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?

@TwoLeftSocksWithHoles

1. If you allow dogs in offices it would have to be extended to everyone, (that could be exciting!)

1. To avoid any discrimination you would have to allow any pet to be brought into the office, e.g. cat, goldfish, crocodile, pony etc.

1. Those without a pet should be allowed to bring a friend to sit by their desk.

1. Those without a pet or a friend would have to sit in the corner.

No ‘have to’ about it. Pets aren’t covered by the EA(2010).

If the organisation wants to allow dogs, it can do so except where it breaches some other regulation. They could not be in commercial food storage areas, for example.

The CEO/business owner can decide that they can bring a dog, certain people above a specific grade can bring a dog, named dogs only, only certain breeds, only his/her own dog, only small dogs or only dogs with red collars. Nothing in law to stop it at all.

I don't like it because I can't breathe if I have to be close to a dog for longer than a moment.

imo it's shitty and selfish to impose your pet on other people that could be detrimental to their health.

I adore dogs and realise that not everybody does! The office is not the place I agree .Maybe some days they could work from home?

I can take my dogs to work any day.
I don’t because they are distracting and annoying and I spend more time worrying about them than I do anything else

A peanut butter sandwich could be detrimental to some people's health, but we don't ban them across the country just in case. Each workplace has to make reasonable adaptions to the people who work there.

If you hate dogs, are scared of dogs or are allergic to dogs I'd guess you wouldn't apply to work in a workplace where there are dogs!

However people try to sell it, sounds suspiciously like a lazy person’s way of escaping the cost and effort of organising for your pet to go to a good quality crèche when you are not there to look after it tbh. If you can’t care properly for your dog then you shouldn’t have one.

@newnortherner111

I have never come across a dog in an office, other than a guide dog or a hearing dog. Aside from behaviour and individual experiences of dogs being different, I understand that for Muslims dogs are not kept as pets and so I can imagine they would also not be happy.

Of course if you are wfh then up to you, and perhaps those offices with dogs should be considering how their team can at least wfh part of the time.

Lots of muslims have pets, including dogs. Muslims aren’t one identical lump.

I adore dogs and would love to take my dog to work, but it would be completely unfair on anyone with an allergy, particularly with asthma.

Occasionally we used to have guide dogs for the blind visit to fundraise and they brought dogs with them.

Outside that, I’d be very surprised to see dogs in an office.

Much rather have a dog at work than a baby.My old manager couldn't bear to put her child in childcare so brought her in with her every day until she was around 18 months,we were all expected to help look after her.

Is it fair on the dog to be sat in an office 40 hours a week?

@Sharpkat

I worked for a company that allowed dogs in the office. Was absolutely horrific. Spent half of my day falling over water bowls and getting tangled in leads. People could never make meetings as they had to walk the dog. Constant barking and the smell. I absolutely hated it.

This sounds like a nightmare! Pets of any kind do not belong in the workplace, IMO, except for guidedogs.

Fitting in with workplace culture is also important. In some workplaces, dogs are part of that culture.

No dogs are conveniences for other employees, so unless you actually work with animals as part of your job, you shouldn't have to fit round anything. Humans should be the priority in a workplace.

You've clearly never lived with a dog if you think they're always compliant, do as they're told or can't answer back. They definitely can answer back!

I grew up with dogs, we only ever had one particular breed and they were extremely compliant. Then again my mum was an extremely good trainer (I've often said she should charge for her services) - our dogs never jumped up at anyone, never licked anyone, never went on the sofas and never came upstairs. Their recall was close to perfect, they didn't chase cars, or birds, or bother other walkers. A very rare sight these days!

If you're consistent, you'd also think that anyone who loves babies is weird, because they're compliant, do as they're told (or can be manhandled into it) and can't answer back.

Babies certainly do answer back, it's just not in the form of the English language. Also, unlike dogs, everyone knows babies turn into children that will answer back using words. Dogs will always be compliant and obedient because frankly they rely on their owner to be fed and walked, and the power imbalance is wildly different to that of a parent and child.

@SuziQuatrosFatNan

It's bullshit. Usually introduced by someone senior enough that nobody argues who is either a pet fetishist or too tight to pay a walker. Hobbies - especially smelly tedious ones - should be kept out of the workplace.

Agreed - I'm amazed how off the Mark some people are when they think their subordinates are fine with their dog coming in. Nobody wants to defy the boss!

