Dogs in offices

[ApplePenPineapplePen]

RANT: I do not understand how or why it became acceptable for people in office jobs to take dogs to work. A workplace is no place for pets. Get a dogsitter or don't have a pet or change job. I don't want their hounds near me i don't want their hairs on my office chair. Am I being unreasonable to think the starting position should be no animals in offices? Rant over.

More calmly, I have 2 reasons that I want to avoid dogs - a severe allergy plus a previous dog attack leaving me generally nervous and stressed around dogs. Work is aware of my allergy and now office returns are being discussed, some measures are in place to minimise my exposure.

But what if that weren't the case though and I just didn't like them? Is it for the individual to check if there are animals in the office before they accept the job? Or should employers disclose in job ads?

Of course I exclude guide dogs/hearing dogs or similar.

AIBU to think the default position should be no dogs in offices?

Ugh. I actually love dogs and had a dog for 14 years.

But no - unless they're very well trained (like guide dogs for example) I could think of nothing worse. A sleepy trained greyhound in the corner doing nowt - maybe, a cocker poo who is not trained and bored stupid omg carnage.

Lol at all the dog people on here saying "ooooh dogs are lovely they should be allowed everywhere". How blinkered.

I've worked in a couple of places with multiple dogs. To be fair though they were ad agencies in giant lift/warehouse style offices with ping pong tables and lots of sofas.

The dogs mostly lazed around on their beds or sat with their owners.

I do understand your concern though, I think it depends on the environment, I'm currently on contract at a very old school government agency and there's absolutely no way dogs would be allowed.

I love dogs but ideally worry about people with allergies.

A colleague of mine is severely anaphylactic to dogs. To the point if I have too much dog hair on my trousers and she sits in the same room as me she starts wheezing, needs her inhaler and sometimes an epipen. She would die if there was a dog in the office.

I posted earlier about how this becoming the norm would impact on rush hour tubes buses etc. And what happens in high rise buildings in the event of emergency.

Any thoughts?

What’s the impact on rush hour tubes and buses? No one is going to try to squeeze a German Shepherd or a St Bernard on a rush hour tube or bus, and smaller dogs will be carried (as is already the case). Dogs that don’t behave well in small spaces or are poorly trained aren’t going to be the ones commuting to offices. And dog owners will adapt their hours/commute to the dog because they care about them and don’t put them in a dangerous or stressful environment.

As to high rise buildings and evacuations, that’s a company & building risk assessment issue and will be in the rules somewhere about what is and isn’t allowed and best practice. Total overthink on that - if animals in the building are deemed dangerous to the evacuation procedure then they’ll not be allowed in the first place.

If you have hit a wrong link on Amazon, one of the Amazon dogs appear and it says "oops, wrong page" or something. You can click on the dog from there and see the whole gallery of Amazon dogs and who owns them. Divine!

Ah, thank you Shiny! I just thought the Amazon dogs were a cute bad link pic - next time I will click through

There's a time and place for dogs (excluding assistant dogs) and an office is one neither are shops or restaurants. I now don't go into a shop if a dog is in. However dogs in a pub in a walking area is a huge yes. Yanbu.

@Chicchicchicchiclana

Lol at all the dog people on here saying "ooooh dogs are lovely they should be allowed everywhere". How blinkered.

And also the "I prefer dogs to people" folk - why do they have such shit relationships with humans? I'd bet my bottom dollar it's then that's the problem.

@CovidCorvid

I love dogs but ideally worry about people with allergies.

A colleague of mine is severely anaphylactic to dogs. To the point if I have too much dog hair on my trousers and she sits in the same room as me she starts wheezing, needs her inhaler and sometimes an epipen. She would die if there was a dog in the office.

Yeah but mummy needs Fido around so why can't she just gEt oVEr It (not how I really feel but there's some evil pricks on this thread who'd still fight for the right to kill your friend because they are too selfish and irresponsible to sort out doggy day care)

No one is going to try to squeeze a German Shepherd or a St Bernard on a rush hour tube or bus, and smaller dogs will be carried (as is already the case). Dogs that don’t behave well in small spaces or are poorly trained aren’t going to be the ones commuting to offices. And dog owners will adapt their hours/commute to the dog because they care about them and don’t put them in a dangerous or stressful environment.

@NoSquirrels I think you're seriously over estimating how much these dog people care and are considerate of other humans. So many people on this thread have already said badly trained dogs who shit and piss everywhere are full time in offices. Many people have said they don't really care about people with allergies, they still think they should have the right to bring their dog in. If I've learnt anything over the years, people dog-mad enough to do these things do not give a flying fuck about other humans

Why is there now this expectation that all dogs should be accommodated everywhere? It’s great that dogs aren’t being left alone for long as that is wrong but folk decide to get a dog then expect everything else that went before to stop and it’s ALL about the dog.
I have two cats but I don’t talk about their every whim in great detail to all and sundry. Dominating a conversation in such a way about anything is just rude!
Most of my friends have dogs now but only one is well trained. Another is pretty decent but barks at any other dog. The rest are a pain in the arse and I’m angry at the owners for letting them get that way.
I welcome them all into my home but:

• I do not want them on the furniture
• I do not want them upstairs
• I do not want them in garden unsupervised so owner doesn’t know where they’ve shat
• I do not want owner sitting getting hammered whilst dog rolls around in its own shit then comes and sniffs round the bbq 🤮
• I do not want your dog constantly barking
• I will not speak to dog in baby language
• I will not speak about the dog other than in passing, I do not want it to dominate our conversation
• I do not want dog jumping up on me or the kids
• I do not want your dog chewing my broom
• and I most certainly do not want your dog trying to shag my leg all night.

