Dogs welcome at many tech companies
Zynga's got its "barking lot'' just outside the main lobby in San Francisco. Amazon offers dog biscuits at the receptionist's desk and dog-friendly water fountains around its Seattle campus. And dozens of companies in the Bay Area and beyond are listed on dog-friendly websites in case you -- and your four-legged companion -- want to check out the amenities offered by your prospective employers.
Next Friday is Take Your Dog to Work Day, and millions of pets are expected to show up at workplaces around the United States. But for many companies, notably high-tech firms in Silicon Valley, well, every day is Take Your Dog to Work Day.
"We've got hundreds of dogs at Google (GOOG) everyday,'' says spokesman Jordan Newman. "We've allowed dogs to come to work since the early days because we find having your dog with you can make people more comfortable and thus more productive. Plus, it's tough owning a dog and having it sit at home all day.''
That won't be the case on Friday -- or any other day -- for Dolly, who regularly accompanies her owner Erin McCormack to work at Authentic Entertainment in Los Angeles.
"I consider it a benefit like health care. It's a huge attraction," says McCormack, a producer on the Discovery Channel's "Auction
Kings." "They are a calming force. When things get stressful, you can lean down and pet your dog or take a walk and pet a nearby dog. You get a more efficient workplace, one that's not consumed with stress."
About 1.4 million owners take some 2.3 million dogs to work every day, according to an American Pet Products Association survey. When the group last questioned businesses in 2006, one in five was dog-friendly. That number is probably holding steady if you include one-person offices, work-at-home pet owners and retail shops, said Len Kain, co-founder and editor of DogFriendly.com, which lists dog-friendly companies in every state.
"Engineering and software companies are often the type of company that is pet-friendly," Kain said. "These companies have trouble finding people with the skills they need and do not want to lose these employees."
To keep up with competitors' perks, a lot of tech companies welcome their employees' pets with open arms. At Zynga, which was named after CEO Mark Pincus' now-deceased American Bulldog, the beloved pet lives on in company lore, not just with its depiction in the corporate logo, but in name of the company's Wi-Fi network, appropriately called "puppynet.'' Like most dog-friendly firms, Zynga requires on-site animals to be registered, housebroken and to behave themselves when their owners are on the clock.
"Mark's a big dog fan,'' said a Zynga spokeswoman, "and dogs have always been a part of the Zynga culture. Employees value having their dogs with them because it lets them bring a little piece of home to work with them and that makes them happier during the day. Plus, dogs are a great conversation-starter among employees.''
At Amazon, says spokesman Ty Rogers, "dogs have walked the halls since the company first started. In fact, images of our first dog, a now-departed Corgi named Rufus, have been sprinkled across our amazon.com pages for years. Rufus lives on at Amazon -- his name is stamped on the door handles of many of our offices.''
Rufus apparently triggered a real trend. Rogers says "these days, we've got everything from a large Siberian Husky to a tiny Chihuahua that regularly come to the office.''
In an attempt to be non-discriminatory, some companies are going the extra mile in their pet-friendly policies.
"Cats are welcome at Zygna,'' said the spokeswoman. "So are lizards and rabbits. And there's a lot of harmony among all these animals, too. It's surprising, but somehow it works.''