In the ideal world, we could take our pets to the office with us. We won’t have to worry about them being home alone or whether they are doing fine. And of course, we won’t miss them so much, we won’t have to hurry home and we will all be happy at the office. Or will we? Is the office really an ideal place for a pet? In this article, we get some expert views on the subject.
Perfect day
There are certain types of offices where people can bring in their pets, and there are no problems. This would typically be a more informal environment, like a home office, where there is space for the pets to move around, play or nap. Even better if the animals know each other, are trained, socialised and get along well.
There are many benefits for the pet and his owner if the office is a conducive environment for pets. “Dogs who are very closely bonded to their owner can suffer from separation-related distress when the owner is away at work for a large portion of the day. Being with the owner at work would obviously alleviate this.
“If the dog is still a puppy and is in his socialisation period, for most breeds this is up to 16 weeks of age, then being taken to a pet-friendly office would be a very good way of making sure he was socialised to many people and their pets,” says Wendy Wilson, COAPE SA Partner and Senior Lecturer.
Having pets at the office can positively boost the morale of some people, especially animal lovers. Prof Nicoleen Coetzee, Associate Professor at the Department of Psychology at the University of Pretoria, says that cats and dogs are known for having a psychological impact on people. “Research has proved that stroking these animals causes a lower heart rate, blood pressure and cortisol – systems that play a role in increased stress levels. Therefore, a pet-friendly office is a good idea in high-stress working environments.
“Pets also improve the psychological wellbeing of people because they provide us with unconditional love and do not pressure people for anything, except of course for food and water,” explains Prof Coetzee. She adds that some people would rather speak to a pet about their problems than to other people and that pets are also fun and bring much humour into any environment in which they are introduced.
Reality
The bigger and more formal the office environment is, the more difficult it can be to take a pet there. Besides people who may suffer from allergies or who are afraid of dogs or cats, it may not be the ideal place for an animal. Most dogs need some exercise and a place to sleep.
“An office environment is not conducive to a dog being able to settle down enough to sleep due to the noise and the frequent movement of people. Lack of sleep is a form of torture and can seriously impact your dog’s behaviour if he doesn’t get the required amount of sleep.
“If a puppy requires a meal in the workplace, this could be detrimental if he has to defend his food from others; it can lead to resource-guarding behaviours. Plus, eating should always be done in a calm, quiet place so your pet does not either gulp his food down to make sure no one else gets it, or he is intimidated by another dog and so relinquishes his food to the other dog,” explains Wendy. She adds that the same goes for any toys or chews that the pets have; if access to these is not controlled, it can very easily lead to resource guarding.
The other downside is that the dog might struggle to learn how to cope on his own when he is left at home for other reasons – like when his owner goes to the movies.
Then, there are many pets other than dogs, like cats, birds and small rodents. This would most probably mean that a cat will have to spend most of her day in a cat carrier and a bird or small rodent inside a cage. “Cats are generally solitary animals and are not naturally friendly to unknown pets or people, so being taken to the workplace would be extremely stressful for them. The same goes for rabbits, guinea pigs or birds,” says Wendy.
Moral of the story
Some places might be ideal as pet-friendly offices, but more formal places of work, like banks and corporate companies, might be much more challenging. It all depends on the culture and the business of the company whether a pet-friendly office will actually work or not. It would be great to take our pets with us to work, but it might not be ideal for our colleagues, productivity or pets.
