By Seattle DogSpot
As I sat in the lobby of Amazon headquarters in Seattle’s South Lake Union neighborhood, I quickly realized who had the best job in the company: the receptionist.
That’s because the dozens of dogs that accompany their people to work there make a beeline for her desk whenever they walk by with the hope of getting a snack from the treat jar she keeps on her desk. They got lots of petting and scratching as well.
Her job is definitely a dog lover’s dream. Of course, working anywhere at Amazon would be a dog lover’s dream as the online giant is one of the dog friendliest companies in the world.
Amazon’s policy on bringing dogs to work is straightforward:
- Employees have to get manager and officemate approval for bringing their dog to work
- Dogs must be up to date on their vaccinations, housebroken, and well-behaved
- Dogs must be on leash when employees take them around the campus but can be off leash by their person’s desk if there’s doggy door
- Employees cannot leave dogs alone in their work spaces (so officemates can dog sit!)
- Employees with permission to bring their dogs to work must register them with the company
Amazon’s dog friendly policy is clearly popular with its employees. Currently, about 1500 dogs are registered on the company’s database of employees with permission to bring their dogs to work.
While I doubt all the employees on the list bring their dogs to work everyday, on any given day hundreds of dogs are on the Amazon campus.
Amazon’s dog loving policies are nothing new. It began in the company’s early days when a Welsh corgi named Rufus accompanied the company’s editor-in-chief and principal engineer to work every day.
Rufus still has his own page on the company’s website. Here’s how it describes his career at Amazon:
“During his tenure, Rufus could be found strolling our hallways, sitting in on meetings (he loved a meeting), or catching a few z’s in his crate. He was a master of the hallway tennis ball chase, and had everyone snookered into giving him too many treats. …
Continue reading: Amazon: Dog friendly Seattle’s dog friendliest company
