quote:

Originally posted by ChemEnhanced I love animals but I still believe that a place of work should be a place of work and there needs to be a certain amount of professionalism in the workplace. I don't think having pets at the workplace is professional. If I'm allowed to bring my dog into the office then why can't someone else bring their cat, rabbit, ferrit, pig, or whatever? I can just imagine businesses turning into zoos because everyone wants their pet with them.

I remember years ago when I was working as a programmer writing machine code at this one place I had my two guinea pigs and the boss let them run around the office once in a while. Probably the best place I ever worked at. There was this guy from Peru who wanted to cook them too!

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quote:

Originally posted by ChemEnhanced If I'm allowed to bring my dog into the office then why can't someone else bring their cat, rabbit, ferrit, pig, or whatever? I can just imagine businesses turning into zoos because everyone wants their pet with them.

So I went back to my old job on Thurs while I was in TO, and there was quite the menagerie in the building....
2 Irish Setters, 1 Australian sheep dog, a Rottweiler, a labrador, 2 huge lizards in a cage, a tiny frog in a terrarium, and (I kid you not) a giant tortoise named Dave that roams freely in the warehouse (and rather quickly I may add). I was totally in shock when I saw this giant thing heading towards me, sniffed my hand and walked on. lol. I wish I had the video running when I saw that.

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quote:

Originally posted by tatgirl So I went back to my old job on Thurs while I was in TO, and there was quite the menagerie in the building.... 2 Irish Setters, 1 Australian sheep dog, a Rottweiler, a labrador, 2 huge lizards in a cage, a tiny frog in a terrarium, and (I kid you not) a giant tortoise named Dave that roams freely in the warehouse (and rather quickly I may add). I was totally in shock when I saw this giant thing heading towards me, sniffed my hand and walked on. lol. I wish I had the video running when I saw that.

It I was a customer and saw something like that I would wonder if the company is more concerned about running a daycare then running a business.

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Last edited by Moral Hazard on Apr-26-2011 at 07:48

quote:

Originally posted by tatgirl a giant tortoise named Dave that roams freely in the warehouse (and rather quickly I may add).

OMG I NEED TO WORK THERE!!! Helmet would love to come to work with me <3 this idea makes me so happy

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Originally posted by ChemEnhanced It I was a customer and saw something like that I would wonder if the company is more concerned about running a daycare then running a business.

Well, they're in the film industry, so I guess its not so unusual to be a bit 'different'. Even the customers bring their dogs in.

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quote:

Originally posted by ChemEnhanced It I was a customer and saw something like that I would wonder if the company is more concerned about running a daycare then running a business.

If I was a customer I would be more concerned that they deliver quality goods/services, not with what happens at their work place

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quote:

Originally posted by FunkyCrew If I was a customer I would be more concerned that they deliver quality goods/services, not with what happens at their work place

If you are too busy running a day care for animals then are you focusing on the quality of the goods/services you provide?

edit: I understand that some businesses may be able to get away with pets at the workplace...but unless your business involves animals then, imo, you are being unprofessional by allowing pets in the workplace.

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quote:

Scott has been introduced to the rave scene, and Ecstasy, by Craig. The two of them go out on the weekends, with some of Craigs friends, and stay up all night, dancing in a drug-fueled trance.

Last edited by Moral Hazard on Apr-26-2011 at 07:48

quote:

Originally posted by ChemEnhanced If you are too busy running a day care for animals then are you focusing on the quality of the goods/services you provide? edit: I understand that some businesses may be able to get away with pets at the workplace...but unless your business involves animals then, imo, you are being unprofessional by allowing pets in the workplace.

if the services they provide are up to par, then who cares if there are pets in the workplace? it's a different story if the business productivity starts declining

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quote:

Originally posted by FunkyCrew if the services they provide are up to par, then who cares if there are pets in the workplace? it's a different story if the business productivity starts declining

It opens up a can of worms that shouldn't be opened. If you start allowing pets at work then why not allow children and family members at the work place. IMO, personal life and business life should be kept seperate, regardless of wether or not it helps productivity, although I fail to see how having any distraction at work helps productivity.

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quote:

Scott has been introduced to the rave scene, and Ecstasy, by Craig. The two of them go out on the weekends, with some of Craigs friends, and stay up all night, dancing in a drug-fueled trance.

Last edited by Moral Hazard on Apr-26-2011 at 07:48

If the mutts stay quiet, that's fine.

I would have a thing with my cubicle neighbours if I hear "Awww isn't my pookie wookie fuzz wuzzy little bear doggie hungy for a snackie snackie? *crunch* *crunch* *crunch*, isn't that good boy, yessie wessie, yum yum yum" all day.

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quote:

Originally posted by Abercrombie If the mutts stay quiet, that's fine. I would have a thing with my cubicle neighbours if I hear "Awww isn't my pookie wookie fuzz wuzzy little bear doggie hungy for a snackie snackie? *crunch* *crunch* *crunch*, isn't that good boy, yessie wessie, yum yum yum" all day.

but what happens if you want to bring your cat into the office? Its just asking for problems.

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quote:

Scott has been introduced to the rave scene, and Ecstasy, by Craig. The two of them go out on the weekends, with some of Craigs friends, and stay up all night, dancing in a drug-fueled trance.

Last edited by Moral Hazard on Apr-26-2011 at 07:48

quote:

Originally posted by ChemEnhanced unless your business involves animals then, imo, you are being unprofessional by allowing pets in the workplace.

Professionalism is a vague and subjective term. For some businesses, it means every employee must wear a suit and tie. For others it just involves remembering to put your pants on in the morning.

Strict rules of "professionalism" are a weak stress-inducer. For task-oriented work, this is a good thing as it helps create focused attention. However, it's been shown that other types of workers, especially knowledge and/or creativity workers, do not benefit from focused attention and actually tend to be less productive in that state of mind.

I'm not necessarily saying that dogs are a panacea here; with this type of work, even a minor distraction can cause a major disruption. But if something can relieve stress on a voluntary basis, which well-behaved pets often can, then this can be a very good thing for people who have hit the wall or are struggling with a mental block.

People need to understand that professionalism is local - if not per business, then at least per industry. Plumbing contractors aren't going to wear suits. Programmers and IT geeks are going to spend a lot of their day looking things up on Google. Married-with-children employees are going to be on the phone a lot with their families. All of these things are unprofessional to someone who's not in the same boat; but if you've been there yourself, you know employers need to be flexible enough to accommodate all of this, because otherwise employees will spend their entire days mentally preoccupied with their personal issues and won't get much accomplished, or will make a lot of mistakes, or both.

We have one or two employees who've brought their kids in the afternoon because they had to leave school early. Maybe somebody's dog-sitter was out of town or had a prior engagement; it's the same sort of thing. People's personal lives will leak into their professional lives. You can't avoid this. Emergencies happen, their friends are all busy at work and can't take care of it, and other types of personal problems can only be dealt with during normal business hours, for obvious reasons.

To make a long story short, I think you need to loosen up. You're adopting an authoritarian view of professionalism based on your own personal experience and circumstances when in reality the concept tends to be quite malleable.

I'm willing to bet that you don't have a pet in your household, because most people who do seem to have no problem with well-behaved pets at work.

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