So today one of my coworkers just casually showed up with their dogs.
They were super cute and chill… but it got me thinking not everyone loves dogs, right? Some people are scared of them, some might have allergies, and others just don’t want animals around while they work.
I didn’t really mind, but I wonder if it’s actually fair to everyone.
Like… should pets be allowed at work at all, or is that crossing a line?
What do y’all think fun idea or big no-no?
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I think it’s a fun idea. If I could bring my pet to work, it would make the workday a trillion times better.
Without asking first, very impolite.
Depends what your office setting and culture is like
Depends on if someone is genuinely afraid of dogs or has an allergy
I say no, but I am in a unique job. I’m an orchestra musician.
In college, we once had a girl bring her dog to rehearsal. It walked all over the stage. It came over and drank my reed water while I was in the middle of playing. On top of that, my coworker next to me was highly allergic to them. Think about having to use your breath to play an instrument and yet you are so stuffed up.
It shocked me that everyone seemed ok with this, except for us select few. To me, it was very unprofessional and disrespectful. Not everyone likes dogs and yes, people are allergic. I think no matter what job, pets should not be allowed. Maybe they could have a bring your dog to work day once a year!? lol
In my office, I’d love it. As long as the dogs are trained, pretty much chill, and don’t stink I’m pretty sure everyone there would be fine with it in my office.
I would mind, I really don’t like dogs. Would it be cool if I brought one of my chickens to work?
I’d love if people brought their pets to the office omg🥹
Not cool at all. Dogs are ok but bringing them to a workplace without any prior notification is just an asshole move.
I almost got hired at an architectural firm that had dogs in cubicle “neighborhoods”. They had baby gates set up so the dog couldn’t room free everywhere. So this looked encouraged
That depends on where you work. And what your boss and company rules may say.
So co- worker brings her dogs … everyone can too? I remember work had a ‘bring your dog to work day’. HR manager’s dog shit in the Finance Manager’s office and his dog pissed in hers. It was hilarious. My dog scabbed everyone’s lunches and snacks. I found it all a bit much. Dogs shouldn’t be in the office… but that’s just me.
I wouldn’t like it, but I wouldn’t say anything wither
i’ve heard of an office dog before, but idk if that’s a permanent thing. i get it, it can boost morale and reduce stress… if you like them. but that’s not a normal feature of an office.
if someone wants to bring their dogs into work, i believe an announcement should be made beforehand so people are prepared. also, who knows how well they take care of their dog? personally, unless it’s a service dog of some sort, i think pets should be kept at home.
They need to do a notification first, “Dogs can come in on Thursday and anyone who chooses to can work from home on Thursday “. Then people who don’t want to be around dogs for whatever reason will be able to avoid the dogs.
I’ve worked in an office that allows people to bring their dogs. Most people loved it, but those of us with allergies weren’t really given a chance to voice our opinion
Better than when they bring their babies
I love all animals but my immune system does not. Thankfully my reaction is usually sneezing and coughing which sucks and ruins my day. However the reactions can get worse, eg anaphylaxis
I guess it depends on your office culture, and whether the dog is well-behaved.
The curmudgeon in me, though, is really tired of the trend where we take our dogs everywhere.
I’d say it depends on the business. And presumptuous to bring without checking. A small family-owned business would be okay if the owners and ALL coworkers are okay with it. But like you say some people are scared of them, some might have allergies. People that bring their dogs everywhere fail to consider that. I run a business out of my house with customers that come. A couple that mentioned they have severe dog allergies so we make sure the dog is not in the office at all the day they will visit. And I’m mindful of those that might be afraid or just not like dogs and keep the dog away during their visit. I don’t like seeing people bring dogs to stores, as there can be patrons thar ear allergic or afraid. Last month I was at a supermarket and saw 4 dogs. Not cool. Tractor Supply is the only store we bring our dog to.
We had a pet calendar. One person could bring their dogs per day. They had to schedule it with HR. Any issues could be brought up with HR. I hated it and kept my door shut, but as long as they didn’t do anything, I wasn’t gonna ruin it for everyone else who liked it.
My cats are in my office every single day.
Of course, I work from home…
It depends, lots of businesses have shop dogs or cats. Some people have therapy dogs, others have service dogs. If it’s a service dog, then it can go anywhere the person can go. Fear and allergies are not justified causes to block a service dog as long as it is well behaved.
I would say get consent from everyone in the office first. Don’t just bring a dog in without saying anything.
For me, big NO! I would not be able to do my job with that huge of a distraction. Im not allergic, just can not stand the smell of them or their harsh barking. I was raised in a home where dogs belonged outside. Seeing one in a house weirds me out. At a store, gross. At work? Time to take an emergency vacation day.
It happens at our office and is mostly received well. I’m sure there are some people who quietly seethe but the overall morale definitely goes up. They keep it in small doses, usually a spouse drops it off in the afternoon and it hangs for a couple hours till the end of the day. Never all day. And it’s a pretty big office so most people don’t have to see the dogs unless it happens to be the person you sit next to.
Neither cool nor ok. Dogs are not people they do not belong everywhere.
