Take Your Dog To Work Day 2014

Mark your calendar.  June 22, 2014 is Take Your Dog To Work Day.  I want all of you to be ready and looking sharp.  Make sure your nails are chewed short, your coat is licked clean and you are wearing your best smile.  You need to be ready just in case your human’s workplace is going to take part in this very important day.

DixieLee and I are lucky.  We get to go to work with our Mom every day but that’s because we work at home.  When I was a baby and we had a Studio in another town and I used to go to work with Mom.  It was a really good deal.  She would make gift baskets and I would get people to come into the store.  I was so cute, no one could resist.  Together we sold lots of gift basket.

Take Your Dog to Work Day was created by Pet Sitters International to celebrate and show people what great companions we dogs are and to get more people to adopt.  We sever as ambassadors, showing dog challenged co-workers what they are missing by not having a dog in their lives.

It was hard convincing some employers to let dogs go to work but research has shown that having dogs in the workplace leads to better teamwork, boosts morale, lowers stress and even contributes to higher employee retention.  In 1999 when the Pet Sitters International started the TYDTWD there were 300 companies that said okay and dogs went to work for the day.  In 2005 there were 10,000. 

Randolph T. Baker, a professor of management at VCU School of Business, said that “Dogs in the workplace can make a positive difference.”  He said that “The differences in perceived stress between days the dog was present and absent were significant. The employees as a whole had higher job satisfaction than industry norms.”  Yup dogs in the workplace are good.

Even if your Mom or Dad owns the company, there are some rules that have to be made.  Some people have allergies.  It‘s not their fault but dogs make them sneeze and be sick.  Some people are actually afraid of dogs.  Even when I was really little, Mom would go in the hall when she talked with her friend Nita cuz Nita was uncomfortable around me.  I still don’t understand why someone wouldn’t love dog kisses but it is a fact of life.

Dogs have to be on their super best behavior.  I could go with Mom to a “real” office job but I’m not sure DixieLee would like it. She doesn’t like to be around lots of people or to be in places where people are walking around and talking.  Mom would have to remember to bring my food, water, toys, and a bed or my crate so I would be comfortable.  She would also have to take breaks so I could go outside and, you know…

At our Studio, Mom had a baby gate between the Studio and the Shoppe.  Without the gate, I could go into the Shoppe and then right out the outside door.  A baby gate would be a good idea in big companies because it would keep the dog in one office and not let her walk around the whole place by herself and maybe get into mischief.

There are lots of places that let dogs go to work with their humans all the time.  Something like 17 percent of people have jobs at those kinds of places.  There are even career sites that let humans look for jobs in dog-friendly environments.

Do you get to go to work with your human every day or have you ever gotten the chance to take part in Take Your Dog To Work Day?  I'd love hear all about your experience.

Your hard working friend,

Zeva

P.S.  Blatant self-promotion.  One of our Puppy Power Gift Baskets would make a great gift for any hard working dog.