Does Your Dog Have A Job?

Today is Take Your Dog to Work Day and lots of people who don’t normally take their dog along with them to their workplace will do so today. Hopefully it will go well. A dog’s got to be well trained, socialized, and have a solid temperament in order to both enjoy the experience and serve as a model canine ambassador to help persuade more businesses to become dog-friendly year round. So please only take your dog to work with you if he or she is ready for it.

There are many benefits to dog ownership, such as mood elevation and stress reduction, most of which could also benefit people in the workplace.

While musing on how fun things would be if dogs could go to work with us almost anywhere/every day, please also keep in mind - most dogs need some kind of job and are unemployed. On days they don’t go to work with you (364 days for most) too many dogs are just sitting around the house, their energy and talents untapped, bored and alone for most of their day.

This dearth of companionship and focus can lead to problem behaviors such as destructive chewing, barking, fence running, self-mutilation, and so on. But even when the consequences aren’t that apparent or extreme, it just a darn shame.

If you’ve got a dog please make sure to meet all of it’s needs including mental stimulation and companionship; supplying food, water, and shelter is not enough. Do your best to make your dog a part of your daily life. Bring your dog inside the house with you; don’t leave them out in the yard bored and alone. Take your dog someplace nearly every day, find new places to walk or hang out at a café, it’ll benefit both of you.

Find your dog a job. For some the very least you can do is to make use of food-stuffed chew toys and other puzzles to keep them occupied while you’re away. Other jobs dogs can do:

Make your dog your personal trainer – get out and exercise with her every day!
Teach your dog to do something useful for you such as fetch the paper or a beverage from the fridge.
Use your dog as a messenger and teach your dog to find the people in your household by name and how to carry a container with a message.
Find a trainer to help you prepare your dog for the Canine Good Citizen Test or to become a therapy dog and get certified.
Research different dog sports/clubs/activities and find out what your dog naturally likes to do. Nose work? Tracking? Lure-coursing? Herding?
Take a tricks class or beginner agility, or Rally O.

The list of possibilities goes on and on, but you get my point. Find your dog a job for more than just today and watch your relationship (and your dog’s life) blossom.  

So tell us, what does your dog "do"?