Depends on your workplace, like for my boyfriend and mine, we can but I don’t think a big office it’s possible. If it’s just a one time here and there I guess it should be okay though
Not okay in an office setting. Too much valuable company property to get pissed on, chewed up, or shat on. That’s before you get to allergies or phobias from human beings who are required to come in the office for a paycheck. Dog culture is out of control in the US. I can see an employee who is afraid of or disgusted by dogs, being afraid of ostracization for speaking up because the majority are all obsessed with their shedding, drooling, dingleberry animals. Has hostile work environment written all over it. Most offices will not allow this for liability reasons alone, though there are lots of good reasons. Scroll down your local SPCA and see how many of their rescues can’t be around dogs, cats, children, or men (a real thing). But Sandra will bring little Luna in anyway because she deserves a second chance 🥹 spare me
It depends on where you work. I work in a clinic and would love dogs, so I can cry into their fluffy faces and tell them how precious they are. Honestly, it would be a better way to spend my break than taking a nap. Realistically wouldn’t work, unfortunately.
It genuinely depends on the office. At my last job, that was totally cool and everyone loved it. At my current job, it would be highly inappropriate.
My bf is allowed to bring our dog to the office but he hasn’t, our dogs are super chill and friendly but especially our male dog is very needy and wouldn’t like it if there were other dogs around. His boss brings his dog every day and it apparently just sleeps under his desk and goes out to pee and what not a few times a day. So I’d say it depends on the dog, what kind of office it is etc. At my kids daycare one of the staff brings her dog every so often the kids love it! They go on hikes with the dog etc lots of fun! But she told me once the dog gets very tired after a full day of toddlers so she only does it occasionally.
I worked at a place where dogs were allowed at work. If you wanted to bring your dog, they had to be obedient trained and there was a waiting list.
It was nice. They provided a less stressful atmosphere.
We have two people who bring their dogs to the office. Everyone is okay with it and the dogs mostly just lay around all day and it’s easy to forget they’re there. I guess it would depend on your workplace though, for us, nobody here is scared of dogs or allergic.
I’m a dog owner and love dogs, but it’s a no from me. Not everyone likes dogs or they may have allergies, so it’s not fair to employees who are required to be at work to be placed in that position.
Also, it’s a huge liability. Even the best behaved dogs can be unpredictable. I, myself, was bit by my boss’ dog when she brought her pup into work one day. Luckily, I was wearing a fleece jacket and I wasn’t injured. But it could’ve gone very differently.
I’m allergic to dogs 🙁
(Yes, it sucks)
Depends where you work. I’m a manager at a mid-sized company and bring my dogs in all the time as do the owners and other senior employees.
Considering he brought the dog, there were no incidents, nobody complained, or died from allergies for that matter, everyone was pretty chill, I would say you either do mind, or have too much free time to make up hypothetical problematic situations that, in fact, didn’t happen.
My husband’s old work let everyone pick a day to request dog friends. I thought it was a reasonable way to handle it.
Barring things like allergies or fear, I know my own dog was a good citizen on his office days. People would come play with him, and ask when he was coming into the office. On request, he would pull people around in their office chairs, like a pony. It seemed to help morale.
Anyway, I’m just bragging on my wonder dog now. lol.
Like dogs but very allergic… could really make another employee extremely uncomfortable
Absolutely not okay at all. People have allergies and phobias. Bringing a dog to work is super selfish.
I’d be really mad. No dogs in the office.
Depends on the owner and culture. A former office, someone had an Akita or Samoyed (some, huge puffy white cloud of a dog), and when they brought it in, it roamed free. It was very polite, loved pets, and I adored those random days. I worked in a far-away IT rat hole which was so barren, the lights went off every 5 minutes if I didn’t flap my arms about. Aspen would still pad over to see me, stick his wuffle-like face under my arms, and it was pretty awesome. Aspen wasn’t a therapy dog or anything, just a giant polite poof and good boy.
But I guess overall, you have liability issues with biting,allergies, pee on the floor and people slipping on it, depending on how the dog is trained. Some people are scared of dogs, and it’s not a “reasonable workplace environment” one would expect or ask before they started work there. I get “no dogs allowed” for those reasons, but… damn, I love dogs.
In my office they are always welcome but that’s me. I like dogs and dislike humans.
It depends on the rules/culture of the office. I’m not a fan of pets being at work and I’m
A big big fan of pets. I just wouldn’t get any work done because I’d be distracted by my babies.
I work from home. Very cool. But the other day I was at a car dealership. A dog came up and gave me a friendly sniff. Apparently a mechanic brings the dog to work and it has free run of the dealership, show room, lot and mechanical bays. It seems a bit dicey for the dog with moving vehicles and heavy equipment everywhere but they have been doing it for years. I kinda loved it.
In Vancouver it’s pretty normal that a lot of offices allow dogs, but their are rules. Well behaved/not disruptive being one of them.
Dog people are the worst. No one wants your barking shedding dog at work, or the brewery, or on the airplane
I can see why that would be distracting. Not everyone loves dogs at work and some people might feel anxious or even allergic. It’s one thing if it’s an approved pet day, but showing up unannounced with two dogs seems inconsiderate.
People seem to think animals belong everywhere now. They don’t and I hate it.
I fucking hate this sort of coworker, and I feel like every job has one – entitled, self-centered, and oblivious. I also can’t stand this sort of dog owner – no one likes your dog as much as you do.
You’re right, not everyone likes or tolerates dogs well. No everyone wants to meet and spend their work day with someone’s dog. I have worked in a “dog friendly” office and I hated it. Work is for work, pets are for home.
We had people bring their dogs to work all the time, and they would let them run around and would play fetch in the halls. They’d bark sometimes. Once, one had an accident.
How would they feel if I brought my toddler to work and did that?