It’s a rainy Saturday morning, I’m reading the news online (sorry print media I’ve converted) and my pulse quickens when I see an NPR piece about one of my favorite topics – dogs! Even better, office dogs!! NPR’s question: do dogs in the office help relieve workplace stress?
I say yes.
Anyone who’s been to my office knows my dog is in the back by my desk. For me, my dog relieves stress and keeps me company, and I work loooong hours. It’s the administrative work that raises my stress meter and hanging with my dog takes the edge off (according to NPR there’s actually scientific evidence to prove this).
For me, it all started for practical reasons with my first Great Dane puppy, Jazz, over 10 years ago. Now it’s ‘normal’, and how I work.
Jazz
The short Great Dane lifespan combined with a Dane puppy’s huge potential for separation anxiety destruction (ie furniture, clothing, fencing, structural aspects of house and garden) made it the ‘smart’ choice to try bringing him to work, and once I started, I loved it.
There were a few adjustments in the office, but my office staff grew to love him too. It turned out that Jazz’s life was tragically really short; he developed an aggressive cancer at age 2 and died at age 3. My then office manager Judy and I will still bite back tears when we reminisce about Jazz. He was a character. He’d talk to me, usually when it was late at the office and I’d been digging into the daily pile of paperwork for hours (pre-EHR). He’d sit up tall, look me in the eye and say ‘arrh arrh arrh ruff’, then look expectantly for an answer or movement that meant we were leaving. Sorry dude, we leave when the pile migrates to the outbox, today’s no different!
The only digital photos I have of him were right before he died. They don’t show what a beautiful dog he was before his cancer. He loved to wad up his blankets and just sort of suck on them. Sounds gross but it was pretty cute.
Jazz with his blanket
Blurry pic of Jazz in profile supervising while my husband made his food
Remmie
When Jazz died my dog-loving heart was broken. Finally I got busy looking for another Dane and Remmie entered my life. I had decided no more Dane puppies (steep and painful learning curve getting them properly trained). By serendipity and great fortune I found this wonderful retired show champion that epitomized the true ‘gentle giant’ of the great Dane spirit. Remmie was my dog soul mate. We loved each other from day 1; he lived for me and loved his days in the office, and I loved him back big time (still can’t write about him with biting back more tears).
My office staff loved Remmie too. He was huge, smart, gorgeous and a ‘show stopper’. Patients would bring friends and family to their appointments just to see him. If he wasn’t there, I’d get complaints of disappointment. He was affectionate (loved to lean on you or bury his head into your thigh – or waist), perfectly socialized, loved people, stunningly regal and was a great office companion.
Anytime I took him out in public, I had to allow extra time anytime for a ‘meet and greet’. I’ve never had a dog that attracted so much attention, crazy things like:
- Someone in a car asked if I’d be around for 10 min or more so they could go home and get their kids to see him.
- Walking in Sebastopol, the local police circled around us in their car, stopped us in a parking lot and wanted to play with him.
- Once when we took him to a pet friendly hotel in San Francisco’s Ghiradelli Square area a huge crowd formed around our car when Remmie stepped out. Journalists, photographers and a line of tourist flocked him like he was a rock star or British Royalty. During afternoon tea in the lobby he had a long line of people waiting to take their picture with him.
He was a rock star to me and it broke my heart when he died at almost 9. We had 5 great years together and I’m glad I took him to work. I’m sure that whatever the physiologic consequences of stress are, he mitigated mine.
Remmie on a frosty morning
Remmie and my husband
One large dog in a very pet friendly SF hotel
Pouting after the scary elevator ride up to the hotel room
Remmie touring SF and just after a big group of tourists 'had' to take pics with him
Remmie with the new guy in the house biting his tail
Rubio
Now it’s Rubio in the office. He’s the office clown. Usually found lyying on his back, legs sprawled up in the air and one eye on the front hall where all the action is. Well groomed, otherwise poised and, well, a handful. He’d love to run the place while also getting chasing privileges for the cat who lives in the office across the parking lot (yes, we love our office pets here in Sebastopol).
Like all poodles, he’s really smart, to the degree that I actually think he cracks jokes. He’s warm and fuzzy, a lot of fun for me, a really good sport about my long office hours (and, yes, it’d be a lot more fun if we let that cat in the office).
After my Danes, I consider this standard poodle a lap dog. When I do watch TV, Rubio and his 50 soft cuddly (plus poodle attitude) pounds are draped across my lap. I admit it, I totally love my dogs. I’m sure my dogs, in addition to loving me back, are really good for my health. NPR said so!
