Despite what you may think, New York is a dog-friendly place. Alongside the city's stressed out, harried masses lives a thriving community of furry, four-legged friends. In fact, the city is home to an estimated 1.5 million dogs, with 300,000 of those living in Manhattan. That means there are more dogs here than there are people in Boston and Washington D.C. combined.
New York is a welcoming place for dogs too — they can ride on the subway (albeit in a backpack), visit bars that don't sell food, and can live in most apartment buildings. One of the big places they're not welcome, however, is the workplace.
Of course, as with so many outdated, stuffy work conventions, tech offices seem to be the exception. So, to find out why so many people love working in dog-friendly offices, we went to the source.
Here's what dog owners at some of our favorite dog-friendly tech offices had to say. Enjoy.
Archie from Giphy (follow him on Instagram)
"It's awesome to have dogs in the office because just petting a dog for two minutes releases all your work rage." — Yosub Kim, Content Strategy Director
Sheldon from Giphy
"We love having dogs running around the office because they help us keep our perspective and our sanity. They don't care about deadlines or office politics, and when you take a break to pet or play with the dog, you remember that those things aren't that important. At Giphy, we also put our dogs to work as models for GIFs and marketing materials, so they earn their keep." — Caroline Huber, Product Manager
Lumi from Giphy (follow her on Instagram)
"Having dogs playing around the office is so nice. They're always happy and everything is awesome all the time to them. It forces you to take a moment and breathe regularly. One of them will come up to your desk with a toy and make the cutest face, and you can't help but smile. It's a big stress reliever." — Laurence Girard
Butter from Bond Street
"Having dogs in our office makes the humans happier. It really seems to reduce stress, add joy, and build a sense of camaraderie on the team — how can you feel stressed with a fluffy smiling creature on your lap? The team approaches pup upkeep and care as a shared responsibility, too, so it kinda brings us together. Plus, the dogs love it. Butter, for one, will get all smiley and park himself by his "subway-backpack" before we go to work, making it clear he wants to go to the office. Matt and Libby (our other Bond Street pup regulars) love the attention too. It's a two way love fest (with, admittedly, occasional disruptive woofs thrown in)." — Kristen Kee, Head of Talent
Ryder from Bark & Co.
"Bark & Co offices aren't just dog friendly, they are made for dogs. Our office is designed to make dogs happy, since that's what we're all about. We say, "if we have to give belly rubs until we get carpal tunnel or listen to squeaky toys until our ears bleed, that's cool." — Pat Shores, CMO
Tucker Winston Ryan from Poppin
"Tucker has been an honorary employee since I started two years ago. He's even listed on our Poppin People page!" — Kelly Ryan, Senior Manager of Wholesale Marketing
Lil Mikey from Poppin
"Who wouldn't want to work with their best friend? We're fortunate to have an office that prioritizes employee happiness and culture. Being able to bring our pets in is the best perk and something that makes Poppin... Poppin. And besides, they love testing all the furniture we design." — LT Taylor, PR Manager
Megatron from Poppin
"I hate leaving my guy cooped up at home all day! Plus, if I'm going out of town and taking him with me, I don't have to run back home and get him. He loves it here and the office loves him back" — Alyson Mance, Sales Development Representative
Remy from Poppin
"My dog is such a people-person and adores all of the attention that he receives from my coworkers. He also loves that whenever he needs to take a nap, he knows my lap is available for him to rest on. I love having him at the office because I know that he is so happy to be there and helps make others happy too!" — Julie Epstein, Customization Production Designer
Tina from Poppin
"I love being able to turn away from my desk for a quick brain break and look down to see someone that is always happy to see me! Plus, dogs are great at retrieving rogue ping pong balls." — Ali Cooper, Sales Development Representative
Stella from Poppin
"I love having Stella at work because it makes me and everyone around me happy to see her sniffing around. I also like having her next to me in her chair. She's like a really adorable, really useless assistant." — Danielle Goldberg, Account Executive
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