Some companies allow employees to take their dogs to work . Virginia Commonwealth researchers did an interesting study. A company with about 55o employees were allowed to bring their dogs with them to work.  About 20 to 30 dogs came to work with their owners each day.  Pets were allowed in this company’s office for about 15 years. The dogs  lie quietly at their owners’ feet — in the call center, at reception, in the corporate offices and even in a repair area where workers handle fragile crystal and china. Even the company’s chief executive has been known to bring his miniature dachshunds to work. The researchers took 76 employees and divided them into three groups. Those who brought their dogs to work, those who owned dogs but left them at home and those who didn’t have pets. For one week, the researchers measured the levels of the stress hormone cortisol in samples of the workers saliva. They used surveys to gauge stress levels four times each day.

There was no significant difference in cortisol levels among the participants but by the end of the day, the average stress level scores fell about 11% for the employees who brought their dogs to work while the stress levels rose more that 70% for the employees that did not take their dogs to work. During the day, people who hadn’t brought pets walked over to colleagues who had and asked whether they could take the visiting dogs for walks.

In addition to all of the love they provide, our pets reduce our stress levels.

Remember, your pets count!