To love it when colleagues bring their dogs to work and want them to do it more often?

[Natsku]

I work in a factory and people sometimes bring their dogs in (not on the factory floor of course but in the office side or other rooms where they can safely be - today there's two in the women's shower room) and I love it so much as do many others. But I suppose there's a chance there's some people in the building that don't like dogs/scared of them/are allergic so don't like it, though no one has complained yet.

Most of the factory is on holiday this month so I am strongly encouraging people to bring dogs in while its quiet and less people to potentially be bothered, so I can get some canine cuddles when I need a break from work.

This is for @GotALionInMyPocket , I don't know what's happening to my connection today 😖 .

The people I work with certainly aren't shy to complain when I put Spice Girls on

Why are some dog owners so obsessed with bringing their dogs everywhere?

Dogs and babies Should not be brought to work

That's what everyone says. And all dogs smell.

At least most dogs are able to be quiet. I have lost count of the number of times someone is bringing their baby in to ‘meet’ everyone and it starts crying. Meanwhile the parent is smiling indulgently, seemingly unaware that some people are actually trying to work.

I've told my son I will come back and haunt him if he puts me in a care home where they have dogs visiting the residents. Lucky them, when they often won't be in a position to say they don't want it or to tell it to go away.

Before my office moved to its current open plan location it had "capsule" offices so it was possible to close a door and have a dog in that office. Plus the fact I worked there during covid when hardly anyone was in for months anyway. But I think all the offices are open plan now so I don't know what happens if colleagues don't want dogs around.

And when they don't just keep it in one place so you go and coo if you are interested, they "visit" all the open plan desks and you have to pretend to be interested.

Because they are too lazy to train them to leave when they can be left and too tight-fisted to pay for care for them when they can't be.

Aside from the allergy angle (of which I’m a sufferer) and the fact that some people just don’t like dogs, it’s objectively absurd that dogs should be in an office. I’m staggered a professional workplace would even contemplate it.

If someone is bringing in their dog, then I should be able to bring in DD. She can sit at a desk and do some colouring, and it’ll save me the cost of holiday club.

Of course, I wouldn’t actually do that, because it’s really stupid and inappropriate.

Oh god yes. Having to feign a developing cold was always handy, I used to smoke many many years ago when it was acceptable to nip out for one mid morning/mid afternoon and that was always a good way to escape 😬

People bring their dogs into my office. There is a system that you “book” in a teams chat so there is supposed to only be one dog per day. I loathe it. The dogs wander around and come over to me all the time when I am try to concentrate on documents. There is a stair gate that has to be closed which is a pain to open and close if you’re holding something. Occasionally one of these dogs pees on the floor. Even if the dog isn’t near me they are pestering other colleagues and it’s disruptive. They mentioned dogs at the interview but said the dogs wouldn’t wander around and I didn’t realise how annoying it would be.

Previous work a colleague had a seeing eye dog so I guess she set the bar too high for dog behavior.

Dog owners managed perfectly fine up until ten years ago. Now everyone insists that they have to go everywhere.

That would be my worst nightmare - how can that be allowed? It's one thing for them to sit quietly under your desk but to be allowed to wander round and hassle people is wild.

I'd insist on working from home all the time.

I bet the owners don't clean up after them either and the poor cleaners have to do it.

Of course it’s allowed if the business owners allow it. I realised when I started my old job that it was either put up or find another job. It’s ideal if they say before any job offer but they don’t always.

They also don’t have to let people work from home - plenty of places don’t. It’s like every other aspect of working life - if you don’t like it, move on

Random dogs aren’t necessarily any more irritating than arsehole colleagues or baby ‘visits’

I think it should be made explicitly clear on job adverts if there is a dog in the workplace. Would save my time applying.

I'm not sure if I hate this more than when people bring their babies in or not

I'm sure. Babies are humans, our own species. Dogs are shitty stenchy slobbery mutants who can, and do, bite, and often leave poo and piss on the floor.

I think it's more the dog or baby owners I was talking about. But yep, definitely!

Have you started building your "dog simulator" machine yet?

Of course it's more irritating. Colleagues are paid to do a job and you are paid to do a job with them so you might find them annoying but it's your job to work with them (within reason). People only bring their babies in very occasionally - I might see one a year.

If a dog is constantly hassling you when you should be working, how are you meant to get a job done?

If you apply for a job and they allow dogs, then you don't apply if you don't like them and they don't allow WFH.

But if a workplace changes its policy then they have to think very carefully how it affects existing employees. If someone is forced to resign because they are constantly being hassled by colleagues' dogs, I think that's constructive dismissal.

And job adverts need to make clear so you don't waste time applying.