Rubio the day we picked him up at the breeder's house
Puppy Rubio on a frosty morning
Rubio giving himself a clay mask facial (or was it foraging in the compost?)
Cleaned up and waiting patiently at the office (down the hall to the left)
Anybody else have dog love affair stories?
I remember all three of them. Loved seeing them also in the office.
Good Morning, Dr Bailey!
This is a lovely blog entry today. I love the stories, and the photos. Now I am not the only one who knows what a terrific human you are. Besides your dogs, that is!
Yours, Kitty
Caroline and Kathy,
Thanks for your comments, I sure do love these dogs and I’m glad that we spent/spend so much time together. I’m surprised how writing (or even really reminiscing) about my Danes will choke me up. Pet time is precious.
Cheers, Cynthia Bailey MD
Dog people rule. Great for stress, anxiety, taking your mind off of the potholes in life. I can still remember my son riding a friends Great Dane while taking 3rd grade swimming lessons. I now have a 100% nutty Jack Russell – very high energy, really would like to meet the cat in the office next door.
Dear Dr. Bailey,
I am your biggest fan. I am the Co-Owner and Co-Director of the Facial Rejuvenation Center in Nashville, Tennessee. I too, have the luxury of bringing my dog into the office daily. My 2 1/2 tear old, Cavalier King Charles is named Elton John, and he stole my heart from moment he was born. My patients love a kiss and a furrie little hand shake at each visit.
Your blog bought tears to my eyes. The unconditional love a dog brings into your life is not only rewarding but comforting.
“One word frees up all the weight and pain of life: That word is love.”
-Sophocles (496-406 B.C.)
I am glad to know you are not only my favorite dermatologist, but now I have another reason to respect and admire you!
Thank you . . . . Laurie Hays, R.N.
Dear Laurie,
Wow, thanks, I’m blown away by your kind words and how we are such kindred spirits w/ both our profession and our dogs. The web makes the world wonderfully small and lets us ‘meet’ each other even though we are a country apart.
Cheers, Cynthia Bailey MD
Hi Marcia,
I think my poodle and your Jack Russell would have a great time together pining for that cat through the window.
Cheers, Cynthia Bailey MD
Dr. Bailey,
Speaking of offices…do you use UV window clear film on your windows? If so, what brand and product do you use? I’m trying to look for something completely clear to prevent as much damage as possible(99.9%) but I have had a lot of trouble finding something that I could do myself. I am ALWAYS around windows…working in the office like you, driving…cooking…even my bathroom has windows! I can’t get away and need something as strong as possible.
Thank you so much! Your dogs were lucky to have you.
I should also mention that I cannot have any sort of tint in my area…it’s illegal.
Hello Ramza,
My office windows are tinted and mirrored (for privacy) so there are two layers. I’ve used the 3M product that my window tinter installs. They work well. Look for a product with the Skin Cancer Foundation seal of approval. Here is the link to their lists http://www.skincancer.org/products?SubCategoryId=18 We also have shades to close when there is direct sunlight still shining onto a work spaces.
Hope that helps.
Cynthia Bailey MD
Thanks Dr. Bailey! Just wondering but why do you have window shades? Are they providing additional skin protection over the tint or do you just not like the distraction of the brightness?
Cynthia,
I found your blog through your comment on the NY Times article about grieving for pets. I take all my pets to work, but then I work from home
I wish I were close by so I could make my dermatology appointments with you (I’m certain that animal-people have more compassion) but something tells me you will be booked up until you retire!
My husband and I still grieve for Tippy, the cat I had when we met as graduate students, an illegal resident of the married grad student housing where we lived in Madison, Wisconsin. My Indian-born husband had never had any exposure to pets, but converts are always the most fanatical, and now he sends me links to funny pet videos every day, and pictures of animals he sees when traveling. To be honest, I can’t conceive of being close friends with anyone who doesn’t love critters!
Martha,
I had an illegal resident dorm room cat too, mine was in college. Someone abandoned her on campus and I took her in. Needless to say it became the entire dorm residents project to hide her from the RA and our dorm mother, and somehow we did. You could see her sitting in someone’s window if you really looked for her. I graduated with that cat and she went with me to medical school. Thanks for bringing back that memory.
Cheers, Cynthia Bailey MD
For brightness, but you never know. There is a tiny amount of uv that comes thru even w/ the highetest quality tinting and I don’t need to sit in front of that and do desk work.
