Odys the Office dog

The peer pressure is real. Turning away from my computer to gaze at the picture of comfort my dog is making, lounging upside down on his bed as he snoozes the afternoon away, who could blame me for wishing desperately to join him for an afternoon nap? It’s so tempting that I’ve impressed myself with my own willpower at not caving in and sneaking away from the desk to get a nap in while working from home during Covid lockdowns.

There are definite benefits to working from home with a pet, the first of which is that it’s good for my health. Odys, my German wirehaired pointer, makes me get up multiple times a day to feed him, let him outside, let him inside, spoil him with cuddles, play with him, the list goes on. He’s also a good talking point with my virtual colleagues, who always want to see him at the start of meetings. He brightens the day for those who don’t have pets and are on their own in lockdown. Of course, I have to awkwardly hold the laptop at an odd angle so they can see and coo over him, while strategically hiding any other mess jammed in the corners of the hastily constructed home office that used to be a spare bedroom where all the household junk was stored…

He’s also good for bragging. Unlike my co-worker’s much-loved pets, Odys is special (and yes, I know all pet parents think their pet is the best, and they are all right), but Odys is also a champion show dog, with lots of rosettes, which make a lovely backdrop to videoconferences if I need a brag. I got that idea from my boss, who suggested I should have them displayed behind me in meetings, and he was right, it certainly sparked some conversations and impressed my colleagues.

One of Odys' other talents includes being a very efficient office worker when it comes to tearing up cardboard for the recycling bin (also great for kids looking to use the “dog ate my homework” excuse).

However, more than once he’s caused a bit of embarrassment for me. There’s been a few incidences, often when I’m trying to train a group of people via videoconference, where he’s started snoring in the background! And. It’s. Loud! If that’s not a hint that my training content is boring, I don’t know what is! How he knows which times are the absolute worst to start snoring, I don't know, but somehow, he unfailingly picks times when I’m not on mute and everyone can hear him.

One other incident, which I can only blame myself for, is when I gave him a crunchy treat, just before joining a virtual meeting, only to have them all hear him crunch away in the background and wonder what the sound was, awkward! I learnt my lesson after that - soft treats only!

The other thing that is my fault for faulty supervision, is the hole that miraculously chewed itself into the bed. And it wasn’t a cheap bed. That bed, which he spends most of the day napping in is a $200 shredded memory foam-filled bed with removable washable covers. It’s more comfortable than my own bed and, in fact, I splashed out and got a giant memory-foam bean bag for me just because I couldn’t bear not to have my own version of his bed.

The saving grace in the hole-in bed incident is that the bed is so expensive that it comes with lifetime free repairs. I sent it back to the manufacturer and they patched the hole. Odys was so excited to get his bed back after he’d been relegated to a rug for the few weeks it took to get the bed repaired that (knock on wood) he hasn’t chewed anymore holes in it.

Odys is perfect just the way he is though, because he always makes me smile and brings joy to my days, and that’s what makes him the PAWfect co-worker.