It's not unheard of ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dogs_in_warfare ), after all, people routinely take their best friend into war.. so taking "man's best friend" makes plenty of sense.

That said, my office is in a no-pets building, and I'm happy for it. It makes it a non-issue.

Dogs are fun. War is not. I'll take the dog.

Your war analogy reminds me of a comment a startup CEO once made to me: "A startup is a war. I am at war, and if one of my men can't keep up I will shoot him."

I'll take the dog.

No its like you are so busy at war that you don't have time for your dog, may be you live in office (except for bathing).

So the dog has to follow you to office for its survival and moreover most dogs are super spiritful creatures and all dogs are great morale boosters.

I had great success generating extra interest in an open position for a senior software / CTO position by advertising that we had a "dog friendly" workplace, and that I, the CEO, would be delighted to walk the dog during the day.