Workplace Cats and Dogs

Designing workplaces where dogs thrive (just like their owners and where both dogs and owners might potentially do their best work) is a topic that is getting or needs to get more attention in human resources departments, etc., as more and more organizations establish dog-friendly office policies to entice people to return to onsite work.  (For more details, see this article, for example: https://www.bbc.com/news/business-62912862).

The suggestions that follow are just as applicable to workplaces as they are to homes.

Dogs and cats, like human toddlers (and sometimes humans who are not toddlers at all) enjoy exploring the world around them, including the contents of cabinets and drawers.  Cabinet doors and drawers that dogs and cats can open can lead to many a call or a frantic trip to a veterinary poison control centre.  Doggy and kitty paws may lack thumbs but they’re a lot more capable than you might realize—don’t learn just how nimble those little toes can be when you find a pet sickened by eating laundry soap or worse, dog- and cat-proof just as you would baby-proof your home.

Similarly, both dogs and cats and toddlers are apt to chew on what they find nearby, so plants, etc., need to be nontoxic to any potential space users.

Whether dogs and cats are at home or at offices they need to eat and drink, snooze and move about, and be entertained, by their humans, other humans, or the opportunities that arise in the areas where they find themselves.  They also need places to relieve themselves where nature can take its inevitable course without shouts of “No,” which means in most cases access to the outdoors, as needed.  Pets also sometimes need time away from any other pets and from their humans, so pet “retreats” are a must.  These retreats might be spaces under a table or a high perch, for example, depending on species and temperament.