One Person’s Office Perk is Another Person’s Nightmare – Dogs at the Office

One of these so-called office perks that more employers are offering is the ability to bring your dog to work. This is considered quite the office perk for some employees, but not all. And it is an easy one for companies to offer as it usually doesn’t cost a thing, except the discomfort of other employees who don’t like dogs, are afraid of them or are allergic to them. Companies really need to take all these things into account before allowing employees to bring their pets into an office setting.

Really the animals should not be in the general office area and should be confined to closed-off offices. With so many people having allergies these days we have to consider all people in the work place and having animals in the office just might be hazardous to someone’s health if you are not careful.

Where I work the company is lose with that policy and people bring their dogs in to the office. Nice for them. Bad for me. There really is no thought to my wellbeing. I sit there scratching my hives, having trouble breathing and trying to deal with the sinus discomfort caused by an animal that everyone knows I am allergic to. It is no office secret that I go to the doctors on a weekly basis for shots, pills and nasal medications for my allergies. I even went through a serious sinus surgery a year ago, but they persist in exasperating my condition by subjecting me to an allergen which is very bad for me. They might as well feed me peanuts (I’m allergic to them as well). All I can say is thank god none of them have a German Shepherd as my deadly fear of them would keep me out of work. (Yes, I also have a phobia about dogs too.)

So hopefully all the companies out there who are offering this as an office perk are taking into consideration all the people who would rather not be around dogs at work. Perhaps an offer of a doggy daycare would be better than simply having them in the office where they can affect the job performance of the other employees not to mention the performance of the dog’s owner as they now require extended or additional breaks to take the dog out or they stop and play with the dog several times during the day.

Here are a few things to think about before taking your dog into work with you:

• Is your dog friendly to all types of people? Will he get along with everyone? Will everyone get along with him?
• Is he quiet? No unexplained barking, howling or growling? Can’t have loud noises well on the phone with clients.
• Is he well behaved? No jumping up on people, chairs or at tables.
• Above all is he house trained? You don’t want to spend half your day cleaning up after him. You don’t want to offend co-workers with foul smells, especially after the dog is no longer there.
• Was he bathed recently? Dogs have a smell, even clean ones. A clean dog will be less offensive to the people around you.
• Are any of your fellow co-workers allergic, have a phobia or simply dislike dogs? Might want to find out before taking your pooch in to work with you.