You Said It: Bring Fido to the Office

Wow. Now we know what topic really gets you excited. Over 900 readers responded to our recent property management survey, with 54% in favor of welcoming pets in commercial buildings.

The reasons? They boost morale, increase productivity, and allow employees to work longer hours without worrying about leaving Fido home alone. "Our office campus in Dallas has a campus dog and everyone loves it," says one respondent. "Tenants can schedule 'office visits' with him." And Chicago-based GP Property Management has a cat mascot, Randolph (who was found abandoned on the Windy City street of the same name). He helps "bring a lighter and comical note to the office routine," replies Raisa Semenow. "He makes copies, watches for incoming faxes, and helps with the mail."

Here is Bisnow's Will Friend with Pixel, a neighboring tenant's dog in our New York office. (Will is the one in the red sweater.) "If my dog is at work with me, I tend to stay longer because I am not as stressed about getting home to walk him," says a respondent. Says another: "I've Googled 'pet-friendly workplaces in Toronto' on more than one occasion and would even consider switching industries if it meant I could bring my dog to work with me." Over time, building owners who allow tenants to have pets will have an edge with younger, hipper businesses, a few contend. Readers mentioned on-site doggy daycare (a potential revenue generator—one spends $400/month on hers), "poop stations," and outside dog runs as attractive amenities.

"Having dogs with me would help keep me get centered on a hectic day, relieve stress, and force me to get some much-needed air—just to take a little break," says Arlington, Va.-based Ballston BID CEO Tina Leone (pictured with her Brittany, Reda). As people work longer hours nowadays, a calming influence in the office can help increase productivity and simply keep people happy, she says—it's another employee benefit you can offer. "As the lines between work and personal life keep blurring, we need more flexibility. And for owners, with competition for office space tougher than ever, it's a way to differentiate your property from the rest of the hungry pack."

Meet Obi, Bisnow Property Management reporter Amanda Marsh's terrier mix. She's certainly not an office dog—the four-letter word she likes that starts with a W and ends with a K is walk, not work. (And she hasn't met a USPS or FedEx carrier she likes yet.) Survey respondents who were against pets in the office cited allergies as the top reason. "I only have to be in someone's home who owns a cat and within 10 minutes, my eyes swell, I'm congested, start sneezing, and I get very itchy," says one. And then there are the messes ("Dogs piddle without warning... that's gross") and distractions ("It's like bringing your child to work everyday"). And "stinky litter boxes" aren't very professional either, another points out.

Plenty of readers mentioned potential aggression. As many of us know, there are dogs that like to go for the jugular when it comes to vacuums. One naysayer tells us a tenant was down the hall and had left his dog in his office. The dog was asleep under the desk, and the night janitor was vacuuming. The dog woke up startled, then bit the janitor, who had to go to the emergency room. And speaking of carpets, one respondent tells us fleas are extremely hard—if not impossible—to control once they start multiplying. "Love dogs to death, but managing tenants with a bunch of dogs would be a nightmare for property management teams."

If you visit the Facebook page of Beast, founder Mark Zuckerberg's dog, you'll find pics of him in the Facebook office. However, one landlord tells us some of the early adopters of the "bring your pets" policy, including large Silicon Valley employers, are having second thoughts after discovering the responsibilities that come with them. If you allow dogs, should you allow cats, rabbits, guinea pigs, and reptiles? If a pet is injured or killed at the workplace, or if the pet causes an injury, what is the employer's responsibility? What about employees who have a real fear of dogs or an allergic reaction to pet hair—are you creating a hostile work environment? It's a tough policy to enforce, he says. "We're seeing more tenants bring their dogs to work even though it's forbidden in the lease."

Here is WC Smith's English Bulldog Emmy Biscuit (with the firm's Holli Beckman), an example of compromise. Emmy is the mascot of WC Smith's 2 M Street luxury apartment building in Washington, DC that will soon come online. (Her dog house is actually a replica of the building.) She'll live in the leasing office, and residents who wish they had a dog but don't have time for one can take her for walks and play with her instead. Until 2 M Street delivers, Emmy's been living at the firm's 1100 New Jersey Ave HQ, corralled in Holli's office with a baby gate. "She can't roam around, and employees only visit her if they want to," Holli says. Keeping her in the office also assures others aren't distracted. "We've never even heard her bark," says colleague Anne-Marie Bairstow. (PS: You can follow Emmy's adventures on Instagram.)