lots of people. For every dog owner that’s good and trains their doggy there are three that allow them to jump and run around the office and bark their fool heads off. And I’m sorry, but these people ruin it for everyone. They say “Dangerosa brings in her Wuffles, why can’t I bring in my Marmaduke?” while Wuffles is sleeping nicely in her basket and Marmaduke is jumping on people with dirty filthy paws.
Keep them at home except for special occasions, please.
I’m allergic to dogs (mildly, but still), so the key phrase is “were well behaved and properly supervised.”.
I would not appreciate the dog wandering around the office or coming up to sniff me. If it was in it’s owners area and was “well behaved and properly supervised” then it’s totally fine with me.
I work in a large call center and pets would be completely inappropriate in this environment. Sometimes people bring in their kids and walk them down every aisle to say hi to people, which I also find extremely inappropriate (because babies are loud and most of us are trying to talk to customers). But I saw a bookstore cat one time and it was awesome. So I guess it depends. Not where I work now, though.
I answered “I’m fine” but I would say that if anyone in the office is allergic to dogs then the dog should not be brought to work. Other than that it’s fine with me.
I like dogs; I enjoy being around them. But at work? It’s just an inappropriate and unnecessary distraction.
The guy who brings his dog in every day? How much time does he spend caring for/playing with/doting on the dog when he should be working, and why does your boss allow it? This just seems like it crosses a line.
I’d hate to be the new employee who starts work and the note goes out “no more dogs in the office, Dangerosa is allergic.”
I haven’t known a lot of “dogs in the office” environments, but the few people I know who have worked in those places LOVE it. It becomes a really big deal…and an entitlement.