Preparing your colleagues
Preparing your colleagues
We all need to work in harmony! Make sure you have clear communication with your colleagues, agree in advance of how you will all work together when your pup is present.
Some things to think about might be:
Are your colleagues happy to have dogs at work?
Does anyone have an allergy who your dog may need to avoid?
Does everyone understand your dog’s needs and boundaries?
Will colleagues be tolerant of the occasional bark or a little mess? Accidents sometimes happen!
If your dog has any food allergies or intolerances, make sure your colleagues know about these, as well as what foods and substances are generally dangerous for dogs.
Day 1: Introducing your colleagues
The first time a dog comes into the office will be incredibly exciting for everyone, including your dog.
Ensure your dog isn’t crowded or feeling trapped at any time and be prepared to politely remind your colleagues how they should behave around canine colleagues.
Your dog might cope well with the first two or three visitors, but by the fourth or fifth, might begin to feel overwhelmed. Avoid this by paying close attention to your dog’s body language and communication signals. Don’t be afraid to ask your colleagues to come back a little later once your pooch is settled in.
Being able to recognise when a dog might be feeling worried or scared will help to keep you, your dog, and others safe.
If at any time you feel your dog needs some space, be sure to politely tell any would-be visitors to your desk. You could communicate this by saying things like “She’s a little tired now, perhaps we can come by your desk later when she’s feeling up for it” or “He’s a little overstimulated at the moment, I think he needs some quiet time”.
Avoiding illnesses
Zoonoses are diseases that can be transmitted from animals to humans. Sometimes dogs can be carriers of germs and can even spread them to humans without showing any signs of sickness themselves. The risk of dogs spreading disease is minimal, but may be slightly higher in people with a compromised immune system from disease or medication.
Therefore, it’s important to protect those around you from any potential bugs your dog could be carrying, particularly if you share a workspace with an immunosuppressed person. Be aware that immunosuppression is not always visible, so it’s always best to err on the side of caution and not assume everyone in your workplace has a strong immune system!
Some tips to help prevent spreading illness:
Don’t allow your dog to lick your, or others, faces
Practice good hand hygiene, washing hands after touching your dog, their bowls, or toys
Cleaning up accidents quickly and thoroughly with a good quality enzymatic cleaner
Regularly washing blankets and toys your dog uses to keep everything fresh and reduce any potential nasty germs hiding in them!
Doggy manners
If you are bringing your dog into the workplace, we know you will have already assessed and decided they are ready. But even the most well-mannered pups can slip up now and again. Remember, they are in a new environment where they don’t yet know the rules of engagement, so they might appear to act in a way that they wouldn’t at home. Let’s look at some possible problems and what to do if these situations arise.
Resource guarding:
If something is important to a dog, they might feel the need to protect or ‘guard’ it, which can lead to conflict, for example if the object in question belongs to one of your colleagues and they try to retrieve it, or another feisty fido fancies that particular object for themselves! It’s important to recognise your dog’s communication signals and act to prevent any problems developing around these items.
If your dog is eating (a treat or a chew for example), make sure your colleagues know not to approach, touch, or try to interact with them. Your dog is already in a new environment with lots of unknown people, so even if they are not protective of their food at home, their natural instincts could lead them to be more wary of strangers around their treats.
If your colleague drops something near your dog (for example a pen, a name tag) offer to retrieve it for them. If your dog goes for the object, distract them with a high value treat and move them away from the object, for example by tossing the treat away from your dog, before picking the object up and handing it to your colleague. If they have already grabbed it, this could be a good time to practice the “leave it” or “drop it” skill. Make sure to reward them with something very tasty when they do drop the object in question.
Be sure to avoid a “tug of war” that your dog might find very exciting and rewarding, as it may encourage them to steal objects in the future for this fun game!
Giving your dog attention
Dogs have evolved over thousands of years to observe, communicate with, and co-operate with humans – social connection with us is generally incredibly important for dogs. They will seek out our attention, often by gazing at us, vocalising for attention, or attempting to get up on our laps!
Make sure your colleagues understand that if they ‘reward’ your dog with attention, whatever your dog was doing at the time is more likely to keep happening! So, if they respond to that distraction of whining or pawing at their leg, your dog will continue to do it as they realised it works in getting them some attention! The best thing to do in this case is encourage your colleague to ignore attention seeking behaviour, and only look at and speak to your dog when they are sitting quietly and not demanding attention with unwanted behaviour.
