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Dogs in the Workplace

Here is Sully! He was prancing around the office all proud because he got to go somewhere.

We are very dog friendly here at our office in Cameron. It is very possible that on any given day, there will be a pup or two here. But is it a good idea? Are there any drawbacks? Are there benefits? I’ve been reading quite a bit about dogs in the workplace recently, and I have found that there is overwhelmingly more to support having your four-legged fur buddy with you at work than there is against it. Most of it really depends on common sense and responsibility.

Maggie likes to take naps, but when she is awake, she is running constantly.

If your dog is not social, gets nervous easily, is not house trained, chews, barks, etc., you will want to work on that BEFORE you bring them to work. While your dog loves you and loves home, the office might be too much all at once for an older dog that isn’t used to traveling places. Use common sense on whether it is a good idea for your dog first. If you have a very well mannered, social, and people-loving dog, then going to work with you might be a good idea!

Employers have reported lower stress levels, better communication, and an enhanced sense of community among employees once they have dogs in the office.

What can you do to prepare for this?

When Merlin was still just a wee baby. He still snuggles the kitties.

I asked my vet if there is anything that I can do to make a dog more hypoallergenic. She suggested using fish oil in their food. She says it is very good for their skin and coat, and it reduces dander. Talk to your vet about whether that’s right for your dog.

Speaking of vets, make sure your dog is fully vaccinated, and is treated for fleas, ticks, and parasites; regularly groomed (by you or a pro); and in good health. There is nothing to do that will completely eliminate dander; you can only decrease it. So ask your coworkers who sit closely if they have any allergies. You don’t want to make someone miserable just because you wanted to bring your poochie with you.

See? Same kitty, I believe.

Chances are, if you are considering bringing your furry baby with you, your employer has made it clear that the workplace is dog friendly. But even though it is pet friendly, it doesn’t mean that your dog can be there and act un-mannered.

Find out where the designated areas for walking them are, and bring items that you can use to clean up after them. Make sure your doggo isn’t going to go grab a coworker’s scarf and run away with it if they leave their desk for a minute.

All of the things that I have mentioned are just starting points to consider. There are many more things to consider before bringing your dog to the office.

Our Experience

Wink also enjoys naps. She just isn’t a fan of the car anymore. Probably because she can’t sleep in it very well.

I’ve brought Sully to work with me a few times when no one is here, to get him used to the place. Sully was bottle raised and understands social behavior very differently. For example, growling. He growls when he is happy. He also chases and barks to say hello. I’m working on that, because while he is actually not being aggressive in his mind, what do we all think when a dog is running up to us, barking and growling?

I don’t want someone to be afraid of my little boy who is only 10 lbs. He is probably the most social of my dogs besides Maggie. Maggie is a little bit too high energy to stay at the office for long though. She used to come quite often, but she started getting bored and I spent more time looking for her to make sure that she wasn’t getting into something than getting work done. I always ended up having to take her home so I could finish working. Sarge likes to go for walks and then go home usually. He might be okay at the office once he is healed up. Wink does very well going places. She used to be my service dog actually. She’s been retired for a few years now. But she has gotten to where she doesn’t like to ride in the car very much anymore. Merlin, is just a flat “NO!” He has a pretty nervous disposition and needs constant reassurance from Sarge. He’s still just a puppy. The nervousness just sort of came on a few months ago. Before that, he never was. I’m not sure what happened.

This is my little Beans Kitty. She is an odd little cat. She’s never been interested in playing too much. Unless it’s 3am and she’s going for toes, or if you have glitter on your face.

So, I have things to think about and consider before bringing my dogs with me. Mostly I leave them home for their own comfort. I know my Beans Kitty would love to come to work, but Lee is very allergic and she would probably decide he is her favorite person. In the mean time, I’ll bring them when I’m alone here and I will enjoy when Sue Ann’s little dog Vlassic gets to come hang out at the office. He is a joy to have around! Even when he is squeaking his toys.

Vlassic will come sit with me anytime. He likes to sit this way. It’s pretty comical.

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Paying Attention. Is It Worth The Money?

Yeah, it really is! No doors or doorknobs were injured in the making of this blog.

This is how it should look!

We have some sensitive materials here at the office, as one would expect. Not money or anything like that, but other things that need to stay private. Now that we will soon be having more people coming in, we need to protect the sensitive information.

Our solution is that every few weeks lately, Lee has been buying a couple of the keypad doorknobs for the outside doors and office doors. So far we have three done. We need a few more. The most sensitive areas have them.

I Know What I’m Doing. Honest.

I like how this picture seems to not show just how messy it is!

Well, I’ll tell you. I’ve dealt with the removal, installation, and repairs of many doorknobs and deadbolts in my time. That being the case, I told Lee and Sue Ann I would gladly install these new doorknobs at the office. I’m here anyway, and it will save the company a few bucks. I installed the one for the back door some weeks ago, and Lee bought two more. One is for Kathleen’s office and one for my office.

