The Dog Ate My Blog

This morning, local network TV affiliates in Washington, D.C. visited The HSUS’s Gaithersburg, Md. office to interview some of our best campaigners. I’m afraid a few of them may have drooled on the microphone.

Camera crews did live broadcasts from our office throughout the morning in celebration of Take Your Dog to Work Day. At The HSUS offices, every day is take your dog to work day, and our dogs in the office policy has been running without a hitch for more than a year now. So it was just another day at the office in showing off our policy to the press. It's great for the dogs and also their caretakers, who save on doggy day care costs. With this policy, there's no separation anxiety on the part of person or pooch.

Our office dogs are so well-behaved there are times we almost forget they are here. The times when they announce their presence—through the squeak of a toy, a woof of excitement, a stray snore, or the thump of a tail wagging against the floor—serve to keep our spirits up and remind us of who it is we’re working for.

Dawn Lauer, a Companion Animals outreach assistant who brings her dog Katie to work, said it best: "The ability to step away for a moment and give Katie a belly-rub can really help to alleviate the stress and provide us with renewed inspiration to continue our work of protecting animals."

Even if you don’t have dogs in your office or in your life, let’s celebrate the day with a bit of fun. Piper, a timid Chihuahua mix pictured below, comes to the office with Beau Archer, our shelter services coordinator. What do you think is on Piper’s mind? Suggest a caption for this photo either by offering a comment or sending an email. Then I’ll print your ideas next week and pick a favorite.