Dogs in the Workplace - good or bad?

[Mize]

They're a distraction and depending on the job can be a saftey hazard, no matter how obediant it is.

We should also forbig hot chicks from the workplace then (they're a distraction and a safety hazard as well - I can attest to that).

 

[Joe DeFuria]

We should also forbig hot chicks from the workplace then

No...forbid horney males.

 

[Mize]

No...forbid horney males.

Actually I think the "need to impress" component of attractive coworkers is a catalyst for better performance. Too bad it often leads to soap operas.

 

[mkillio]

I think well behaved dogs should be every where.

 

[Bouncing Zabaglione Bros.]

Some people don't like dogs, so why should they have them forced upon them at the workplace? After all, where will it end? Can people bring cats to work? What about pet lizards and snakes? What about big spiders? If I don't like dogs, can I bring my tarantulas to work to freak other people out? Does it become a hostile workplace based on the cuteness of the pet?

It's bad enough when people want to live with animals in their homes, let's not have it foisted on the people they work with too, eh? It's the same reason smoking is banned in the workplace in most countries and buildings - you can't have one person exercising his rights by ignoring everyone else's rights.

 

[Mize]

Actually, employees have very few "rights" in the workplace - privacy doesn't apply, neither does freedom of speech - anyway, my take on it is occassional visits are fine as long as nobody has a problem with it. If someone has a fear or severe allergy I can make sure they're not exposed (large enough space with offices and air handling).

Hey, if Google can manage it...

 

[function]

Worker allergy is a good reason to keep them out, but that aside I'm sure their presence is positive. Comparisons to smoking are largely void - dogs don't cause tens of thousands of none-dog owner deaths a year through cancer.

I've always found animals to be far more predictable than people.

 

[Althornin]

Some people don't like dogs, so why should they have them forced upon them at the workplace? After all, where will it end? Can people bring cats to work? What about pet lizards and snakes? What about big spiders? If I don't like dogs, can I bring my tarantulas to work to freak other people out? Does it become a hostile workplace based on the cuteness of the pet?

It's bad enough when people want to live with animals in their homes, let's not have it foisted on the people they work with too, eh? It's the same reason smoking is banned in the workplace in most countries and buildings - you can't have one person exercising his rights by ignoring everyone else's rights.

Slippery Slope fallacy - "OMGZ0RZ WHERE WILL IT END?!?!??!"

You do not have animals "forced" on you at work.
Work is not a "right", it is a privledge.
If you do not approve of your office rules, then work to change them or QUIT and get a new job.

I'm tired of this whiny attitude that everything is a right. Most things aren't rights. And if you don't like the rules where you work, it IS your right to work ELSEWHERE.

 

[Diplo]

I'm tired of this whiny attitude that everything is a right. Most things aren't rights. And if you don't like the rules where you work, it IS your right to work ELSEWHERE.

Actually, most countries have a large number of rules and regulations that employers are obliged to follow for the health and safety of their workers. This is not the Victorian age where we send children down chimneys, y'know? Animals in the workplace are un-sanitary, un-healthy and carry the risk of disease, distraction and allergy. The idea that employers can force whatever conditions they like upon the workforce is a rather dated concept that only endures in 3rd world sweatshops.

 

[Mize]

Actually, most countries have a large number of rules and regulations that employers are obliged to follow for the health and safety of their workers. This is not the Victorian age where we send children down chimneys, y'know? Animals in the workplace are un-sanitary, un-healthy and carry the risk of disease, distraction and allergy. The idea that employers can force whatever conditions they like upon the workforce is a rather dated concept that only endures in 3rd world sweatshops.

Actually, humans are many times more "unsanitary" than dogs (proven many times over) and you don't have to worry that only 17% of them wash their hands after taking a dump and then handle door knobs and coffee pots. Dogs also aren't carriers of the vast majority of human diseases, period.

Studies have shown that dogs in the workplace increase productivity and decrease worker stress (though obviously not yours).

As to "rights in the workplace" I don't think worker protections include protection from there simply being a dog in an office over there. I have enough explosive and toxic gases in my company to blow the building up and kill a few blocks radius. That's legal. I also have furnaces running at well over 1000 C and machines and stuff that's really scary!

If I as an employer elect to allow an employee to bring a dog to work then you, as another employee, have the right to tell me why it bothers you. In legal precedence, if I don't conform to your requests you have a right to sue me. If you have allergies and are forced to work in close proximity, you might win. If you have a psychological phobia of dogs and are forced to do likewise, you might win.

Chances are, however, that I'd just tell you to move your office to another part of the building and you'd have no case so your option would be to quit. If you weren't a key employee it would be great by my estimate since average employees are harder than sticky shit on a shoe sole to get rid of

 

[digitalwanderer]

I find dogs in the work place cut down greatly on un-needed distractions.

Rascal keeps all salesmen away from me.

 

[Altcon]

Personally I think dogs (well-behaved ones) lower stress and make for a better work environment. But I'm a "dog person" so I'm biased. What do you think?

I'm a dog lover myself, and when an occasional dog wonders into the shop with his owners I mess around with 'em. But a premenant dog would not be welcome and would probably hamper my work (and scare me shitless about all the sensitive components...).
Can't have it all...

 

[Diplo]

Actually, humans are many times more "unsanitary" than dogs (proven many times over) and you don't have to worry that only 17% of them wash their hands after taking a dump and then handle door knobs and coffee pots.

