From our ridiculously fun holiday parties and weekly happy hours to our signature laidback office atmosphere and the fact that we can wear yoga pants to work everyday, 
there are a lot of reasons us Fishes know that we’re lucky to work where we work. However, of all the great aspects of our company culture that we enjoy, nothing brings more happiness to our office than when we decide to host an impromptu Bring Your Dog to Work Day. Every now and then, Lorne will head out of the office for a few days, and we’ll take advantage of our fearless leader’s absence and bring in our favorite furry friends to keep us company throughout the workday.
If you follow our blog, you know that we have a lot of passions at Fish: Bravo, the Bachelor, Game of Thrones, House of Cards Billions (yes, we are all TV addicts)…the list goes on and on. That said, there’s nothing we’re more passionate about than our dogs. Our Fish dog family consists of my girl Kodi, Ellie’s Otis, Tiffany’s Kobe, Amanda’s Kain, Julia’s Caymus, Clay’s Teddy, Ashley’s Lilly, Elayne’s Ella, Jenna’s Miles and Marisa’s Suki – each of whom are basically celebrities in the Fish world. Having a diehard love for freakishly adorable dogs is practically a prerequisite for working at Fish. Needless to say, anytime we decide to bring our dogs along with us to work, when they walk through the door they’re greeted with screams of excitement as if Brad Pitt himself decided to stop by our office.
The benefits of bringing our dogs to the office include more than just enjoying their cuteness all day. In a 2012 study, employees who were around dogs in the workplace reported feeling less stressed than employees who have dogs but left them at home, according to researchers from Virginia Commonwealth University. The study also found that pets triggered workplace interactions that would not normally take place. There are plenty of real-life stories that back this science up. As this Inc. article notes, Replacements, a dinnerware retailer based in Greensboro, North Carolina has been pro (well-behaved) puppies at the office for decades. The company’s pet policy started because its founder, Bob Page, didn’t want to leave his pet at home. But he always figured that having animals around was cathartic. That suspicion was confirmed after the company participated in the VCU study. “The study proved what we always thought: Having dogs around leads to a more productive work environment, and people get to know each other through the pets,” says Lisa Conklin, Replacements public relations manager. “If you are in a position where something is stressful, seeing that wagging tail and puppy smile brightens the day–it can turn around the whole environment.”
Huffington Post has a similar pet policy at its offices in New York City and Los Angeles, and according to Lena Auerbech, HuffPo’s manager of lifestyle communications and partnerships, in addition to minimizing stress, the pro-pet policy also sets the tone for the office: comfortable, open and flexible. Ultimately, those three words also describe Fish’s work environment, with or without dogs, but we can all agree that everything is better with a dog. Our bi-monthly Take Your Dog to Work Days are one of the many reasons Fish is undoubtedly a great place to work.
