Dog-Friendly Offices: The Dog’s Bollocks or Barking Mad?

Furloughed workers, disconnected family members, round after round of self-isolation: lockdown wasn’t exactly a walk in the park. Something was required to boost our mental health and offer companionship to the socially distanced. Enter pets. Pet ownership rose by 20 percent and pooches topped the leaderboard with 3.2m new dog owners since March 2020.

The dog ownership boom has filled our social media and kept our walks entertaining but what does it mean for all these pups as we return to the routine of office-life and do landlords need to consider dogs in their asset strategy?

Dog-friendly offices have become increasingly popular over the years: once a characteristic of the young, creative startups wanting to break the corporate mould, now a selling point of more mature companies wanting to advertise their humanity to the next generation of career-hungry talent. 

But apart from saving on doggy daycare, are there actually any benefits to dogs in the workplace? A big fat YES. Studies have shown that dogs at work boost job satisfaction, productivity and collaboration. All things employers are looking to regain post-pandemic and essentials for a happy work environment.

Now we know why employers might want to go pro-dog, but why should landlords be marketing their space as dog-friendly? The answer is simple: it’s a selling point for your space. If more companies are allowing dogs at work, they need like-minded landlords. So don’t miss out on these tenants and their furry bundles of joy – make sure your leases allow for it, your agents are highlighting it, and you have a paw-ssionate property manager keeping those communal facilities smart and clean.

So, do you puppy-love the idea of dogs in the building or is it your pet peeve? Join our poll to have your say…