Dogs in the workplace

[Strumpetpumpet]

i work in a fairly small open plan office. One of the directors has taken to bringing his dog into work - not every day, just on days when he can’t get a dog sitter. I have some allergies though mainly to cats, rabbits etc though some dogs have affected me in the past, but I’m just not a dog person, I’m not used to them and I don’t particularly like them, and I don’t think it’s appropriate to have dogs in the workplace obviously apart from guide dogs. If I had known there would be a dog in the office I wouldn’t have taken the job. Do I have any rights to object or should I just start looking for another job?

I love having hounds about the workplace.
having said that they should be contained,
out of the way and not molesting anyone.

DH and I run our own business, and our two dogs are in the office all day. They get spoiled rotten by both staff and customers! I've got a few regulars who never ask how I am but they always ask after the dogs

Just, no (guide dogs excepted).

How many days do they take their dog in with them?

I think dogs being present really helps most peoples well being- I think they add to team bonding and manage stress.

Yet I also understand that it they make you on edge (I can only compare to my absurd hatred of people bringing in cakes and biscuits for the group, I hate it and it causes me great stress etc but wouldn't say anything due to the backlash- despite the majority of the staff complaining about their weight etc etc)
If it is a non essential work thing which you should not have to endure which is causing you stress then yanbu

I think it’s become more commonplace, even my GP’s surgery has two dogs.

I love dogs so an office dog would make me happy but I think you should look for another job; if the dog belongs to a director then I doubt much will change.

Wouldn't it be brilliant if children could be crate trained though? 🫨

I work in a nursery and our manager brings her dog in most afternoons at the moment as they have no one at home for it.
It is a gentle Labrador and the children love him but I do find it a pain when I am in the middle of circle time, trying to get the children focused, and suddenly the dog bounds in the middle of the carpet wagging it’s tail and sniffing all the children. The whole activity goes to pot.

It wanders around, mithering people to play with it, barks, tries to eat paper clips, lies across the room so you have to step over it. It’s a flaming nuisance

Fair enough, you don’t have to like me or trust me, but I don’t like dogs. Why should your feelings trump mine?

This is nonsense.

There are a whole load of dog owners who are bloody awful, as in any subsection of people. Look at all the owners who let their dogs shit everywhere for starters.

In a nursery? That's not appropriate.

Does the nursery insurance cover an incident caused by the dog?

Our nursery owner used to bring her dogs. I can't stand dogs but it was all above board and very well organised - it was actually a plus for me to help the DC get used to dogs. Mine DC don't like dogs either and it was really well managed.

ETA the dogs certainly never joined circle time though! Just went on their outings and then sat in the office.

I work in a nursery and our manager brings her dog in most afternoons at the moment as they have no one at home for it

That's awful.

I LOVE dogs. I'd be absolutely furious if I found out my child's nursery was doing this and I'd report it (and the owner) to every single person/agency I possibly could.

I think this obsession with dogs and the constant refrain about dogs being good for mental health is tedious. I don't like dogs. They are often smelly, shed hair and some people are frightened of them. They should not be in the workplace.

As I have a mild dog allergy, when our office floated a “bring your dog to work” day I asked to wfh that day. It only happened once though.

Also have a dog phobia, because my dog allergy is inherited and there are people in my family who go to hospital after being in a place with dogs, so growing up we never spent time with them.

It's bonkers. If this happened in my workplace I would be asking to WFH due to allergies and would be prepared to take it as far as necessary . I'm not allergic but it's the accepted excuse to avoid the vile things, apparently you can't just say you hate them being anywhere around you, and the stink of them, particularly in an enclosed space. Absolutely bonkers, and I wonder about the legal situation if anyone was made ill or was bitten etc.

You're obviously not old enough to remember playpens...

You should raise it. My office doesn't allow dogs, but all general chit chat suggests people would be really happy if we were allowed to bring in dogs. Therefore, if management said tomorrow that I was allowed to bring my dog in, I'd do it, partly because I'd think everyone would be excited!

If I realised it made people uncomfortable I'd of course rethink, so if you don't say it (gently and respectfully), no one's a mind reader!

We have welfare dogs that we can book out to spend time with, I love it, but appreciate others don't. It's poor of your company to not consider your feelings about this.

Sick of dogs everywhere. My dds workplace welcomed dogs until they had to close for two days because the office got infested with fleas.

I did a couple of days primary supply teaching in a classroom that had a cage in the corner. The kids told me it was for their usual teacher’s dog. Later some of them told me the dog had recently pissed on the classroom’s carpet when out of the cage. I was surprised the Headteacher allowed a pet dog to be in the classroom on a daily basis. Apart from the hygiene issues, it would surely be tricky for the school if the dog bit one of the children.

That is exactly what happened in my office and there are dogs too

Are you reading skills really so poor that you didn’t see the part where I acknowledged it was a generalisation?

When I was at university (vet school) there was a strictly no animals/animal handling clothing in the non clinical areas, for health and safety/allergy reasons. They had obviously done a risk assessment. It certainly comes into play with peanut allergies on planes/in schools etc.

Unless you had a diagnosed allergy or dog phobia, I’m not sure how far you could go getting things changed, especially if your boss brings in the dog. Is it possible to ask to move your desk to a different area of the office?