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AIBU?

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Original poster

About office dog

179 replies

onesupplied · 03/04/2017 20:16

Name changed as it's identifying.

I work in an open plan office. A new manager has recently started bringing her dog to work, which has free roam of the place.

My problem is that I hate dogs; in fact I am scared of them. I got bitten when I was a kid and have always been nervous around them. Aside from the fact that it makes me nervous, it smells, keeps nosing around in people's belongings and my colleagues think it's hilarious that I'm scared and keep mocking me.

It's a reasonably formal office with around 40 employees.

AIBU to think that the office is not a place for a dog?

OP posts:
KindleBueno · 04/04/2017 07:56

Not that it should matter but is it chihuahua league or Great Dane?

Badgersarefriends · 04/04/2017 07:59

Please remember that dogs kill and maim on a regular basis

I am really sorry about your daughter and understand your fears now.

That statement is just not true however. Dogs are very low down on the risk of things that kill and maim us.

Kerberos · 04/04/2017 08:10

We have dogs at work in an office. It's weird but I'm OK with it as they're all on leads and very well behaved. Mostly snoring under tables :)

Anyone who joins the company is warned of the dog policy and so far there have been no issues at all. So it can work out fine if it's carefully managed with rules in place.

However this isn't the case where you are so if it's a real problem for you then I'd consider finding a new job. From my very limited experience bringing in HR in a small company is pointless.

Violetcharlotte · 04/04/2017 08:12

I'm a dog lover so would love to be able to bring my dog to work. However it's not really practical in an office and can see why other people don't like it. The only people I know who do this are where it's a very small company and it's the owners dog. I think you need to have a word with your manager.

Badgersarefriends · 04/04/2017 08:30

You are more likely to be killed by a cow than a dog in the U.K.

death from dog attacks in the UK are in fact extremely rare, with 17 human deaths due to dog attacks since 2005 (eight years) from an estimated 8.5 million dogs. In comparison in 2011 alone, 2,412 children under the age of 16 were killed or seriously injured on the roads (17 per cent caused by drunk drivers), and on average, every week in England and Wales one child is killed at the hands of another person, and one baby is killed by other humans every 20 days. So why do dog attacks create so much more national anguish

TheWhiteRoseOfYork · 04/04/2017 08:40

Dogs in offices, OMG I must have led a sheltered life because I have never heard of this!

Thing is, your employers will say the problem is your phobia, not the dog. And you do have a phobia - your objections aren't rational or professional

It is hardly professional to have a dog around the office in the first place! How can you make phone calls if the dog starts barking? What if you get up from your chair and accidentally step on it? What if it trips you up? And if you switched phobia for allergy, would it be acceptable then? YANBU OP, but as others have said, it puts you in a difficult position because everyone will blame you if you complain.

Badgersarefriends · 04/04/2017 08:43

Its funny I suppose, thinking about what I find unprofessional in offices is what's considered 'normal'. I see people eating at desks, walking around in bare feet, personal phone calls.

I would love a dog in the corner.

kiwiblue · 04/04/2017 08:44

Dogs are allowed in our office and we were never asked if we were ok with it- it was just decided by management that it was the policy. I don't like them nosing around my feet and wandering round the kitchen licking things. Some people bring their dogs in most days.

JustSpeakSense · 04/04/2017 08:50

This thread is not about fear if dogs and overcoming it, or the dangers or dogs or lack thereof.

OP doesn't like dogs, she shouldn't have to put up with one in the workplace. When she started working there, there was no dog. Now there is.

I would be looking for another job.

Figglesticks · 04/04/2017 08:52

Poor dog being stuck in an office all day. Why did she get a dog knowing she couldn't look after it?

TheWhiteRoseOfYork · 04/04/2017 09:00

No shoes in the office is yuk, I would say that was unprofessional too! Eating at desks is a tricky one though, I often ate at my desk at my last place of work because although I was entitled to a lunch break there was always so much work that if I took time away from my desk it piled up! My company actually banned eating at desks for a while, then allowed it again because they found much more work got done!

The thing is, employers have to allow their employees to eat at some point, since food is a necessity. An office dog is not an employee or a necessity so should not have any rights at all, it certainly should not be put before the actual employee who has to be there.

Badgersarefriends · 04/04/2017 09:04

This thread is not about fear if dogs and overcoming it, or the dangers or dogs or lack thereof

Apologies thread police, I was responding to the poster who claimed that a reason for objecting was that dogs 'kill and maim all the time'

That is allowed actually, it's a flowing conversation...

LakieLady · 04/04/2017 09:04

YANBU.

If you had known that dogs were allowed in the workplace, would you have taken the job? Probably not.

I'd love to work somewhere where dogs were allowed and take my dog to work with me, but I wouldn't dream of inflicting her on other staff in a place where dogs hadn't previously been allowed.

I think you should speak to HR. I'm terrified of birds, and if some manager decided to bring their parrot to work and let it fly round the office, you wouldn't get me over the threshold.

NootNoot · 04/04/2017 09:07

My bosses dog pissed all over our belongings one afternoon- including a leather hand bag & someones lunch. It wasn't brought in again when it cost the boss over £300 to replace the destroyed goods. Some work places it's ok i.e a family farm, but I think an office is not ok.

Sprungout · 04/04/2017 09:27

Why doesn't the dog owner pay for dog day care instead of getting colleagues to do it for free. I love dogs. I would hate this.

flashheartscanoe · 04/04/2017 09:34

I think you should send your boss an email.
Just state clearly that you have a dog phobia due to a childhood trauma and that you will need the dog kept x distance away from you at all times. You can express regret but just lay it out factually.
She is your manager if you tell her what you require it's pretty hard for her to ignore.

DanDanDanDanDan · 04/04/2017 10:25

If this was the owner I'd say you have to suck it up, but who the fuck just brings a dog to work??

I'd bring my kids in, see how they like that... way more damage.

Mulledwine1 · 04/04/2017 10:31

I would stay at home until the dog was removed. How can this possibly be justified?

Dogs do not belong in offices. Unless it's the Dog's Trust or something but I wouldn't apply for a job there!

Badgersarefriends · 04/04/2017 10:31

Did anyone read my link? Smile
It names lots of companies who allow it.
My dds school has a couple of dogs there (and cats).

DanDanDanDanDan · 04/04/2017 10:33

I don't think it really "improves wellbeing" if a member of staff is scared to death and being bullied though

Badgersarefriends · 04/04/2017 10:42

That wasn't really my point (although the research does look positive).
It was to the posters who said that they have never heard of it and it's 'unprofessional' etc.

Some pretty big and successful companies encourage it.

Lespritdelsietanner · 04/04/2017 10:50

I'm horribly allergic to dogs and contact triggers breathing difficulties as well as swollen eyes/face etc. For that reason I avoid dogs as far as possible but a dog at work would be hard to avoid I think. In no way would it promote my well being.

OP - I really feel for you. It sounds like you are being stonewalled and your fear, which is reasonable and justified, is being minimised.

Can you ask to be moved to a separate space where you can be separated from the dog by a closed door?

Badgersarefriends · 04/04/2017 10:51

Surely they have to provide a dog free area if requested?

If management aren't aware, they can't do anything.

heron98 · 04/04/2017 10:55

YANBU.

I would HATE this.

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