Bringing your dog to work with you can be a fun way to spend more quality time together, what’s better than a office dog! Having your dog at work can help to lower your stress and might even make you more productive since you’ll spend less time worrying about what your pup is getting into at home alone. Although having your dog at work can be enjoyable, it can take some preparations to make the experience successful for you and your dog. If you’re considering bringing your dog to work with you, here are some tips to make the experience easier for both of you.
Train For Work:
Learning to focus on you and be relaxed in new places will help your dog to adapt to joining you in the office. One of the best ways you can help your dog succeed with coming to work with you is to teach your dog how to settle calmly in different environments. Being calm at home isn’t the same as being calm and relaxed in new and more distracting places. You can practice this skill in dog-friendly areas to teach your dog how to relax in novel environments. Outdoor seating areas at coffee shops, parks, and pet stores are all great places to practice relaxing. Have lots of small treats when you go out with your dog, and whenever your dog offers relaxed behavior like sitting, lying down, or looking your way, praise and treat your dog. When we reward behavior that we like, our dogs are more likely to offer that same behavior in the future.
Prep Your Workspace:
Before bringing your dog to work with you, it’s a good idea to prep your work area for your dog to join you in the office. Ensure that all your coworkers are on board with your dog coming to work and understand your expectations for engaging with your dog. For example, is it ok for your coworkers to pet your dog or give them treats? Communicate how you want people to interact with your dog to avoid confusion when your dog arrives at work with you. You’ll also want to set up an area for your dog in your office, cubicle, or work area. Prepare your office area with everything your dog needs, including a water bowl and a bed, mat, or other comfortable place to sleep and rest while you work. You’ll also want many treats to reward calm and quiet behavior and a dog-safe chew for occupying their mind and helping them settle and relax in the office. You can also bring some toys that your dog enjoys. Just try to pick quieter toys, not the loudest squeaky toys in the toybox to prevent your dog from distracting your coworkers.
Take Breaks:
When bringing your dog to work with you, don’t expect your dog to just go to the office with you and sleep under your desk quietly all day. Having your dog with you at work will be an adjustment for both of you. Plan many breaks to get your dog outside for a walk before returning to work. Try to bring your dog to the office on a day when you can easily take breaks, rather than a day you have lots of meetings or are on a serious deadline. Building breaks into your dog’s day at the office will help keep your dog from getting bored and restless. Taking breaks can also help keep your dog from becoming stressed or overwhelmed in the office.
Keep The Day Short:
It’s helpful to start bringing your dog to the office on a day when you can work a shorter shift or half day; with training or exposing our dogs to new experiences, we always want to keep our training sessions short and fun so our dogs can be successful. With training and new experiences less is usually more for our dogs. Pushing your dog to stay at work with you for a long day right away can get dogs overwhelmed and stressed. This can lead to an increase in disruptive behaviors you don’t want, like barking.
Make It Fun:
When bringing your dog to work with you, we want to make the workday as fun as possible for our dogs. Even if you are stressed and overwhelmed at work, we don’t want that to be the experience our dogs have when we bring them to the office with you. Our stress can rub off on our dogs and make them think that work isn’t a fun place to spend time with you. Bring toys and engage your dog in play while they are in the office with you. Have plenty of treats at your desk to reward your dog for calm behavior in your work area and for focusing on you. Not only will this help your dog to have more fun at work, but it can also decrease your work stress levels and make your workday more enjoyable.
