Pot Pie and Cupcake

Jun. 24, 2006 Copyright © Las Vegas Review-JournalDoggin' It At WorkPeople bring pets to their jobs on special dayBy JENNIFER ROBISON REVIEW-JOURNAL Maybe she wanted some attention.Maybe she was really dying to meet a rock star.Whatever the reason, Shazam, a 3-year-old border collie who hangs out at the Las Vegas law office of her owners, Steve Morris and Kris Pickering, just had to get in on a deposition of Rod Stewart."We were asking (Stewart) questions, and Shazam came by our glass-walled deposition room and wanted in," said Morris, who deposed Stewart last year over a contract dispute with the Rio. "He really likes dogs, so he stopped for a moment and got acquainted with her. They got on famously, he and Shazam."On Friday, the legal beagle -- er, border collie -- was back at Morris Pickering Peterson & Trachok, breaking the ice between visitors and generally giving the firm's 35 employees the warm fuzzies.Shazam was one of thousands of dogs accompanying their owners to work on the eighth annual Take Your Dog to Work Day, a national event that North Carolina trade group Pet Sitters International organizes to publicize the plight of shelter dogs."Take Your Dog to Work Day brings the issue of pet overpopulation and homeless animals to the forefront in a positive way," said John Long, a spokesman for Pet Sitters International. "Rather than focusing on negatives like euthanasia statistics, we showcase throughout the day what great companions dogs make. It lets people who don't own dogs experience the bond, and it encourages them to visit a shelter and adopt a pet."Cheri Serlin, an English teacher at Warren-Walker School in Henderson, brought her dogs, Sequoia, a soft-coated Wheaten Terrier, and Sosa, a Shih Tzu and Pekingese mix, to summer school on Friday in part to spur animal adoption among her students and their families."There are so many unwanted pets who could be adopted, and animals bring so much joy and compassion and love into our lives," Serlin said. "I realized this would be a great opportunity for kids to see the relationship they can have with animals. Pets can be teachers, too."Serlin, who had never brought her dogs into work before, said Sequoia and Sosa were big hits with the fifth- and sixth-graders she teaches. The students volunteered to feed, water, walk and play with the dogs. By mid-morning, Sequoia and Sosa were snoozing, bellies full of snacks, while the kids worked in the computer lab."It's been a great experience overall," Serlin said. "The children have seen me in a different light. I'm not just a teacher to them. It's been a bonding experience."A recent study shows legions of workers would pay a hefty price to bond with their dogs in the office.Online placement agency SimplyHired.com and social-networking Web site Dogster found that 43 percent of dog owners would take pay cuts of 5 percent to 10 percent if they could bring their four-legged pals to the office. Two-thirds of respondents said they would put in longer hours if the overtime would translate into canine companionship on the job.In addition, 55 percent of employees said they would accept more commute time to work at a place that allowed pets in the office, and 49 percent said they would ditch their current employer if a dog-friendly business came hiring."For most dog owners, bringing their pets to work is really a benefit that trumps all benefits," said Kay Luo, director of marketing at SimplyHired.com. "Most dog owners don't like to leave their dogs alone all day, and they don't like to rush home to take the dog for a walk. That's why our survey showed people would work longer hours if they had their dogs at work. It's like having a child -- if they're with you, you don't have to rush home and tend to them."Business are increasingly welcoming dogs at work, too.A report from the American Pet Product Manufacturers Association found that nearly 20 percent of U.S. companies permit pets to visit employees on the job. SimplyHired.com has added a dog-friendly filter to its job-search functions so candidates can screen for businesses that allow pets on-site. And Long said participation in Take Your Dog to Work Day rises noticeably every year. The holiday started with 300 companies in 1999; today, several thousand businesses participate, he said, and the ranks of businesses celebrating the day increase by about 650 a year.Experts said several trends are driving dogs into the workplace.First is the recruiting advantage pet perks provide, Luo said.Also behind the increase in animals on the job, Long said, is the changing relationship Americans have with work."Our personal lives and business lives over the past 10 years have really become meshed," he said. "Folks are carrying BlackBerrys, and they're e-mailing and taking phone calls around the clock. Business goes everywhere they go, and when business bleeds into home life, then home life will bleed into business."Plus, the last decade has brought a change in how people view their dogs, Long said. They're no longer backyard pets but family members who merit coddling and pampering.Most important, however, is a growing recognition that man's best friend can promote emotional wellbeing among people.Long said studies have credited dogs with reducing stress, and he cited a survey that found people believe dogs in the office can boost creativity, reduce absenteeism, enhance relations among coworkers, increase productivity and improve interactions between supervisors and employees.At Morris Pickering Peterson & Trachok, dogs have smoothed human relations since the early 1990s, when the firm was handling cases for a trial related to the 1988 PEPCON plant explosion in Henderson. Morris and Pickering were raising a litter of puppies, but long hours at work made it impossible to care for the dogs at home. Thus did the puppies make their first foray into the legal world. When participants consented, the dogs would even attend depositions and client conferences."(Clients) were very comforted by these little dogs," Morris said. "For the most part, they had a calming influence on people."When two witnesses stopped by Morris' office with a massive gift basket after the trial, Morris said he "vainly assumed" it was for him."They told me, 'We didn't come to see you -- we came to see the dogs,' " he said. The gift basket overflowed with dog biscuits, toys, chews and other puppy paraphernalia."Litigation can make people jittery. It's a high-stress activity," Morris said. "Dogs have therapeutic value in those kinds of situations." Find this article at: http://www.reviewjournal.com/lvrj_home/2006/Jun-24-Sat-2006/ news/8122051.html