“I took my pup Ginger to my boss’ house for a dinner event. When we went into the kitchen to get the dessert, we saw that Ginger had beaten us to it. She jumped up onto the kitchen table and devoured every bite of the cherry pie. Luckily, they laughed it off. But no, we have not been invited back for dinner!” — Erika Searl, executive administrator, Deloitte (Getty Images)
Want to be the most popular employee on Friday? Bring a bag of kibble. Five days from now, companies around the country will open their doors to four-legged friends for the 12th annual Take Your Dog to Work Day. And as these 9-to-5ers who’ve done it before will tell you, mixing your pooch with the place that cuts your paycheck makes for fun, laughs and lots of tail-between-your-legs moments.
“My boss came to the office with his pit bull on the same day I brought in my bulldog Frankie. Frankie is a puppy and a total pest. He immediately ran up to my boss’ dog and tried chasing him and wrestling with him. Well, the pit bull must have thought, Oh heck no! because he literally sat on Frankie and didn’t move for a full half-hour. I’ve never seen Frankie be still for so long! He showed him who was boss.”
— Mike Calleja, vice president of sales,
Devotion Vodka
“I brought my pug Zoe to my previous job. Unbeknownst to me, she pooped on the floor. Of course, my boss was the one to step in it — in her Dolce & Gabbana boots! She was not pleased.”
— Nicole Albano, account director,
public relations
“My dog’s name is Gochu, which means pig in Austrian, because he snorts like a pig. I kept him in my travel bag next to my desk, and whenever someone would walk by, he’d try running after him or her so fast that the bag would start scooting across the office and have grunting sounds coming out of it. No one was safe from the moving bag!”
— Maggie R. O’Neil,
director of development,
Mayor’s Alliance for NYC’s Animals
“When my dog Lola sees a pigeon, there’s no controlling her. Once during an office brainstorm, Lola ran full-force into a glass window, trying to get at a pigeon perched on the balcony, taking out myself and another co-worker. Another time, I was walking back from a coffee meeting with my boss, and Lola caught an unsuspecting pigeon in her mouth. I was horrified!”
— Kim Goedeker, account supervisor, Weber Shandwick