Dog friendly workplace

"According to an American study, it can reduce employee stress levels, increase workplace morale if a worker brings his dog to work.”
April 21, 2015, 04:00 Author: FZS ”

What does an expert think about this?

The dog is approx. 150 thousand years ago joined the man from the herd of wolves, and during this long period it adapted to man in everything, nowadays, according to the unanimous opinion of ethologists, the natural environment of the dog is the human environment. There is a lot of research dealing with the impact of pets, such as dogs, on human well-being and human health. They clearly state that dog owners, those who live with the dog, are healthier, less depressed among them, less likely to have high blood pressure, use less medication, and going less to the doctor. Children living in an apartment with a dog are less allergic and have a stronger immune system.

The mere presence of a dog triggers the production of many hormones in the body. Thus e.g. even at the sight of a foreign dog, oxytocin production begins in both the human and the dog’s body. This hormone not only plays a role at birth, but also increases confidence and reduces fear and has a stress-relieving effect. These effects become more profound in our own dog.
The presence of a dog relieves stress even when we are with a foreign dog. When you are with a dog, the levels of cortisol (a stress hormone) in your body are lower. It can be measured that a “visit” to a dog, being with it, reduces the body’s stress hormone levels more than a visit from a best friend. I wonder why? The dog is quite sure to treat him with unconditional love and trust in his master.

According to the WHO, depression is the number one reason for the decline in the number of years spent in health in developed countries. Between 1990 and 2013, the incidence of depression increased by 53%, the third most common reason for the decline in working capacity in Hungary. The functioning of the human body and nervous system is optimized for the natural environment and its adaptability cannot follow the rapid development of technology. Our genetic attachment to the natural environment is much greater than previously thought. Dogs are easy to socialize, require occupation, like to learn, understand human body language, and are able to serve humans 24 hours a day. These properties make them suitable e.g. also to perform the duties of a helper dog.

Based on the experience gained during our work with assistance dogs, it can also be said that the dog can clearly have a positive effect on people's emotional state, it can help them to learn calmly and work. The presence of the dog plays a major role in networking, community building, and integration, has an excellent impact on conflict management, and last but not least, is an excellent opportunity to prevent workplace “burnout” syndrome.

Based on all this, the desire for workplaces where your own well-bred dogs are allowed into the workplace is to be welcomed and understood, of course, where this can be done taking into account the working conditions and where the needs of the animal can be met during the day. put their dog to work. They should also take into account and respect that not everyone is a fan of them. The owner should make sure the dog is well socialized and does not disturb others. The best way to do this is to train your dog in a suitable dog school.

As a dog-friendly workplace, we asked our colleagues about all of this, who regularly spend their working days with their dogs at Agrikon-Alfa Kft:

“I have kept the upbringing and socialization of my dog in mind since the beginning. In addition to dog school and agility, working days together have also become very important for both of us. When we’re in the office together, it’s not just an extra source of joy for him, it’s for me as well. His presence cheers up other colleagues and even for a few minutes, but shocks them out of the monotony of everyday life. Therefore, I am very happy that similarly to the western trend, Agrikon-Alfa Kft. is also a dog-friendly workplace. "

"What can I say? The dog brings people together most of the time, putting a little smile on the faces of colleagues during stressful working days. It also feels good to not have to worry about what your dog is doing all day alone at home. Do I need to buy a new sprinkler system and shoes? ”

"The Beni (corporate) ritual begins as soon as we leave for work. Preparing everything Benito may need one day is toys, food, jute. Then in the morning, when he sees us leaving equipped and getting his little seat in the car, he already suspects how good a little day is waiting for him.Inside the office he is excitedly waiting for his colleagues to arrive, I note he doesn't have to wait long.He knows that in addition to a little play, pounding and fanfare, of course he also gets a couple of reward walls.In addition to how good he does contact with people, it’s good to see that he can cheer anyone up from the everyday tension with his little clownish behavior.How much he spends my day can’t even be a question.When he’s exhausted, a corpse drags itself tired to my feet and nicely there Within a minute, he starts snoring loudly, and sometimes he gets up to see if everything is okay, then sits down next to me and watches with big eyes. there is no alternative, Beni minutes are coming. Either we play a little or it sits on my lap. Let’s say the end of it is that you want to start a huge “tidy up” on the table, or when you put down this plan, you imagine yourself as a master hairdresser and want to straighten my hair. This is when he always breaks out of the world of work, reassures him. Then when he sees that he has done everything for my entertainment, he will continue to take a nap, and I will give myself new impetus to the work. ”

In our opinion, what has been described is a good example of the positives if our four-legged friends can also participate in the busy everyday life of owners. We hope that over time, it will become more common for pets to spend all day with their owner and the number of dog-friendly jobs will increase.

Through putting many smiles on people’s faces,
our spirit will become richer and richer

The Foundation for dog therapy was registered by the registry court under the name of ‘With Dogs….For A Smile Foundation’. Our non-profit organisation’s goal is to spread dog therapy experience and knowledge as wide as possible, and make this type of therapy easily available for the development of children, mentally and physically disadvantaged people to improve their quality of life through the use of helping dogs.

Psychologist and ethologists have observed and studied that a dog and other pets can help people in improving their quality of life and in the recovery of their health.

The use of therapy dogs is also beneficial to children’s emotional development. With the help of these dogs it is easier to build a relationships with people  who, due to their illness, are unable or find it difficult to connect with their peers or even health professionals.

Since 2011, the ‘With Dogs…. For A Smile Foundation’ qualified therapy dog handler teams have frequently attended classes working together educators.  In special schools  we help to improve primary students’ learning abilities,  have dog assisted activities for healthy and ill children  and we help to improve hospitalised patients’ health and speed up their healing process.

We would like to provide and create conditions for long term therapy work of many therapy dog handler teams. This way many more children and adults will be able to benefit from this wonderful opportunity.

If you found the above interesting and didn’t yet have a 1% tax, support the foundation’s work to put as many smiles on people’s faces as possible. (18279166-1-03)