Riiiiiiiight. I don't know about where you live but I don't often see humans eating their own excrement or shitting all over the pavement, parks and pissing up lamp posts. Neither do I see many humans sniffing each others arses, slobbering drool everywhere or getting out their "lipstick" and trying to shag anything that moves (apart from a Saturday night in town, of course!). Humans also tend not to eat any old crap off the floor, nor do they tend to lick you after eating rotting meat. Humans generally don't carry flees nor do they deposit great masses of hair everywhere. I also don't know of any cases of humans being literally (rather than metaphorically) alergic to another human, yet many people are badly alergic to various animals.

As I say, unless you work in the fur trade in China then you shouldn't be seeing dogs at work, period!

 

[Bouncing Zabaglione Bros.]

Slippery Slope fallacy - "OMGZ0RZ WHERE WILL IT END?!?!??!"

You do not have animals "forced" on you at work.
Work is not a "right", it is a privledge.
If you do not approve of your office rules, then work to change them or QUIT and get a new job.

I'm tired of this whiny attitude that everything is a right. Most things aren't rights. And if you don't like the rules where you work, it IS your right to work ELSEWHERE.

So you'd be happy about one of your employees bringing in a pet snake or spider? Or are dogs a special case because you happen to like them?

This isn't about "slippery slope", this is about allowing pets in the workplace. If you allow dogs, why not cats, snakes, pot-bellied pigs, spiders or anything else?

 

[Mize]

I'm a dog lover myself, and when an occasional dog wonders into the shop with his owners I mess around with 'em. But a premenant dog would not be welcome and would probably hamper my work (and scare me shitless about all the sensitive components...).
Can't have it all...

Referring back to my original post, perhaps I wasn't clear. Nobody wants their dogs in the office *all the time*. The case that cause me to write (and the landlord to huff and puff) was one person who brought dogs (2 puppies actually) to the office for a period of 1-2 hours about 4 or 5 times in 3 months. They were penned inside her office and had no issues with "accidents." The first couple times were because other employees begged her to and the last two or three were because one had a congenital health problem that required vet visit and, eventually, surgery. She brought them in so she wouldn't have to drive home before heading to the appointments.

 

[function]

So you'd be happy about one of your employees bringing in a pet snake or spider? Or are dogs a special case because you happen to like them?

This isn't about "slippery slope", this is about allowing pets in the workplace. If you allow dogs, why not cats, snakes, pot-bellied pigs, spiders or anything else?

If they lowered stress, improved productivity and made for a better working environment, why not?

I don't think the idea that all potential pets are comparable is particularly helpful to this discussion btw. Clearly, a dog fits in better at a workplace than an aligator, and is more sociable and compatible than, say, a pack of wolves. You could approach the issue of taking any personal item or "thing" into the workplace in the same, over the top manner, and it would help you decide on suitable limits.

 

[function]

Riiiiiiiight. I don't know about where you live but I don't often see humans eating their own excrement or shitting all over the pavement, parks and pissing up lamp posts. Neither do I see many humans sniffing each others arses, slobbering drool everywhere or getting out their "lipstick" and trying to shag anything that moves (apart from a Saturday night in town, of course!). Humans also tend not to eat any old crap off the floor, nor do they tend to lick you after eating rotting meat. Humans generally don't carry flees nor do they deposit great masses of hair everywhere. I also don't know of any cases of humans being literally (rather than metaphorically) alergic to another human, yet many people are badly alergic to various animals.

Yet strangely, I've never been ill because of a dog, but I've caught a number of illness from other people in the workplace and poor human hygiene when preparing food. Wow, it's almost like I can decide on sensible boundries for my interactions with dogs. Fancy that. Stress is one of the worst things that you can "get" at work, btw, with animals having a natural stress reducing property in the workplace.

Allergy alone is an adequate reason to potentially keep animals out of the workplace, with hygene being another for certain types of environment but certainly not all.

As I say, unless you work in the fur trade in China then you shouldn't be seeing dogs at work, period!

Or unless you're a police officer, security guard, work for search and rescue, are a shepherd, or you work somewhere with a blind person, or a deaf person, or work at a centre that uses dogs to help reach disturbed/disabled children. Or you're a vet.

 

[poopypoo]

OMG so i admit i'm being very reactionary, here. I LOVE dogs so it really pains me to read past the first five or so posts in this thread!!! XD there's nothing wrong with dogs in the workplace, but of course, not everyone loves them as we do. I think you must be honest with your employees. I think an anonymous poll is a good idea! Tell them, "OK, the landlord has had complaints, so, before I stand up for our rights I want to know what you all think. Does anyone mind the dog policy?" It's important, I thin. It will show the people who bring dogs that you care about them, and it will show anyone else who might secretly mind that you're concerned about everyone. Then if you get a show of solidarity from your people, then, hey, if you want to fight it, I think that's good for you and your people! If the other company's employees want to bitch about something that really doesn't affect them, I'd say screw them. I mean, I presume your employees' dogs don't bark at the other company's employees on the way to and from work... right?

 

[IgnorancePersonified]

Dogs in the Workplace - good or bad?

Women are bad enough.

 

[nintenho]

Women are bad enough.

...mallicious much? Honestly though, what good reason is there for having the dog with you everwhere you go? You can just leave a dog home alone for a few hours, right?