And being outside isn’t much better. I have witnessed among my pals with dogs:

• letting it off leash on a beach where it ran amok, knocked over a kid and ran through a family having a picnic, which was subsequently ruined
• letting it off leash where it ran into a field of cows and got kicked.
• having it on extendable leash and almost garrotting a passing cyclist who fell off his bike
• just trying to walk beside a dog on one of those leashes is hopeless as it constantly crosses back and forth in front of you like a moveable tripping hazard
• running in front of my bike
• jumping up on me whilst out for a run
• being chased down by two dogs whilst out on bike in park where they attacked me
• constant shouting on dog so you can’t have a proper conversation without interruptions
• carrying a massive stick about six feet long then running past folk whacking them with it
• jumping up with muddy paws and ruining clean clothes for the day
• leaving dog shit

All this and I still like dogs but the entitled owners need a good slapping

And to add, I am not scared of any dog and despite never owning one I can get them to do exactly what I want (something I think I inherited from my Dad who had to do deliveries and could control any dog with one command). Lazy owners who humanise their dogs, talk in baby language to them then complain about how hard it is to train them - arggghhhhhhh! I’m having issues with latest ‘pal to get a dog’ as she keeps foisting it on our every encounter. She actually handed me a dog biscuit and then said in baby language to the dog ‘looky wooky, Voluptua is going to give you a treat if you’re good and give her a paw’. This was done without my asking or me showing any interest. She just plopped biscuit in my hand. And this is when we were sat at a cafe with cake and coffee. Bleugh. The dog had just been eating horse shit and she expects me to feed it at the table when the waitress has just sanitised everything. Just fuck off!

@Voluptuagoodshag god that is all SO relatable! There's a thread at the moment going where the OP is being trashed about being annoyed that her friends dogs dominate their walks and that post would be very useful on there!

How scary that you were attacked on a bike. I have a similar story about exH that ended up with the police at our door about 7 years ago.

He was out cycling on a PROW with DD on the back of his bike (she was 2 and in one of those wee seats), 2 Collies were bounding up to him with the owner 30m away shouting "stay still, they go for things that move fast" oh sorry didn't know everyone has to freeze because of your badly trained mutts. Anyway he didn't stop and the collies came up to him and started biting his feet and ankles. DD was screaming behind him and his first thought was obviously "protect my child" so he started kicking them both in the face with his bleeding foot. He did do damage as they were wimpering and scuttled off. The owner went absolutely mental, and followed exH back to the (nearby) car and reported the Reg to the police.

The next day we had a knock and 2 officers at our door saying exH had "staged an unprovoked attack on 2 dogs" 🤣🤣🤣 we laughed and then proceeded to show the officers the wounds, followed by the leaflet exH had been given at hospital after having been jabbed and stitched, on caring for dog bite wounds.

The police were absolutely furious and called the owner from our living room asking why they missed out the part where his dogs badly but exH. He protested "well it's his own fault, I told him to stay still" we in turn made a counter report but never did find out if the dogs were PTS (I hope they were, not sorry)

🤣🤣 And breathe.......

I agree with you though.

My daughter says it was common for lecturers to bring their dogs in at uni but I haven't experienced this in my workplace.
There is this wellbeing theory that having pets with us at work helps reduce stress, but I would find it stressful as my dog would be trying to get in everyone's knee and she is petrified of other dogs.

The whole "dogs destress" theory is probably correct in general but if you are the other end of the scale and have a phobia or allergy then the destressing theory poses the exact opposite risk and therefore it's not a blanket approach workplaces should be taking

Many dog people are too blinkered and selfish to realise that not everyone loves their slobbering pooch. Pets and children have no place at work.

@FrangipaniDeLaSqueegeeMop

No one is going to try to squeeze a German Shepherd or a St Bernard on a rush hour tube or bus, and smaller dogs will be carried (as is already the case). Dogs that don’t behave well in small spaces or are poorly trained aren’t going to be the ones commuting to offices. And dog owners will adapt their hours/commute to the dog because they care about them and don’t put them in a dangerous or stressful environment.

@NoSquirrels I think you're seriously over estimating how much these dog people care and are considerate of other humans. So many people on this thread have already said badly trained dogs who shit and piss everywhere are full time in offices. Many people have said they don't really care about people with allergies, they still think they should have the right to bring their dog in. If I've learnt anything over the years, people dog-mad enough to do these things do not give a flying fuck about other humans

20+ years in London and I’ve never seen a badly behaved dog on the tube or a bus. Let alone in rush hour. I think this is just hysteria, honestly.

I would sue for constructive dismissal if they made me share an office with a dog present. Out of order.

@PanamaPattie

Many dog people are too blinkered and selfish to realise that not everyone loves their slobbering pooch. Pets and children have no place at work.

There's another thread running which is hilarious it's full of dog people who genuinely believe other people are "delighted" to be in the company of their dog, and also their dog never smells 😂😂

We are a laid back charitable sector office and tried being liberal and welcoming about dogs in the office.

It lasted a week.

People complained in confidence, but felt bad and were guilt tripped and ganged up on if they spoke publicly against it, very divisive.

You could smell them.

One always licked someone just as they were about to answer a call or whatever and felt their hand was unhygienic

The need for walks during the day

The cleaners complained about the hair and said they needed extra time

Distraction

The office became All About The Dogs for the dig owners

More smell

Dogs farting

Drooling

Scratching

Smell

Etc etc.

The same goes for public spaces - the abuse you get for objecting to dogs jumping etc is enough to shut people up. It needs to become socially unacceptable..

The thought of taking my energetic, face licking, hair shredding, furniture nibbling Labrador to the office sounds like a nightmare. Would not get any work done