How to Bring your Dog to the Office: for Traveling Healthcare Professionals

One of my most popular informational blog posts that I wrote quite some time ago was titled, “What to do with your dog when you’re at work.” You can find it right here!

Inspired by this popular information, I decided to dive into what it looks like to bring your dog with you when you go to work as a travel HCP (healthcare professional) or even a permanent worker.

Today I’ll dive into a few popular work settings we experience as travelers, rate the dog friendliness of the setting and discuss training exercises or routines you can do to help make bringing your dog with to work a positive experience for everyone.

Home Health: 5/5 Dog Friendly

This is what I do! From travel contracts to permanent, Chloe LOVES spending time with me when I am working home health gigs. She goes to daycare on my longer days, when I’m seeing more folks in the same area; back to back. But when I have long drives, Chloe is THE BEST company! She always listens to my crazy rants about healthcare, she never judges me when I forget to do something important AND she always encourages me to get my notes done.

A couple resources I use for dog friendly home health days include:

Temp Monitor for your vehicle safety- consider a waggle device
Sniff Spot- talk about a great app to find a quiet place to document while your dog can run around happily (dog parks work for some dogs too!)
Rover for daycare on those longer days!
Google Maps for local parks to walk over a lunch break.

A couple important training concepts to focus on for your traveling pup in this setting, of course include comfort with riding in a car, knowing your dog will not bark/ react to things when in the car alone, either keeping lunch protected or knowing your dog will ignore food that is left out. Emergeny considerations are also important for this setting, due to the frequency of car accidents! Practice muzzle training for emergencies, and consider a doggy seat belt for safety.

Skilled Nursing Facilities: 3.5/5 dog friendliness

Have I actually successfully had Chloe with me for a full day while working in a SNF setting? You better believe it. This is usually best in rural towns, where your pup can sit in the office, or join you to drive from one rural SNF to the next. Chloe still enjoys daycare a couple times a week, and many dogs are best behaved with a good energy outlet over your lunch break. But I’ve found dogs in skilled facilities are a positive experience! Many patients will want to interact with your pup and as long as they are appropriate with NO nails (let’s remember fragile skin issues here) your facility may be happy with it!

Training tips include working on appropriate interaction with patients (not jumping on wheelchairs or chasing walker tennis balls), nail trimming, groomed hair to avoid shedding, and no separation anxiety if your doggo has to wait a while when you’re treating folks.

Outpatient Office: 3/5 dog friendliness

This also totally depends on the setting! Many facilities are booked back to back (and even double booked) when you’re in the outpatient realm. Unfortunately that would make having your pup around very difficult! This is similar to some SNFs you see as well. But I have met THREE dogs in the outpatient world, all wonderful office pups who were happy to wait while their pet parent provided treatments, and other clinicians gave some sweet pets while documenting in the office.

Training will include ensuring your adventure pet would be happy to wait in an office unattended! Of course nail trimming, and grooming will also be essential, as well as positive exposure to loud noises such as weights or a treadmill.

Hospital: 1/5 dog friendliness

Due to sanitization considerations as well as lots of scary cords and needles, hospitals are usually the least dog friendly environment.

Here, I would recommend choosing a local daycare or Rover. You can also ensure you live close to the hospital for dog friendly lunch breaks. Rural hospitals may have more flexibility if they’re a mixed setting with home health, skilled or outpatient settings on the scene.

Schools: 2/5

I have learned that the school systems are very different, depending on the state where you’re located. Some schools you are working out of a closet that barely fits you and the kiddo, and you may be inside that closet all day. Other schools you drive around frequently and consult with IEP teams for recommendations. Driving jobs are much more pet friendly, similar to home health; however it is unlikely you’ll be allowed to bring your pup inside with you when working with kids.

You can train your pup and have similar supplies as you see in the home health world! Comfort with kids, with driving and seeing fun things outdoors while staying calm are all extra essential in this setting. Emergency prep with a temp monitor, muzzle comfort and/or a seat belt are also important considerations.

What’s your favorite pup friendly travel setting?

In the end, it’s always important to discuss your pet with your job, and read the reactions in an honest way. MANY folks don’t like dogs (I know, I know, don’t tell Chloe Rue). Many people also have allergies to pets! It’s important to be respectful of all people, especially in a work or healing environment.

However, I have found in many places all over the United States that people LOVE dogs. People love to pet your pup, to interact with them, to love on them and it truly makes their day better. In my mind as healthcare workers, if we have little healers with paws around who motivate better than we could ever imagine, why not use them in a safe manner? If the facility is okay with it, the patient is excited about it and your dog is well mannered- well it just paves the pathway to happier travels for everyone.

Have you ever brought your pup to the office? What were some barriers or some motivators for you? I thank you so much for reading and as always, many happy tails and happy trails to you.

Barking Embarkers