More and more professionals are starting to bring their dogs to the office, which has started a whole new trend. As the number of companies that allow dogs at the office rises, so does the level of productivity. The inclusion of dogs has also reduced stress, which means that there are lesser chances of Burnout Syndrome amongst the colleagues.

Of course there are a couple ground rules that have to be taken into consideration before letting the dog into the office. For example, we must get permission from our manager and rest of the team (there is always the possibility of someone having an allergy or an acute fear of dogs), also the dog has to be properly trained and obedient. The German Association for the inclusion of the office dog has provided us with detailed information on this topic through the use of leaflets and posters. Such knowledge helps educate our managers and colleagues to better understand the benefits that dogs bring to the office space. Also, during the international ‘Bring Your Dog To Work Day,’ co-workers can get a first hands glimpse with what it’s like to have a four-legged friend next to you, while you work. This is far better than a flyer.

Here at HBI we’ve had an office dog for quite some time now. The dog in question is my Lala. She’s a five year old Whippet-Mix that I adopted from a shelter four years ago. For about a year now Lala has accompanied me in the office and she has brought happiness to rest of my co-workers.

How Lala became our office dog

When my parent’s, my dog sitters of choice, decided to go and enjoy La Dolce Vita in the warm south, I had to find an alternative.  Sadly I realized that my social circle was dominated by professionals and students, which meant that I couldn’t find a temporary dog sitter. So I carefully approached one of my co-workers, who has been working at HBI for quite some time now, and asked her if it would be alright to bring my dog.

She took a moment to think about it (each millisecond felt like an eternity) and in the end, her response was, to my great relief, positive! The rest of my colleagues and the management staff had no problem with Lala and that is how her life as an office dog began.

A rough start…

I had everything perfectly prepared for her; she had a long walk before going to work. She also had her own spot in the office, her own non-squeaky toys, and treats as a reward for good behavior. The first hour went flawlessly, but right after that something happened that made me question if bringing her to work is a good idea. At the moment one of my colleagues stood up from his seat and walked past Lala, she immediately began to bark for no apparent reason. If she kept doing that every time someone stood up from their seat, I would have stopped bringing her with me – that would be too much stress for man and dog. In the end we finally figured out what was wrong with my dog. Lala had developed a fear from men back when she was still in the shelter and she just took precautions when they were around. But she still liked the colleague in question; he just had to remain in his seat. So what was the problem? It was because of his size: he is about 1.80 meters tall and that intimidated her. After a short time, and some treats she quickly got used to him and the rest of the colleagues. Now she greets everyone while we enter the office in the morning. Everyone finds this to be particularly pleasing when their work day begins with a cheery greeting.

So what has changed?

The overall office experience hasn’t become any different. While the computer is booting up, I throw her toy down the long corridor and she goes to fetch it until she gets tired. Other times she is sleeping in her basket and doesn’t interrupt the work flow at all. But when someone is eating anything, then she is wide awake and watches as the food crumbs fall to the floor. This also happens during lunchbreaks. Now begging for food is the worst case scenario that one can have at the office. Of course there is also her sitting under the work desk, waiting to be taken out for a walk. The work itself hasn’t changed very much either. We have a park close to the office building, so we would take walks there after lunch even before the dog came along. She is also a very quiet dog, which means that she doesn’t disturb meetings and conference calls. She doesn’t bark loudly anymore.

The only significant change is the inclusion of a new habit amongst me and the rest of the co-workers. Before we leave our desks to get a coffee for example, we go over to Lala and pat her on the back or we play with her for a moment. With her around, she allows us to clear our head and better our working potential.