Your dog at work good for you both

By LINDA M. LINONIS

linonis@vindy.com

They have a doggone good time at work and have a “paws-itive” effect on their co-workers.

Dogs at Work

Gallery

Take your dog to work.

They’re the canines who accompany their owners to their jobs.

On Friday, Pet Sitters International sponsors the 16th annual Take Your Dog to Work Day.

For some dogs in the Valley, going to work is routine.

Marley, a 6-year-old Golden Retriever, is a member of Sam and Donna Boak’s family and his “work family” at Boak and Sons, 75 Victoria Road, Austintown, specialists in commercial and residential roofing, siding, windows, insulation and gutters.

“She’s come to work with me since she was a pup,” Boak said of Marley’s schedule of three to four days a week. His office has a bone-shaped mat for her food and water bowls.

In his office, Marley likes to lay on a window ledge, three legs in and one on the floor. “Deer from Meander pass by ... she likes to look,” Boak said, noting she’s not much into chasing critters. But toss her a ball or a frisbee — she loves them. Boak said Marley is good off leash. “She stays right with me.”

When she hears different employees arrive at work, she greets them and looks for a treat. “She likes to be touching you,” Boak said.

The canine also is astute at knowing which business associates have treats in their pockets. “She knows if you give her half, there’s more,” Boak said. “She knows who the dog people are.” He controls the number of treats she gets so she keeps her figure at 65 pounds.

Marley, pictured with Boak on the company website, www. boakandsons.com, is the “official greeter” at the business. “She breaks the ice,” Boak said.

Marley puts in a full day with Boak from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. on her “work” days. At 2 p.m., she takes her “banana break” with an employee in the warehouse area. Boak said what’s amazing it that even when Daylight Saving Time comes and goes, she’s on the right time. But a new copier or something moved in the office provokes a bark or two. “She’s a character,” Boak said.

Marley is a morale booster. “She brings smiles to work,” Boak said. In fact, a photo of her looks like she’s smiling. “She has a calming effect on people.”

At Christ Episcopal Church in Warren, the Rev. J. Jeffrey Baker has a soulmate in Sammie.

The 21⁄2-year-old female Labrador retriever has run the halls at the church since she was a puppy. She even attends Sunday service.

After Father Baker has called the children to the altar for the sermon, his daughter, Jaclin, lets Sammie run up the aisle to the altar. “She is the church mascot,” Father Baker said.

The priest said he has raised labs since he was 10 years old. “I love the breed,” he said, noting “they are gentle, want to please and are easy to train.” Sammie obediently goes into her crate on command.

Father Baker said Sammie helps with his role as a priest. “When I’m counseling people, she has a calming effect,” he said. For him, Sammie is a “stress reliever” at the church bustling with activities.

For some people, Father Baker said, Sammie is “a positive experience with a big dog.” “She shows them that loving, happy and friendly side of dogs,” he said.

Father Baker said dogs are a wonderful teaching tool. “They give us unconditional love ... same as the unconditional love God has for us,” he said. “Dogs also teach us things ... like patience ... when we’re training them. But that teaches us to be patient to wait on God.”

The priest added that having a dog also “helps us understand and cope with death” because their lives are short. “Dogs are God’s gift to us,” Father Baker said.

At Brittain Motors in East Palestine, Cory Brittain, who works in sales at his father Tom’s dealership, brings 5-month-old yellow Labrador retriever, KC, to work. “She’s been here since she was 8 weeks old,” he said.

“She hangs out in the office with the title clerks and they play with her,” he said. “Customers like to see her.” (She’s even been in the company’s advertising.)

Brittain added a delivery person gives her a treat when he stops. “KC likes the attention,” he said.

Bill Cross, owner of Modern Office Products in Boardman, said his wife occasionally brings Kacee, a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, to visit.

Cross said the business personalizes invoices for customers. Marley, Boak’s dog, appears on his business paperwork.

“We have a dog of the week,” Cross said of the business’s partnering with Friends of Fido and Mahoning County Dog Pound to promote dogs that are up for adoption.

He said because many employees have pets, it’s a way to help homeless animals.

“We’ve gotten some feedback on animals that have been adopted,” Cross said.