Dogs have their day in Canada

Ottawa – Daisy moseys over to greet visitors, her tail wagging. She’s listed as chief morale officer on Tungsten Collaborative’s website and is among the many pets joining their owners returning to Canadian offices after working from home during the pandemic.

The 12-year-old Labrador sniffs for treats. Before long, a basset hound named Delilah waddles over, offering up her belly for a rub, along with other four-legged colleagues Eevee, the greyhound, and German shepherd puppy Hudson, who lets out a bark.

Daisy’s proficiencies include “stress management” and “client engagement”, according to her biography, which notes that many of the industrial design studio’s “greatest innovations can be traced back to a long walk” with her.

“We encourage people if they have pets to bring them [to work],” Tungsten president Bill Dicke, 47, said. “You develop this relationship being at home with your pet on a day-to-day basis and all of a sudden you go back to work, so now they have to be crated for the day or roam the house alone. It’s not fair to them.”

These dogs sleep, chase balls or chew squeaky toys. There’s a row of water bowls in the office kitchen, if they get thirsty.

The Ottawa company is listed by the Humane Society as dog-friendly and it’s helped drum up business, Dicke said, as well as increased staff productivity.

Workers are forced to take regular breaks for dog walks instead of “eating lunch at their desk”.

According to a recent Leger survey for PetSafe, 51% of Canadians support bringing dogs to the office. Younger workers were the most supportive, with 18% of those aged 18 to 24 saying they would change jobs if their employer refused to allow them to bring their pet to work.

With an estimated 200 000 Canadians adopting a dog or cat since the start of the pandemic in 2020, it could force employers now pressing staff to return to the office to consider this option.

Johan van Hulle, 29, joined Tungsten last year. Its dog policy, he said, “was a key part of the decision” to take the job.

Across town at construction joint venture Chandos Bird, people designing a nuclear research laboratory are visibly smitten by 10-year-old Samson.

His owner Trevor Watt didn’t want to leave the Yorkshire terrier alone after moving into a new house in January. It was a temporary arrangement until Samson endeared himself to staff, who take turns walking him.

Downtown, many stores and cafes have water bowls for dogs and several shopkeepers, such as Emma Inns of the Adorit fashion boutique, bring their dogs to work. “Some people come just to see them, but then buy something,” she said. –