Hacker News Reader

Comment by dudul | Hacker News Reader

It is indeed not for everyone since I personally hated it :)

I find it extremely distracting. When there is a dog around, you'll always find a bunch of people throwing the ball with it or something like that in the middle of the open space.

And there is of course the dog owner who just doesn't care where the dog is. Doesn't care that it's coming to my desk to lick my shoes, or bothering me while I'm trying to eat in the kitchen.

Purely based on empirical observations (so, it's worth what it's worth) I feel like dog owners automatically assume that everyone else loves dogs as much as they do. They care very little about people who are scared, allergic, disgusted, etc.

View on HN

>Purely based on empirical observations (so, it's worth what it's worth) I feel like dog owners automatically assume that everyone else loves dogs as much as they do. They care very little about people who are scared, allergic, disgusted, etc.

I feel the same way about people who have kids.

Despite being allergic to dogs I loved having dogs at my workplace...and miss it as no dogs at my new work.

I understand why people would not appreciate it. We had good rules and good owners. The dogs stayed in the owners office most of the day and only visited those who wanted to see them.

At least in my office almost everyone was happy to see the dogs.

I have dog allergies and work in a workplace that allows dogs. It's not terribly fun, and I feel like I'm fighting a politically-uphill battle to not be seen as the bad one while still having a decent space to work.

It's ridiculous how many people have "service" animals nowadays. I don't care for the smell of animals, nor can I vet the training abilities of all animal owners, so I'd rather not deal with them at all. Somehow everyone has an emotional problem nowadays that requires a pet to be with them at all times.

This is clearly false hyperbole.

I'll agree OP was hyperbolic, but there certainly is a marked increase. The worst part is all these companies selling emotional support animal certificates or registries, despite the fact they are usually meaningless.

>I'll agree OP was hyperbolic, but there certainly is a marked increase.

Of course there is. Emotional support animals are now being offered as an alternative to medication.

They're also now being offered as an alternative to your pet getting stowed with the luggage when flying...

Awww, this makes me sad. I am a dog lover and I forget that some people are really not. I'm currently in a small office where the CEO brings his dog. It's an older, smaller (I think terrier) breed and he's the only one that does it currently.

But this dog is fantastic! I think I've heard him bark like 2x in the 3 years I've been there, he's quite laid-back and wanders around the office but is more likely to follow the CEO around and lay at his feet or he sleeps outside the conference room when the CEO is in meetings. He will come to the kitchen when people are in it, but he has been trained to stay out of it so he just sits at the door.

I love, love, love having him in the office and I think everyone else does too (but now I'm hoping there aren't people adversely affected that don't speak up). Even when the CEO is traveling, sometimes his wife will drop him off for the day because the dog is so chill and people like the interaction, will take him on walks around the business park, etc.

Totally agree. It’s a matter of personal preferences just as any other kind of office setup. Some people love open office, some don’t, some like dogs in the office, some don’t. It would be nice if was easier for people to work according to their preferences.

My workplace allows dogs but is quite strict about them being on leash at all times and not to be left unattended. It works out quite well.

> in the middle of the open space.

There's your problem. You work in a bullpen. Dogs are one of many triggers for problems in bullpens.

True. When I worked at the place with dogs we had offices. Open office or cubes just suck in principle. With or without dogs.

> open space

There's your problem right there

Reply on news.ycombinator.com