Pets in the Workplace

Tumbles the Mini-Schnauzer

Tumbles. It’s a name that hardly strikes fear into anyone, and if you’ve met him you’ll chuckle at how placid our ‘Head of Security’ really is. Tumbles is our Managing Director’s Miniature Schnauzer, who comes to work everyday to keep an eye on things for us, and make sure there are no ‘unsavoury’ characters bothering us at Reception.

He bounces in wagging his tail, wanders around the office (obviously completing his security check), then finds a cosy spot on the floor next to whoever is working at the Front Desk and sits like a sphynx. To some, he may look like he is sleeping, but it’s just a ruse. In the event of an emergency his senses cause him to spring into action and be in front of the target within seconds. However this is only if the ‘emergency’ involves hunger, and ‘the target’ is someone carrying food.

Likes

• His Master – you should see how high he bounces when Doug enters the room
• Fruit! Yep – he can’t handle it if an apple is not shared with him
• warm seats
• Anyone carrying food – he thinks it’s always for him

Dislikes

• puddles (or rain)
• he whimpers when he sees another dog
• screaming children

Tumbles takes his role seriously

He loves our elevator at Brighton. He seems to think it’s some sort of magical place that  he can go into and when the door opens he is miraculously in a different place. I was working on Reception one day and a guest walked past (she must have been carrying take-away food) and Tumbles followed them to the lift, the doors opened and he got in the lift with the guest. The doors closed before I reached them, so off he went on a ride to a different floor with the guest and the food. I had to wait for the lift to return, and when the doors opened I see Tumbles wagging his tail looking up at the guest hopefully. The lady was laughing at him and hadn’t realised she had been followed (by a ninja-dog) into the lift, so she came back down to make sure Tumbles was delivered back to Reception. So as you can see, he is particularly vigilant with his security duties!

Pets at work may not be appropriate for every workplace

Are pets in the workplace a good idea?

Tumbles acts a lot like a young puppy, but he has actually reached his senior years. He still loves attention and will always greet anyone who wants to say hi. The kids and families staying at our apartments all seem to love him! We think it’s great that he gets to come to work every day – a couple of days at South Yarra, a couple of days at Brighton… he seems to take the workload in his stride! It got us thinking if anyone else brings their pet to work? Is it welcomed or frowned upon? I think it really helps the animal feel more relaxed, particularly if they’re a social pet. They don’t have to have any feelings of anxiety at being left at home alone all day. That’s got to be a good thing right?

Is this what happens when we're not looking?