Seconded.
Although I’m allergic to dogs (and cats), I do like them and can be with them for limited periods. But they must be well-behaved, and I must be in a place where I can avoid them. Work does not qualify for the latter. Besides, they are a distraction.
For what it is worth, someone with some research budget to spend has investigated the effect of dogs in the office.
Dogs Improve office Productivity
I guess my time working in my aunt’s dog grooming shop doesn’t count, huh? No smelly dogs there, at least not after they get bathed. Her dog gets a weekly bath, normally on Mondays. She sheds like hair is going out of style, but she’s very clean. She does not drool, though her breed (Clumber Spaniels) often do. I haaaaate dog drool so am very happy about that!
I love dogs. Absolutely love them. If I worked at a place where dogs were allowed as long as a few ground rules were established I’d be thrilled. But that depends largely on the culture of the office. And the rules would have to be enforced; at the minimum, your dog must be trustworthily housebroken and not make much noise. There are days where having a dog to love on a bit after a call would be a really excellent thing.
I’ve worked in a couple places where the boss’s dog was a regular. In both cases the dog was a Black Lab; one was big, friendly and outgoing, the other was quiet, shy, very small, and never let new hires touch her. Both jobs were carpentry, though, and one of them was actually outdoors. Hardly a stuffy office environment. I like having a dog around at work; their positive energy seems to rub off on everyone around. However, I can definitely see why some people object to dogs at work in general, and some people’s dogs should certainly be barred from attending.
I love dogs, and dogs love me. 
If you don’t mind my watering and then half-closed swollen eyes, red face, constant sneezing, and slow but total loss of my voice after about an hour, feel free to bring them in. 
I can always take my powerful allergy pills instead and I will be less allergic but pretty useless with the whole paying attention to detail, talking coherently, and staying awake thing. Even being in a room where they’ve been with a carpet in it will get me wheezing.
I used to take my dog to work all of the time (of course I used to have many project that were outdoors). In my industry (environmental ) it’s really common. Generally the workplaces are smaller “satellite” offices anyway, and the environment is pretty casual, in dress etc.
My boss actually recently said “hey, what does your dog do all day”? I said, “oh she hangs out until I get home”. He said “well, I don’t see any reason she can’t visit once a week or so”. So she started coming to work on a Friday once 2 or 3 times a month.
Which was GREAT (she’s happy to just curl up under the desk and let us all work), until the building manager decided to remind everyone that no pets were allowed. The email included birds, and “other pets”…heee, so someone in our building must have had some parakeets or cockatiels or something (I can’t imagine what the “other pets” were, someone had snakes? Turtles? Goldfish? Perish the thought, the horror!).
But my coworkers were thrilled to meet my dog, and we were all really attached to one of my other coworker’s dogs too. All offices are completely separate from any other tenants in the building and the penthouses on the top floor allow pets, so it was annoying and disappointing for us, but oh well. (We could understand a no pets period policy, but the penthouse owners had their pets in and out of the building all of the time, so it’s not as if it was any sort of protection against possible allergies or something).
HAH! We still walk around in bare feet though. Yup, even our boss, no, ESPECIALLY our boss.
Not really.
Owning dogs is a vanity and self-absorbed personality disorder. Especially for people that live in cities.
Owning dogs in a farm with ample space to roam and maybe a task for them to perform, like herding sheep, etc, is no problem at all.
I know you know I’m right about this.
You know, the Nazis brought dogs to their workplaces too. And had people walking around in sock feet.
Just sayin’.
Until recently, I worked at an ad agency, which had the Humane Society of the U.S. as a pro bono client. Soon after we landed that account, we got three “office dogs” – they were “shelter dogs” which were technically adopted by specific people in our office, and they spent their days in the office with their owners.
The agency organized an e-mail list of those of us who were willing to pitch in on the care of these dogs – walking them during the day, taking a dog to your office when his or her owner was off to a long meeting, occasionally taking a dog home for a night or weekend when the owner was out of town.
Overall, it worked pretty well – once people got settled into the routine of having three dogs in the office, they weren’t really disruptive at all. I do imagine that there were a few people who were afraid of dogs, or allergic, but it was a big enough office (~1000 people) that it would have been pretty easy to avoid the dogs if you wanted to.
Now that’s where I draw the line. There’s no way I’m putting up with Gestapo drool.
Oh, Precambrianmollusc, your hound is so cute!
I can’t imagine having office dogs in a city, that would be hard. I don’t even leash Kimber most of the time when we go out.
We are really, really fortunate. Our clients like dogs, the guy from DEQ stops by sometimes just to see Kimber. The ladies at the bank and the coffee shop heard we have a puppy and asked to meet her so now the dog goes on coffee and money runs. The perks of working in a small town I suppose.
If you’ve never opened up an office where dog shit was left on the floor overnight, be very grateful.
There are office environments where it is acceptable to bring dogs? Not working dogs, but just regular pets?
Weird.
I don’t think I will ever understand bringing pets and kids to work. I go to work to work, not to put up with someone else’s dog or small child.
I work in a formal office (everyone wears suits) and I have no problem with an occasional doggie visit. Occasional being the key word.
That time about six years ago when someone brought in a dog who gave birth to a litter in the mailroom? That’s too much.
No one should be in the office without a legitimate business reason. That would exclude pets, children and most other guests.
Well, I’m sure it broke up the monotony. 
Several years ago I read an article in Forbes about dogs in the work place. Mostly it was about employee retention. How do you keep your people from jumping ship? There are some people you would have to really beat up before they quit a job they could take their dog for one they couldn’t. It was most common in tech places.
Dogs can be managed in work places. My wife, daughter, and I have all taken our foster puppies to work sometimes and her husband to his classes. At times, it has included 2 month old ones.
I take my German shepp to my local neighborhood bar.
He loves all the attention and various treats from the customers.
Gotta love the owner too. This didn’t happen with my dog but some one else (a regular) brought their dog in. A customer complained to the owner. The owner told her: “You don’t like it, the door’s right there.”
My husband can take our dog to his workplace occasionally on days when he must be there but the students are not. Since he has his own room he can just shut the door and no one else needs to come in contact with the dog if they don’t want to. It’s nice for both of them.
The only animals allowed in my building at work are the ones in the lab …