- Calendar
- Map
- Site Feedback
- IDEA Sites
- Languages
- Projects
- Digital Freedoms
- 2012 Presidential Debates Guide
- Asia Youth Forum
- Big Apple Cogers
- Debate@Europe
- Debate Changing Europe
- Debate in the Neighborhood
- Debating and Producing Media
- Debating the Future of Youth in Africa and Europe
- Digital Debating Blog
- Free Speech Debate
- Global Youth Forum
- Global Debate and Public Policy Challenge
- International Public Policy Forum
- Online Mentoring
- The Freedom Series
- Youth and Sports Mega-Events
Take the dog to work
Take the dog to work
A study in the International Journal of Workplace Health Management suggests that having dogs in the workplace boosts moral and reduces stress, this is something those of us in the IDEA UK office have long suspected as David brings his wonderful dog Marley in to work with him.
Does everyone agree that having pets in the office is a good thing? are there any disadvantages?
1 year 7 weeks ago
What if an employee or a guest is scared of dogs? What if someone is allergic to them? it could seriously reduce their ability to work in that office.
1 year 7 weeks ago
- Login or register to post comments
- Login to reply
I think that's covered by "taking employees' sensitivities" into account. Of course, for some environments and some professions, it might not be appropriate to bring a dog to the office - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Belgian_dogs_trained_to_draw_quick-firing_guns.JPG
1 year 6 weeks ago
- Login or register to post comments
- Login to reply
Odd that you would highlight the military as an inappropriate place as it is one of the places where there are actually quite a lot of uses for working dogs (beside just being a mascot). While I don't think that we are likely to use them as the soviets supposedly did in World War II (training them to run under tanks with mines strapped to them) there are plenty of slightly less dangerous roles they take on. The US army supposedly has 2,800 dogs on active duty! http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2011/05/04/war_dog
1 year 6 weeks ago
- Login or register to post comments
- Login to reply
Edited by moderator.
Well in that case we would have to look at the bigger part of the office if the majority of the people are comfortable with the Dog around them... and for the allergic people care has to be taken that is what I can suggest..
1 year 1 week ago
- Login or register to post comments
- Login to reply
For some working places the company of a dog may be beneficial but in most of the cases an animal and especially a dog( to whome you or others could be allergic, barks and makes a lot of noise, needs to be walked on a daily basis and of which some people may be afraid ) may actually do more harm than good to the level of productivity the employees have. Further more, I belive that a company's animal would be difficult to take care of, as in the holidays or after work he will be left alone with no one to walk or feed him, which may harm the animal and even make the animal develop aggressive behaviour.
1 year 5 weeks ago
- Login or register to post comments
- Login to reply
I agree that except for big offices that are manned all day round having any kind of pet that is actually an office pet is probably rather inconvenient and probably not good for the pet (unless it is something like fish that dont require too much attention). For this thread I was mostly assuming that it would be pets that employees already have that simply get brought into the office - therefore avoiding them having long periods at home alone while their owner is at work.
1 year 5 weeks ago
- Login or register to post comments
- Login to reply
i personally feel that employers should be able to bring their pet to work but only if the other employers with which that person shares the office agree and if that person's job doesn't imply working with different people on a daily basis because otherwise it's both a discomfort for the animal and for the strangers. what about creating special places for the pets of the employees of a certain institution. Do you think this solution could be efficient? Or which would be an efficient solution?
1 year 5 weeks ago
- Login or register to post comments
- Login to reply
That proposal seems reasonable - a helpful addition to any chill out area! However of course many offices are not big enough to have any seperate area as a great many small businesses only have one room.
1 year 5 weeks ago
- Login or register to post comments
- Login to reply
Dogs are too conventional. An office parrot would be great. Also you've forgotten the wonderful calming effect of Marcin's fish tank.
1 year 5 weeks ago
- Login or register to post comments
- Login to reply
I believe that a parrot in the office may actually be more disturbing than a dog with an owner. first of all because they make a lot of noise, secondly because there are actually a lot of persons who are allergic to feathers and have birds fobia and lastly because there are no therapeutical effects from petting a bird, I actually believe that you can't really pet a bird. At least a dog bring the advantage of relaxing people when being pet and being a source of entertainment, while parrots can not be pet, make a lot of noise and smell horible:)). Fish on the other hand are the perfect solution for small bussnises or offices, as they may not be very entertaining but they are easy to take care off, they don;t make any noise, they don;t smell and there are no such things as fish allergies or fobias. But I think that the debate was actually about bringing your pet to the office, in which case special places could be created to accomodate this animals.
1 year 4 weeks ago
- Login or register to post comments
- Login to reply
Provided that the dog in question is well trained, the number of animals in the work place is reasonable, and that other employee's sensitivities (be they cultural or personal) about animals are taken into account, I am cannot see how a slightly more liberal attitude to office mutts could be opposed. Naturally, this would only be a workable proposition in clerical working environments. It would probably be a bad idea to set a St Bernard set loose in a nuclear power station.
And now for some pictures of Marley...