Rita Richardson at E&S Tool & Die
When she was offered a job last year at Something Fishy Aquarium Service, an aquarium sales and maintenance company in Charlestown, Karen Liese had a conflict of emotions.
Accepting the job would mean that Liese would be leaving her nine-year-old Golden Retriever, Tasha, who was used to spending all day with “mom” when she ran a day care from home.
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But her boss was sympathetic. “My main concern was to make it easy for my assistant to work here,” said Kurt Harrington, owner of Something Fishy.
So Tasha came to the office.
It’s a decision that Harrington has not regretted. Having a dog at the office, he said, has proved to be a good business decision, keeping up employee morale and providing a special greeting for the visitors who come into the office each day.
“It helps the work environment,” he said. “It makes it a fun place to be.”
Harrington said Liese compensates for the time she spends walking her dog during the workday by coming in early or staying late.
The ability to bring a dog to work is what enabled Liese to get a second dog this summer. Nine-week-old Riley (also a Golden Retriever) has been coming to the office for almost a month now, and is following “big sister” Tasha’s good example.
“He’s doing really well. He’s listening and staying in the office,” she said. “It’s the best, because I love animals. It’s a really nice, bonding thing. All they want to do is be with you. They’re more well-behaved because they get what they need from you.”
But dogs and other animals at the office is far from a regional trend – Web site DogFriendly.com now lists more than 260 dog-friendly employers throughout the U.S., a number said to be increasing. The majority of dog-friendly companies listed on the site are in California and allow employees to bring dogs to work on a regular basis, usually every day.
“Many companies still find this to be an attractive benefit for their employees, but dog lovers wish there were even more dog-friendly employers,” said Tara Kain, founder of DogFriendly.com.
The industry found to have the most dog-friendly employers is the high tech industry, followed by pet-related industries, health care, retail, manufacturing and construction, home repair, the movie industry and other miscellaneous categories.
When Providence-based Vero Industries co-owner, Lee Mogavero describes his workplace as “animal-friendly,” he means it. The Providence jewelry manufacturer is home (at least during the day) to five dogs and four cats as well as a meal source for the local pigeons, seagulls and squirrels.
“It’s nice. It’s like being in the country almost,” said Mogavero, who comes in on weekends to feed and water the company’s cats that are full-time residents. “The workers are more comfortable, rather than leaving their animals at home.”
But this isn’t some new-age trend of the modern office for Vero – Mogavero said the company has been taking in strays for 15 years, and often cooperates to place animals with its neighbor, the Providence Animal Rescue League.
Regal Plating Controller Jay Feeney’s son is allergic to dogs, so BoBo the Chinese Crested (a breed that is virtually hairless, save for tufts of hair on their heads and tails) seemed the ideal choice. Now a year and a half old, BoBo began coming to work with Feeney and his wife Elizabeth when he was a puppy.
“We didn’t want to leave him home,” Feeney said. “so we brought him here. He hasn’t been a problem, so we’ve continued to bring him.”
Feeney said that walks through the neighborhood with BoBo provide good breaks in the day, but that he generally considers his canine friend “low maintenance” even though BoBo needs sunscreen in the summer and has to get dressed before going outside when the weather turns cold.
“He’s the type of dog who just lies on the couch and watches,” he said. “He gets here around 8:30. We leave at 3:30. It’s not a real long day here.”
Ibis Consulting’s owner and founder Jay McNally allows pets to come to the office as a convenience to his employees.
“It’s often sick dogs or dogs that have a cone on their heads that come to work,” he said. “It allows folks to care for their pets without having to miss work.”
Employees like it when the animals come to the office, and the dogs enjoy it too, but there is a downside to having pets in the workplace, McNally said.
“It’s more fun to see other people’s pets than to have your own dog in the office,” he said. “If it’s your own, you worry that they are bothering people.”
When they need a laugh, Stephen and Rita Richardson have only to look to the floor of their workshop at E & S Tool & Die, where their dog Corbie keeps them company during the day.
Originally bought as a theft deterrent, today Corbie’s primary function is providing canine companionship for her owners, who spend most of their time sitting over pantograph machines and other equipment, designing dies used by manufacturers for castings of everything from government medals and union pins to badges, belt buckles and key tags.
“She breaks up the tension,” Rita Richard-son said of the couple’s 90 pound, 4-year-old Rottweiler. “If you’re having a bad day, you just look at her – it makes it a lot easier.”
“We’re here more than we’re at home, so we see her more than we see our dog at home,” said Stephen Richardson. “It’s nice having an animal around.”
