Pet Product News Editorial Blog:
Monday, June 22, 2009
Dogs on the Job
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Friday is Take Your Dog to Work Day, an event started by Pet Sitters International 10 years ago, making 2009 the eleventh year in which the day has been celebrated.
As you may know already from reading this blog, I am sadly without a canine companion at present, but I can’t tell you how much it would make my day to bring my cat to work, even for just one day. Back before I worked for Pet Style News, I was a freelance writer and editor from my home for a few months and my constant companion was Houdini, my Norwegian Forest Cat. Whether I was working in the office or having my morning coffee, he was never more than a few feet away, and often on my lap. The relaxing effect of his presence made me more productive a lot of days, with the obvious exception of those few times when he decided he would rip up some paperwork to communicate to me that he was hungry.
I have worked in a number of different offices that either had their own pets or allowed some employees to bring theirs and I’ve seen the same relaxation effect with other people as well. The sales person who is having a bad day takes five minutes with the dog, feels better, and gets back on the phone refreshed and ready to work. The tired office manager gets a morning boost from a bouncing terrier.
It’s obviously not practical for every business to take part in this celebration of canine companionship, but I think it’s wonderful that so many do. Dogs are in our lives because they are such great companions and the positive effect they can have on an entire office atmosphere is well worth 10 minutes of lost work time for a walk or two throughout the day.
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