Original Article: https://blog.theanimalrescuesite.greatergood.com/virtual-ways-to-celebrate-dogs/

Due to the global pandemic, people transitioned from going to work in an office to working from home. While working from home has its benefits, like working in pajamas alongside our dogs, it makes it harder to connect with co-workers.

One way to break the ice and improve team spirit is with dogs.

National Take Your Dog To Work Day falls on June 25th this year (the last Friday in June). The holiday was created in 1999 by Pet Sitters International (PSI) to celebrate dogs and encourage pet adoptions.

PSI offered virtual ways to celebrate the work holiday last year during lockdown. “With creativity and technology, participating companies can still achieve that,” said PSI CEO Patti Moran.

While some people are starting to return to the office, many are still working from home.

Everyone can participate in the fun holiday and show off their four-legged friends to co-workers using one or all of the five ideas below.

Virtual Ways To Celebrate Take Your Dog To Work Day

Invite Dogs To Zoom Meeting

Who doesn’t love to talk about their dog? Hold a staff meeting on Zoom for employees to introduce their four-legged co-workers. You may be surprised by how much you have in common with your teammates.

It is guaranteed to be the best meeting of the year.

Dog Performance Reviews

This is an amusing activity where employees share their dog’s performance review over the past year. How would you rate your dog’s performance on a scale of 1-5? Did your dog bark during meetings or was he a perfect gentleman?

If you need some inspiration, check out BBC broadcaster Andrew Cotter’s review of his dog co-workers on Twitter.

Still having the company meetings online. pic.twitter.com/aR3LfuSdKl

— Andrew Cotter (@MrAndrewCotter) May 11, 2020

Share Photos

If a meeting is too disruptive or not possible, the next best thing is sharing photos. Employees can share photos over internal communication programs, like Slack, or create a special social media page.

Contest

This piggybacks off of the above suggestion. Instead of just showing off your adorable pup, come up with fun categories like “most professional”, “best smile”, “best handshake”, etc. Employees can submit photos with captions that are sure to bring a smile to everyone’s face.

Feature Rescue Dogs

Aside from celebrating dogs, the holiday was created to promote pet adoptions. Work with a local shelter to feature adoptable dogs on social media, in a Zoom meeting, or in an email to all employees.

Another option would be to ask employees who have adopted to share their rescue stories with the team.

Dogs make our lives better and sharing them with our co-workers can only make their lives better, too.

Additional Resources

Source: The Animal Rescue Site Blog