The one for my office is mostly so that someone doesn’t stumble in and hurt themselves. I’ll include a picture, and believe it or not, I know where everything is! Unless Lee asks me where it is. When that happens my mind usually goes blank.

Anyway, I have always thought it a good idea to just glance over the instructions again, even if I have done a thing multiple times. Just in case. I try to always do that. I did that this time before I installed Kathleen’s new lock. I told myself, “Mandi,” and I knew it was me talking, because I recognized my voice, “Don’t forget to turn the knobs around on your lock. Your doorknob is on the opposite side from the back door and Kathleen’s door.”

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What’s it Like to Move Your Office and House at the Same Time?

We had a request for a better picture of the bathroom vanity lights. I love these! Very reasonable price at Lowes.

Answer:

It’s not a lot of fun.

We are incredibly excited to get moved to the church and rent the current office out (to tenants moving to Cameron, who will be a real asset to the community – more on that in another post). We are also very excited for my family to get moved to Rattlesnake and rent out the Travis house I am currently renting.

That doesn’t mean that we are excited for the physical moving part of it, though. We are partially packed up, so it makes finding things in the office a little more difficult. Plus it is very bare in my office with the shelves cleaned off, and the furniture all gone except two chairs, my desk, the futon, and a small table.

Empty office shelves. It looks a little sad. Not for much longer, though.

Rattlesnake Blues

My house is pretty well packed up. It needs a good, deep cleaning and some repairs before a new family moves in. We can’t do them until we are gone, though.

It’s really hard to live out of boxes. We’ve been all geared up to move, and things just keep happening that gets it postponed. It is exhausting and it is frustrating to be living like that for the last couple of months that have passed since we were told “two weeks” the first time.

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Herding Cats! What Will Happen to Shadow and Patsy When We Move?

Did anyone consult ME on all this? – Joe

Sue Ann and I have talked at length about where our office kitties should go, since we have decided to move offices. Neither of us can stand the thought of not having them around, but we have to make a decision in their best interest.

The move across town to the church may not suit them. We can’t keep them inside there because Lee is so allergic to cats. We can’t just leave them here to fend for themselves. We don’t do the abandonment thing. AT ALL!

They are outside cats, but will try and slip in on occasion. Even though they want to explore the office a bit, they prefer it outdoors really. There is just way more stuff to do. When it froze after Christmas, Shadow stayed in one of the bedrooms at my house. She was separated from my dogs, and had her own spot, but she was not happy being stuck inside. She ended up only staying in for about two hours and I had to let her out. She was going nuts in there.

We just don’t believe that either of them will be happy to stay inside all of the time, so they have to be able to go outside at least sometimes. We also talked about how hard it is hard to move an outside cat to a new outside place. The best way to do that usually is to keep them in the new house for a little while until they settle in and know where they are being fed for certain. As mentioned above, we can’t do that without Lee getting really sick.

Who could take care of our baby kitties the way we do? Sue Ann and I love them both tremendously, and we want to still be able to have them around and see them. Cats have not had very good luck at the Ranch and Sue Ann worries about their survival out there. And though Sue Ann’s sister lives next door to the office, we didn’t want to burden her with any more cats to deal with, since she already has a lot of vet bills. What are we to do?
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Old House, or Traditional Office Building?

The building where Sue Ann works in Austin has a nice courtyard, but it’s still a corporate office. Click to see her actual window. Luckily she has a window.

Yesterday our city had a major water line break which caused an outage of water to the entire city, except those few who have wells in city limits (Thanks Dad!). I think that the water was restored sometime yesterday evening between 6 and 8. So here I am this morning at the office bleeding the water lines, and watering our green friends who are not very pleased that they missed the regular Wednesday shower. If you have read any of my blogs about our office, you know my opinion is that it is the most perfect office that ever officed. I did start to think though about what would kinds of  buildings are appropriate for what types of offices. This could go into a whole year long blog series, I am sure, but for now, I want to look at 2 of them. Old house offices as opposed to a building devoted for offices. Both of which I have experience with, so while this is an opinion, it is a more educated opinion.

Office Buildings as Offices

Let’s begin with buildings that are built with the sole purpose of being for offices. Companies that have several employees greatly benefit from having the space to accommodate more people. These usually consist of some actual closed-in offices, and open spaces for cubicles. You can fit more people into a workspace this way. Think about it like this. If you own a chain of stores and you have a main corporate office, which of these buildings make money? The corporate office is necessary for accounting, human resources, media, marketing, and those types of things, but the products you sell and make money on are at the stores. The stores are where your money is made. That is where you spend the money. You spend the money on those to make them bigger, cleaner, brighter, hold more equipment, and all of these wonderful things that we shoppers expect.

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