Anyone bring their dog(s) to work?

We have a dog friendly office and I had been dying to bring Amber in.

It was very quiet here today so I went home during lunch and brought her back with me.

Since it is her first time here and I share my office space I have her on a lead attached to my desk. She does GREAT - except when someone new walks back here. Then she gets ALL sorts of excited.

I know she would be better if I could just let her loose to explore the building and hang out, but I have to take it slow - only the bosses' dog gets free reign of the building. Everyone else is expected to keep their dogs in their own areas.

So for now she is on a lead, and I may get a gate to try and corral her into the same space with a bit more freedom - I just won't be able to secure it all that well given the setup here so she might knock it down...

Anyway, if anyone else has transitioned a dog into being good at work I would love some tips!

Re: Anyone bring their dog(s) to work?

Aww, that's awesome!! I wish I could bring my dog to work, I hate leaving her home alone all day

Re: Anyone bring their dog(s) to work?

Yes I am very excited to have this opportunity - so that if there is a night I know we will be out I can bring her in so she's not alone ALL day and night.

But today's test was a good start I think- 2.5 hours in a quiet office with no other dogs here today.

She is really being great right now -- but the next time someone new walks back to talk to me I know she will get all worked up!!

Re: Anyone bring their dog(s) to work?

Congrats!! It can be frustrating and tiring to keep them at work at first, right? I bring mine in once a week, usually on Friday.

I am the first person here and usually alone for at least an hour to 2 hours so I give him free reign of our (small) office. I do a sweep first to make sure there aren't any yummy paperclips on the floor or anything.

I play ball with him and run around, tiring him out a bit. Then once people arrive around 9, they greet him, maybe play a little. Then it's leash time, I have a 20 foot lead attached to my desk. He can't reach anyone else's desk from there.

I take him out for a nice 20 minute walk at 10am, then back on the leash till lunchtime. Sometimes people will come over and play tug of war with him or whatnot. I walk him again at 2pm, another long one.

Anyway, in your situation, I might take him around to 'greet' other people on leash. He sounds like he wants to meet people and maybe if he makes friends they will come visit him too. I think it's smart to build him up to a full day. What if you had a bag of treats for people to feed him, but only if he does commands you've taught him? That way he gets rewarded for being calm and obedient. I gave up trying to get Brinkley to calmly greet certain people. I actually encourage him to get excited, it's really cute and they don't mind. They have so much love, you know? Can't hold it in sometimes.

Re: Anyone bring their dog(s) to work?

Oooh that is a great idea to bring her in when no one is there to just explore first. It just worked out that yesterday was really quiet here so I figured I would go home and grab her.

Maybe the next time I bring her in I will do the reverse - bring her in for the morning and then home during lunch, and get here when just a couple of people at most are in the office.

I also had her on a 20 foot lead but I shortened it a bit for the initial day since it lets her get to people coming to my desk before I see them coming! Three people share my office (it's really big) and one was on vacation so after the other left at 5 I shut the door to and let Amber have free reign of this area which she seemed to like.

All in all she was really good I suppose. It was just the initial excitement of a new place and new friends!!