Will work for treats: Tips for bringing your dog to the office

Meet the HubRunner office dogs: Sherwood, Mabel, Shisa, Weston, Cocoa and Phoenix. One of the great things about working in a relaxed office like HubRunner is bringing your dog to the office. Sure, they may drool more than the average coworker, but they’re loyal, enthusiastic and never seem to be too bothered when work is ruff (I know, I know — that’s bad. But throw us a bone, okay?).

Dogs in the office can reduce stress and increase productivity. Do you work in a dog-friendly office? Here are a few tricks we’ve picked up from the HubRunner dogs.

1. Make sure your dog has a place

Sherwood always wants to do the right thing (hence the business casual wear), and gets nervous when he doesn’t know what he’s supposed to do. Putting his nap mat down and creating a place all his own helps him know where he’s supposed to be and makes him feel more comfortable in a new environment.

2. Stock up on toys

As a biting connoisseur, Mabel appreciates having a few durable toys around the office so she can direct her considerable chewing energy into something productive. Even if your dog is past the puppy stage, having a few toys around can keep them occupied — and out of trouble.

3. Respect your coworkers

Not everyone is a dog person, and even though Shisa is sweet as pie, 120 pounds of Great Dane is a lot of dog for the non-canine inclined to handle. Everyone who works at HubRunner is happy to snuggle with Shisa, but we always check office visitors’ comfort-level with dogs before we bring Shisa into meetings.

4. Dog-proof the office

When Weston first visited the office, he tried to eat some decorative stones in a potted plant (to be fair, it was afternoon snack time). Luckily, we were keeping an eye on him, but it’s always a good idea to canvass the area and make sure anything potentially harmful is out of reach. This goes double for the office kitchen area.

5. Keep treats on hand

Keep plenty of treats around to reward and reinforce good behavior. Don’t you wish you got a cookie every time you crossed an item off your to-do list?

6. Don’t forget walk breaks

Phoenix takes her job as head of office security seriously, and likes to take a couple daily breaks to patrol the neighborhood. And we can’t complain, either — walk breaks help us de-stress and refocus.

Be sure to follow us on Instagram for a behind-the-scenes look into the HubRunner workplace and more gratuitous photos of our dogs!