Dog Friendly Office Project Point 12: Moving Around the Office

In the spirit of ‘Enriching the Workplace with Your Dog" at free stitch, we started the ‘Dog Friendly Office Project’ in September 2019.

Since then, we have listened to the feedback from our customers about how their workplaces view bringing pets to work and we have created a set of guidelines for our staff who come to the office with their pets.

Through a series of blog entries, we hope to expand on and explain some of the reasoning behind the guidelines that we created in the consent form. 

In our previous blog posts, we explained some of the logic behind setting the rules written in our guidelines for bringing pets to work. In our following series of blogs, we would like to focus on some of the precautions we should take while your pet is with you in the office. 

In our last blog, we looked at the third point of the office guidelines; ‘If your pet is experiencing shedding or hair loss, please have your pet wear appropriate clothing to minimise debris’.

In this blog, we will examine rule 4 of the office regulations; ‘if you need to leave the designated pet area without your pet, please leave them in a playpen or ask another member of staff to supervise your pet’.  

In the free stitch office, many of our staff members use a playpen or fence around their desk, or bring a travel bag for their dog to stay under their feet - this is easy-to-use and gives your pet comfort and security in knowing their territory, as well as keeping them safe. 

Yet of course there are still times when our staff need to leave their desk, the room or office. At those times we ask a colleague to watch our pets while we are away. It is a good idea to pair up with someone in the office who you can rely on to take turns keeping an eye on each others’ pets. 

In an ideal situation, your pet should be comfortable with the person who is looking after them if they are a familiar face. Sometimes our pets get nervous in a new environment and may become overly-anxious, bark or panic, so it is important that the owner choose a responsible colleague who can help calm the pet down and put them into a play pen or bag where they feel comfortable. At free stitch, we encourage training to help pets calm down in times of stress and to carefully guide them back to their safety zone, such as a bag or playpen. It is important to keep an open channel of communication with your colleagues to ensure your pet is kept safe, secure and calm when visiting the office.

In the next post, we will discuss point 5 of the office regulations; ‘be careful not to damage the building furniture and fixtures, etc. If any damage occurs, you may be required to bear the cost of repair or replacement’.

For more information on the dog friendly office project, please click here.

Check out the Dog-friendly Office Project on SNS