Comments on: A ruff job: Researching for ‘Dogs at Work’

By: Original Lori

Original Lori — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 12:05:57 +0000

So were set here. Bed, bowl, baby gate, chewy, treats for people to give him. He’s a little weirded out, but he’s being very good considering he’s never been here before.

Fingers crossed for no barking. :O)

By: Original Lori

Original Lori — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 20:18:18 +0000

Last thing, just fyi
http://www.takeyourdog.com/Get-Involved/
has a few posters you can download; one has a checklist (1)I don’t like to be petted (2)please ask before petting I can be shy (3)I love people, come give me a belly rub.

Granted I might have changed up the wording a bit, but still…it’s a good idea, I hung one up.

By: Gina Spadafori

Gina Spadafori — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 20:14:05 +0000

oh! Good point!

Still … CONGRATS. I wish our HR folks were softies.

By: Original Lori

Original Lori — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 20:12:43 +0000

I certainly will (possibly for my HR director). But I don’t think it will get here before tomorrow. :O)

By: Gina Spadafori

Gina Spadafori — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 20:07:49 +0000

Lori, that’s GREAT news!

You should BUY THE BOOK and I bet Liz and Jen will even sign it for you. (Liz lives in San Diego, but Jennifer lives near me in Sacramento. I see her fairly often.)

By: Original Lori

Original Lori — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 19:59:20 +0000

I take it all back,you just have to ask the softie HR guy and make sure all the big bosses are on vacation.

My stars aligned, and Kasey is coming in to work with me tomorrow. Any tips to make sure it goes smoothly?

By: Dorene

Dorene — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 22:03:07 +0000

Pepper goes with me when I’m doing consulting work — she either sits under the desk or in a window. I don’t take her to full committee meetings because some of the folks would get huffy, but since I wrote the grant for the local dog park, everyone just rolls their eyes and deals! ;-)

By: Shellie

Shellie — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 20:36:00 +0000

Dogs are not welcome in the hospital ER where I work, for what would seem to be obvious reasons. However, in the early days of the Iraq war, my husband, who is a reservist, was activated and sent overseas for 4 months. At the time, my youngest Lab, Gracie, was less than 5 months old, and was in process of being housetrained. I work 12-hour night shifts, and with travel time, I am away from home from 13-14 hours; far too long to crate a young pup. So I got a crate on wheels, and every night that I worked, I loaded crate, dishes, leash, toys, and dog into the back of my SUV, and off to work we went. I unloaded the whole shebang in the ambulance bay, parked the car, and went to work. The crate was kept covered with a blanket to shield it from wind, rain and prying eyes. Then, usually after midnight when things began to quiet down, I would find an empty room away from the commotion and wheel the crate and Gracie inside. She was quiet and cooperative, and she got a lot of visits from my co-workers. She got lots of walks, treats, and attention. A few times, if we had no patients in that section, she even got to play ball or fetch in the hallways. It was kind of an open secret; everyone (except for my manager) was aware, including the house supervisors who often camd down to the ER for some playtime. Gracie was none the worse for wear, and as a result, travels well and is very well-socialized. So even though the conditions weren’t ideal, it worked out well for all concerned.

By: Liz Palika

Liz Palika — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 18:48:07 +0000

I was working this morning so came in to these comments late. In regards to the questions, “What if?” and “How about?”

If a company has a dog or pet policy in place, and a committee to handle/enforce the policy - then all of these questions and/or problems are easily handled. One of the primary goals of the book was to help companies establish a dog/pet policy. With this - tailored to the individual company - in place, it’s much more difficult for people to feel disgruntled or unhappy.

We even supplied a number of examples of companies where the pet policy is working successfully.

When these are in place, when there is one person who doesn’t follow the rules, then that one person loses his/her right to bring her pet to work rather than everyone being punished.

It takes some work to get policies like this in place and the company management needs to be co-operative but it can work.

By: Janeen

Janeen — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 18:19:34 +0000

Yup. Leonbergers Loki and Zorro frequently accompanied me to work when I was a consultant working in a ten story office building.

I only took one of them to work with me at at time (having giants does present some limitations) and they spent most of the day under the large map table in my office.

Like Heather’s professor, my boss was generally unaware of their presence. Calm, quiet, well-behaved - the only time they created a problem was the day the landlord found out I’d brought in a dog - and neglected to stop by for a visit.