Thanks so much Dr. Bailey. I just have one more question regarding tint. I looked up the 3M that you mentioned and one of them, the 3M Crystalline Window Film has 99.9% UV and 97% Infrared and 60% Heat Rejection. However, tints..like the limo super dark tints from other companies have only 99.0% UV but boast higher percentages of the Infrared and Heat rejection Percentage. Does the Infrared or Heat Rejection percentage matter at all or shoudl we only be looking at the UV in terms of sun damage? I have heard conflicting opinions that Infrared light and other “sources” from the sun outside of just UVB and UVA..like the excessive heat, infrared can contribute to skin damage but I’m not too sure. Thank you once again!
Hello Ramza, I haven’t seen that. I’d be curious if you learn more about it to share it with me. My biggest concern is the UV.
God bless all our pets, and God bless all organizations that help abused and neglected animals such as the Humane Society.
Dear Dr. Bailey,
I just read your comment on raw food diets for your dog in the NY Time Health section. Would you kindly share your raw food diet with me? I have a 20 month Cockapoo who has alopecia that seems to be worsening andI though this might help. In general, the raw diet approach intrigues me and makes common sense.
Thank you,
Hi Susan,
I feed my current dog (a standard poodle) 3 small meals a day. Breakfast and dinner meals include an raw organically raised chicken foot with his other food. His food is a mixture of ground organically ranched lamb organs that I get from a local butcher (no central nervous system tissue because of a disease that can be transmitted), cooked organic brown rice and finely ground organic veggies and fruit like apples, carrots, chard etc. I mix all of this with a little Wysong Synergon kibble and a little of the Wysong canned food because he’s fussy and likes the taste. Ground muscle meat would be good but it’s more expensive and I have this great lamb ranch and butcher locally who delivers! The organs are kidney, lung, cartridge, heart etc. A number of the professional kennels here use the same thing so there are lots of dogs thriving on this where I live.
I include a little kibble since it’s got added vitamins. I use Wysong because they single render the food so it’s much less processed than most other brands. Most of the meal is the raw food and cooked rice though. I also give him raw meaty bones as a mid day treat on the weekends. These help clean his teeth too.
Basically, my poodle has got me running a dog food restaurant but I don’t mind. I’ve got it down. I started it for my sickly larger dogs many years ago, and as I mentioned in my comment, it transformed them. The basic plan is a takeoff of the BARF diet. My larger dogs would eat larger chicken parts such as a chicken back or neck or turkey back. Every now and then I’d give my Great Danes an entire chicken. It was an amazing site to see them eat one (sort of a party trick!). The important point with poultry is that it has to be raw or the bones are dangerous. The first time I fed a dog raw chicken bones I was nervous and it was a leap of faith because I had been told for years that chicken bones are bad. I was desperate though because my dog was so ill and I had tried everything else. I’ve been feeding this diet for over 10 years now and have never had a problem, but I can’t guarantee that it’s ok for anyone else’s dog, this is just my method.
I also found my way here from the Times article.
Would the diet be too expensive if you cut out the rice? I know of people who feed their dogs nothing but grassfed meat & organs, and raw bones from pastured animals, but it’s extremely expensive.
The rice does seem like it might be a good compromise.
Hello John,
The rice does help stretch the more expensive ingredients. So do the veggies because I grow my veggies and fruit so using some of the chard stems, carrot tops, beet greens, the bumper crop of ripe produce that I usually have etc is thrifty. I got the idea to put in ground veggies after watching a Discovery show about wild dogs in Africa. The wild dogs love the stomach contents of the herbivorous they hunt. I have to say my standard poodle is not a veggie lover though and can pick out the veggies he doesn’t like if I don’t finely grind them. My lab on the other hand would eat any veggie if it was surrounded by lamb organs.
My butcher sells the ground lamb organs at a bargain. I buy it in bulk. I buy the bones in bulk too. Again, these are the parts that human’s don’t traditionally have a taste for so it’s thrifty to use them for pet food and it’s a treat for the pets to get them.
Trust me, the cost, and effort of this diet is very much related to the size of the dog. My Great Danes went through a lot of food. My really big boy weighed 175 lbs or more in his prime. He and he was NOT fat. He was a picky eater yet still could go through so much food it was a marvel. Especially the chicken, which is the favorite for all my dogs. I bought a chest freezer for the lamb and chicken because I went through so much of it. Oh, I loved that dog! I have moved on to ‘small’ dogs though because owning such a big dog it complicated.