Our friend Anthony Hauck, online editor for Pheasants Forever, has some great reasons why you should take your bird dog to work with you:
There are some noted business benefits to having dogs in the office. For one, they’re therapeutic, and non-stressed employees are more productive employees. One survey found that 46 million Americans would work longer hours if they were allowed to bring their pups to work. It’s no wonder that more than 20 percent of companies in this country now allow dogs in their offices and cubicles.
And the dogs benefit too. Pheasants Forever office life, with people and dogs alike, has been great for getting “Sprig” well-socialized. Spending all our time together has made housebreaking and early obedience training much smoother. She did chew through my internet cable a few weeks back, but I think that was her way of telling me to take a break.
Anthony's cocker, Sprig, hard at work on some Pheasants Forever reports.
Anthony's point regarding the socialization benefits of taking a dog to work is especially strong. The more places, people and other dogs you can expose your pup to, the better adjusted he'll be later on. On the other hand, a pup that spends its days alone back at the house is more likely to experience stress whenever an event interrupts his daily routine. Guess which dog will be calmer, more trainable and get along better with other hunting dogs later in life.
But that's not the biggest reason to take a dog to work. As Anthony notes, it just makes the day better.