Dogs Stage Office Invasion
N E W Y O R K, June 22 -- If it feels like you're having a dog day afternoon in the office right about now, it may not be because of hot summer weather or a Friday deadline.
Actually, it's the third annual National Take Your Dog to Work Day, an event intended to demonstrate the charms of canines — although you may not be enjoying it if you have a barking beagle or sniffling schnauzer near your desk at the moment.
"It shows employers what a great difference dogs can make to the workplace, in terms of employee satisfaction and camaraderie," says Ellen Price, public relations coordinator for North Carolina-based Pet Sitters International, one of the co-sponsors of the day.
And Price says companies have been lapping up the idea: She estimates 5,000 will be participating in the day, compared to 400 two years ago.
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Once Upon a Time, Every Day Was …
But in the current era of dot-com retrenchment, with start-ups being impounded by the dozen, this year's day has a slightly different meaning. After all, just a year or two ago in offices across the country, every day was Take Your Dog to Work Day.
Indeed, bringing pets to the office was a prime symbol of dot-com era workplace casualness, along with dressing down and office games. But like Foosball tables or Nerf basketball hoops, dogs seem to be an increasingly rare sight in offices. For that matter, Pets.com, a co-sponsor of the day just last year, has gone the way of the pet rock.
"It's not unlike business casual," says Marjorie Brody, a business etiquette expert based in Jenkintown, Pa. "The dog seems to be staying home a bit more."
Ken Lloyd, a specialist in organizational behavior based in Southern California, agrees that the trend toward pets at work has decidedly slowed down.
"The sense that I have is that it's not growing at the same rate," says Lloyd. "There is that pendulum effect. With the changeover in the dot-com world, there's been more of a 'Let's-get-back-to-business' mind-set."
