Some companies help to lick stress by allowing dogs at work

For some companies, dog days are key to success

By Alan R. Earls, Globe Correspondent, 12/12/04

Globe Staff Photo/David L. Ryan Nico! begins a mail run at Sametz Blackstone Associates, a marketing/branding/design consultancy in the South End. Globe Staff Photo/David L. Ryan Nico!, a 2 1/2-year-old mixed breed, carries mail at Sametz Blackstone Associates in Boston.

It's a typical day at the office: multiple deadlines, too many meetings, a raft of e-mail messages to read. And your boss is lurking a few cubicles away, just waiting to ask you about that overdue report. What can you do to decompress? How about reaching beside your chair and scratching Fido behind the ears?

Sametz Blackstone Associates, a marketing/branding/design consultancy in the South End, helps foster a low-stress environment by encouraging employees to bring their dogs to work. Roger Sametz, president and founder, says he wants to provide a more comfortable atmosphere for talented people who work hard. Often, there are as many as six dogs at a time in the South End brownstone office.

One dog, Nico!, a 2 1/2-year-old mixed breed his owner, analyst Eric Norman, calls ''corgihuahua,'' even carries the mail between floors.

''A lot of what we do here in terms of management involves encouraging people to come to work for us and stay here,'' said Sametz. He says the dog-friendly policy ''is consistent with our commitment to flexibility.

''This is a stressful business. If you want people to be productive you have to make them comfortable,'' he said.

While dogs aren't exactly overrunning most offices, there appears to be some momentum building in favor of canines at work. For instance, in 2003, the annual Take Your Dog to Work Day sponsored by Pet Sitters International, an organization of 6,400 ''professional pet sitters'' and Iams Dog Foods, say that more than 5,000 businesses participated. . When the event began in 1999 there were fewer than 300 companies participating, a spokesman said.

According to the organization, more than 64 million US households report owning a total of 65 million dogs. In the average workplace, that translates to 62 percent of employees who own dogs. A survey conducted by the American Pet Products Manufacturers Association in 2001 found that having pets in the office created a more productive work environment among 73 percent of the participating companies. The association's survey, which included workplaces with dogs, cats, fish, small animals, reptiles, and birds, showed a reduction in absenteeism of 27 percent among employees.

Spokeswoman Tierra Griffiths cites numerous studies by organizations such as the State University of New York at Buffalo ''that have demonstrated actual health benefits and stress reduction associated with owning pets.''

And, Griffiths added, ''I would think the same information applies to having pets in the workplace.''

David Kagan, managing director at Century Box, a manufacturer of folding boxes based in Methuen, is a believer. For the past eight years, dogs have been welcome at the company. Currently, his two dogs, Gus and Emily, a Labrador and a golden retriever, respectively, have the run of the company.

''Having a dog in the office eases tensions,'' said Kagan. ''They are friendly and the opposite of aggressive.'' Usually, one dog stays in the main office and the other hangs out with the customer service representatives, he said.

Pets are also welcome at Warner Communications in Manchester-by-the-Sea, where owner Carin Warner regularly brings in ''mascots'' Daisy, an English sheep dog, Snow Flake, a bichon frisé, and Pumpkin, a miniature poodle.

''It is quite calming. When things get stressful you can just go relax and pet them,'' said Erin Vadala, an account manager at Warner.

''For me it is a win-win,'' said Will Cook, principal designer at Sametz Blackstone. Cook explains that his main loyalty is to his cat -- which stays at home quite happily. But he also likes dogs.

''It is the best of both worlds. I have dogs in my life but I don't have to worry about upkeep -- I can play with them and at the end of the day they are out of my life.''

When new people interview for a job at the company, Sametz says they are always told about the company's dogs.

''No one has ever said they didn't want to work here because of that,'' he said. Sametz added that if there were an allergy issue it would be easy to establish pet-free zones.

Sametz says the golden rule is that the person who owns the dog has full responsibility for it. ''They have to pick up after the dog and no one ever gets huffy about it,'' he said. Furthermore, horseplay -- or dog play in this case -- is usually limited to the beginning and end of the workday so that it minimizes disruptions.

The dogs sense when the day is winding down. When incoming phone calls stop at about 5:30, the dogs begin to race around and get revved up, typically in preparation for play at the park across the street.

Sametz admits that pets in the workplace may not be for every company, but for his firm it has been a key to success.

''We position ourselves between the creative and the corporate world,'' he said. That means an office decorated with ''funky rugs,'' a ready supply of cookies for visiting clients, and plenty of dogs.

''Sometimes we will be having a rather frosty meeting with a client and all of a sudden a couple of dogs come charging in,'' he said. ''That always ends up warming things up.''