DH runs his own business and takes our dog to work with him everyday. I can bring her in with me if I need to.

She’s well behaved, chills in her bed most of the day, occasionally wanders out to greet customers (who love her and ask where she is if she doesn’t put in an appearance)

His employee is fine with it.

He is very clear that the dog is there and will continue to be there, if it doesn’t suit, people are free to not apply for any jobs he may have in the future.

@NiceGerbil

No one has said what happens in a high rise in an evacuation. Apart from an idea that it would be the same as someone with a guide dog who would put the dog on a lead and use the stairs. And hope no one tripped over the dog

That was me and TBF @NiceGerbil it was a stab in the dark because I don't have a fucking clue really 🤣

@Ijustknowitstimetogo

Hobbies

They are often members of people’s families, not just ‘hobbies’. Sometimes they’re a person’s only family member.

And I don't bring my family members into the office for the day, nor should other people

My mum used to take our dog to work, her boss took his 2 golden retrievers they sat in his office got long walks on breaks. Our dog was unfre my mums desk she didn’t bother people and service users didn’t access her office or area (or her) and her bosses dogs just used to sleep upstairs in his office if he was seeing clients (social work office) they had separate meeting rooms for clients.

I couldn’t take my dog to work, (nurse) however we do have a therapy dog who comes up. Our play specialist asks families first if they’d like to interact with him and they go to him rather than the dog plodding round the bays - we have asthmatics etc so it’s a choice to come and see him. My son is asthmatic and we have a dog, he isn’t triggered by animals at all.

I think it’s cruel to say people who don’t like dogs are off, I know many people who aren’t doggy people and they are lovely and entitled to not be into dogs. Having an office full of them would be a bit much, they do smell especially if you aren’t a doggy person, my family are, mum has 2 my sister has 2 and is a dog trainer (assistance dogs) and I have one who is just a puppy just now and in training. You cannot assume that everyone wants to be friends with your dog.

My DH works in a university and when we had a dog he would often take her to work. It wasn’t strictly allowed but more honoured in the breach etc, and she was a big hit with the admin staff - his PA kept treats in her drawers (of her desk) and always bought her a Christmas present. When in his office the dog would just chill under his desk.

@TwoLeftSocksWithHoles

1. If you allow dogs in offices it would have to be extended to everyone, (that could be exciting!)

1. To avoid any discrimination you would have to allow any pet to be brought into the office, e.g. cat, goldfish, crocodile, pony etc.

1. Those without a pet should be allowed to bring a friend to sit by their desk.

1. Those without a pet or a friend would have to sit in the corner.

Yes, wait until someone brings their gimp to work

How about a situation where you start in a job, there are no dogs. I declare I have allergies on a health form.
It’s a small office, one woman starts bringing a dog in surreptitiously as we are working on two floors. The staff change, more are dog owners. I’m coming in, coughing sneezing and wheezing. A client tells me they’ve seen 3 or 4 dogs in the building on a day I don’t work. I ask the manager, who owns a dog, and she denies bringing her dog in regularly.
Issue is they leave hair behind.
I ended up leaving after having an asthma attack at work. I saw a solicitor, but for me the trust was gone. This was at a small Charity.

And in my last workplace we would occasionally have police sniffer dogs round. I loved watching them.

For those who have severe allergies, do you also think that guide dogs shouldn’t be permitted in the office?

The behaviour of someone’s pet aside, if you have an allergy, then you have an allergy, and that allergy isn’t going to be less affected because it’s a guide dog rather than someone’s pet, so how do you reconcile that one?

Surely it’s not the fact that a dog is allowed inn, but the fact that said dog may not be well behaved.

if a dog is well behaved, comes into the office, sleeps on its bed and doesn’t get under anyone’s feet then what is the problem?

Not RTFT OP but I was talking about this yesterday - I had been on a work call and someone mentioned having taken their dog into the office last week.

As we start to talk about going back to offices, whether FT, PT or occasionally, I am now wondering how on earth I say I am not going into the office if dogs are there (barring guide/hearing dogs but to my knowledge none of my colleagues have one). I'll be a pariah in my dog-loving team if I say I don't like dogs (although my immediate boss has a cat so maybe she's not a dog person).

The other issue with taking dogs to work is having them on trains. And on the Tube and London buses. Yuck.

Offices are for humans.

Dogs in offices

Are brilliant. That's an office I wan to work in.

I thought the UK in general is reasonably dog-friendly and dog were allowed in pubs?