Even an objectively perfect animal needs some workplace guidelines.
Not a Doggy Day Care by Roxanne Gay
The question: I love dogs. I work in a small, eight-person office. Two people bring their dogs. The dogs bark incessantly, and their owners respond with baby talk. I’m not sure what is more annoying. I can speak with the office manager, but I’m afraid of seeming awful. I’m only in 18 hours a week and keep convincing myself that I can deal, though it means wearing noise-canceling headphones all the time (and even those don’t block the sound).
Once, one of the dogs wound up under my table barking and nearly gave me a heart attack. It’s a young office, and I’m the only older one with a kid. I keep imagining how these women would feel if I brought in an infant and they had to listen to crying and baby-talk all day. Help. - Anonymous, New York City
Ms. Gay responds: As someone with a (perfect, adorable) dog, I know how unhinged I must sound when talking to him. I make sounds I did not know existed within me, but I can’t help it. He’s just very cute and very good. Fortunately, I work from home mostly, so I don’t have to subject anyone to this excessive display of adoration.
Bringing dogs into the workplace only works if the dogs are well behaved and well managed by their humans. One or two or more people bringing their dogs to work shouldn’t mean they become everyone’s problem, because not everyone loves dogs! And even if you do love dogs, you don’t necessarily love having your workday interrupted by baby-talking humans or a dog (obviously a good boy) that barks too much and roams the office to share its vocal enthusiasm.
There should be clear, reasonable guidelines for bringing pets to work, if it is allowed. These guidelines should respect everyone’s needs and also set the dogs up for success in a professional workplace. Is there a way to broach developing such guidelines with your manager? I’m afraid the baby talking is an incurable condition, but can you speak with your colleagues about managing their dogs’ barking? I firmly believe there’s a solution here that will improve the situation. It just takes a little patience, a little kindness and having an honest but well-intended conversation or two.