Think about your workplace. The desks, the doors, the people, picture it all in your mind. Now imagine it in the morning, the quite murmur of voices as everyone files in still groggy from the commute. The day begins and the murmur turns into a steady drone punctuated by the occasional phone call and door shutting finally culminating in the relieved sigh as everyone realizes it is time to go home. Picturing this ‘typical’ day imagine what sorts of things would throw a wrench in the works, grate on your nerves, and leave you pulling your hair in frustration. How about a fire alarm, a shouting match between stressed out co-workers, emergency vehicles screaming by? Now imagine what it would be like to work in a small office with a small dog (Chihuahua) that barks at every loud noise, at every new person (sometimes even those it knows) and sometimes barks just because the sky is blue. Well, welcome to my world.
Today I was almost tempted to take a video of the dog as it was barking it’s little heart out at a new customer who had stopped in the office but I didn’t want to submit you to the kind of high pitched throaty bark that makes you want to smack your head into the nearest big, heavy object. Every time this cute little dog barked its whole body shook and its hind feet kicked out with the effort.
Don't be fooled!
To make things even better everyone in the office pretty much ignored (and on most occasions ignores) it only occasionally making occasional half-hearted attempts to make the dog stop. It sometimes makes me want to laugh the way they say in deadpan voices without looking up from their monitors, ‘Stop barking Choppy, be quiet,’ to which the dog answers with more gusto than before.
Apparently my boss had given up bringing this ‘cute’ dog to exhibitions in order attract customers into the booth because as it moved out of puppy-hood it began to bark at everything in sight. As a back up plan to take care of the dog he decided it would be a grand idea to bring it to the office. What the logic of that is I have no idea.
I’m sure customers love coming in to the welcoming barks and growls of an ankle biting mutt straining at its leash. I’m sure people calling us find it much easier to hear the important information we are trying to tell with a dog howling in the background. I’m sure every major customer that comes through finds it very professional to have an animal chained to a giant cage in the middle of the room.
I once again have to question the logic of bringing an untrained barking dog to work.
It seems to be a normal conversation among my coworkers about how much the dog is, or isn’t barking that day, but no one seems to want to do anything about it. I tried to explain animal psychology to them and how we should work together to help cure this bad habit, once. I was met with shakes of the head, looks of ‘you don’t know what you’re talking about,’ and noncommittal shrugs (a common reaction to almost everything I say at my company).
Mentioning that I had studied animal training in college, done some animal training, consulted a couple veteran dog owners, and researched this problem quite thoroughly didn’t seem like it would have any affect on their opinions so I too shrugged my shoulders.
I should let you know that I have seen the dog with a trainer, twice, for about an hour each time. The boss’s wife (one of my coworkers) listened carefully, took notes, and followed the instructions for, what, I think about a day (maybe two).
But all of that can be forgiven. Why? Because it is cute, adorable, and has moments of lovable huggableness…at least that is what everyone around me thinks (or pretends really, really well because after all it’s the boss’s dog and questioning the boss is unacceptable…).
What I’ve learned from this whole situation(other then not bring a dog to work) is: look for that ‘barking dog’ in the workplace, home, wherever and once identified get rid of it (if possible). Whether it’s the TV at home when you’re trying to study, Facebook when you’re at work, an annoying dog at work when you are trying to make a website, eliminate (or work around in case of the boss’s dog) so that you can get things done.
What are some of your ‘barking dogs?’
