Pets + Offices = Take Your Dog To Work Day.

Friday, June 23, is the 19^th annual Pet Sitters International’s Take Your Dog To Work Day®. A growing number of workplaces are participating in this fun “holiday” and allowing their employees to bring their fluffy family members to work with them for the day. According to the PSI website the goals of Take Your Dog to Work Day are to raise awareness for homeless pets and to encourage those dogless folks to consider adopting a pup of their own.

Taking your dog to work with you for a day can be a delightful treat for both of you—you know he won’t miss you while you’re away and he’ll get a whole bunch of new experiences while at work with you. He may even make some new doggy and people friends too! And Take Your Dog to Work Day can be great fun for your coworkers; honestly, wouldn’t our jobs all be more fun if there were dogs around?

Having your dog at your workplace may decrease your stress level, make the day go by faster, and just bring joy to you and your coworkers. There are, of course, a few things to consider before taking on the office with your pup. Firstly, you need to check with your management to make sure it’s ok to bring your dog into work; some places cannot or will not allow dogs for a variety of reasons. If your office or workplace is hosting a Take Your Dog to Work Day event, make sure you’re compliant with any rules they set down.

If your fur baby is lucky enough to join you at work for the day, make sure they have their own little bag of items they’ll need, like a water dish, treats, and perhaps a toy or two and something to lie down on. Pickup bags are also a good idea for your pup’s potty breaks outside!

As this post from The Loved Dog brings up, you’ll want to make sure your work space is dog-proofed for the day, even if your dog is super chill. Exposed wires, potted plants, the candy dish you keep on your desk, and other items in your work space may be tempting for your dog to chew on while you’re trying to work, so keep those items out of reach. If your dog is a counter-surfer at home he may be a desk-surfer in your office or cubicle, too.

As friendly as your pupper may be, you should think twice before letting him roam through the office unattended—your coworkers may not like him just wandering around. Additionally, if your workplace is hosting a TYDTWD event there will probably be other dogs at work that day; to ensure everyone gets along it’s best to keep your dog near you, preferably on leash or behind a gate you brought for the day.

It’s possible your pup isn’t ready for a trip to the office; very nervous or anxious dogs and dogs that may not have the best social skills with people or other dogs might want to sit this little holiday out. You can make it up to him with an extra walk or play when you get home. If you don’t think your dog would be comfortable or safe at your workplace consider bringing photos or videos of your pup to share with your coworkers instead. It’s definitely not the same, but at least everyone will get to see how cute your dog is.

Some workplaces allow their employees to bring their dogs to work whenever they want, provided the dog has good social skills and the employee can handle him and their job at the same time. In fact, inviting employees’ dogs to join them at work daily seems to be a growing trend: according to this Entrepreneur article big companies like Google, Amazon and Ben and Jerry’s, among others, allow their employees to bring their dogs to work with them daily; some even offer pet insurance help and are keyed into helping dogs in need. If you’re work doesn’t allow dogs daily or even for one day, consider a dog walker for a daily bout of exercise for your pet instead. And speaking of dog walkers, TYDTWD is a holiday Floofins & Co dog walkers and petsitters sit out, since we don’t do meet-and-greets on walks for everyone’s safety.

Take Your Dog to Work Day can be a fun day for everyone involved; just keep safety and manners in mind. It can boost your happiness level while at work, offer your dog an exciting new place to explore and people to meet, all while raising awareness on the wonderful impact dogs can have on our lives. If it inspires your coworkers to consider adopting a dog, all the better!