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.
This treat bucket on the desk of Amazon’s receptionist is a favorite stop for the hundreds of dogs that go to work there with their people. Photo from Seattle DogSpot.
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. Wondering what it’s like to work at Amazon? If their policy on dogs in the workplace is any indication, pretty amazing!
Amazon’s Dog Policy
- 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
A dog stops at the reception desk for a treat. Photo from Seattle DogSpot.
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.
History of Dogs at Amazon
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.
Rufus was catalyst for Amazon’s dog friendly culture. Image from Amazon.
His life was a great one. When Amazon customers found out there was an Amazon dog, they sent Rufus presents. (He was particularly delighted to receive an offering from friends in Guam.) His celebrity status never turned his head, though. His proudest accomplishment: starting up the dog-friendly culture at Amazon.com. Employees who bring their four-legged friends to work today have Rufus to thank.
Beloved by many, Rufus passed away peacefully on May 27, 2009.”
Rufus is still revered at Amazon. One of the buildings on its South Lake Union campus is named after him, and his name is stamped on door handles around the offices.
Dogs at Amazon Corporate Headquarters
When Amazon built its new campus in Seattle it took great pains to make it as dog friendly as possible. Between the buildings are large, open courtyards that encourage people to walk their dogs.
Amazon designed the courtyards to ensure that the parade of dogs that employees take into the courtyards won’t destroy the landscaping by placing poop bag stations all over the campus. It also put a couple of feet of stones between the walkways and the plants where dogs can pee without hitting the plants.
One of the dog friendly water fountains on Amazon’s South Lake Union Campus. Photo from Seattle DogSpot.
But the coolest features are the dog friendly water fountains below every human-sized water fountain on the campus. All a dog has to do to get a cool drink is walk up to a ground level fountain and have its human press the button to start the water.
Due to visitor restrictions I wasn’t able to see people with their dogs in the campus’ buildings, but I assume the inside of Amazon is just as dog friendly as the outside.
Amazon’s commitment to dog friendliness even goes beyond its own employees. It’s future plans includes a small, off-leash dog park for both employees and the general public just off Sixth Avenue between Lenora and Blanchard streets in the Denny Triangle.
A couple of years ago it teamed up with Vulcan Real Estate to make a $95,000 contribution towards the construction and maintenance of the temporary Denny Park Off-Leash Area.
Amazon is often lauded for being on the cutting edge of online businesses. After my visit to it’s Seattle campus, I realized it has also set the gold standard for dog friendly businesses. Hopefully, other large Seattle area employers will follow their lead.
Are you listening, Microsoft?
Amazon’s campus has lots of open space where people can walk or hang out with their dogs. Photo from Seattle DogSpot.
Of course Amazon provides plenty of poop bags for their employees to use. Photo from Seattle DogSpot.
This Amazon employee taught her leash aggressive dog to do this when another dog walks by. Photo from Seattle DogSpot.
Amazon’s dog friendly environment helps reduce stress for all it’s employees. Photo from Amazon.
Hundreds of Amazon employees bring their dogs to work daily. Photo from Amazon.
Do you have any data on the benefits of dogs at work from any of the local companies like Amazon, who have a dog-friendly culture? I’m looking for data on proven benefits to the organization and to employees for a paper I’m writing. Thank you!
I’m sorry I don’t. There are general studies about how dogs can lower stress/tension but I don’t know of any specifically about dogs in the workplace.
Do you happen to have a list of other companies that allow dogs in the workplace? I am trying to influence the company I work in to have a dog policy like Amazon’s and would like to cite other examples.
Hi Jayne – Here are some links about dog friendly companies:
http://www.mnn.com/family/pets/photos/10-companies-that-let-you-bring-your-dog-to-work/klutz#top-desktop
http://thebark.com/content/barks-best-places-work-0
Trupanion pet insurance allows dogs at work as well.
Hope this helps.
Do you happen to know if they have a place to eat lunch with their fur friends? I’m trying to get my employer to allow them in the lunch room.
Sounds good right? What about the absolute, complete lack of any enforcement to these rules in the Amazon workplace? Dogs, snarling, snapping and growling at other dogs, dogs peeing on the workspace floors, the elevators, the lobbies, dogs pooping on the workspace floors, the elevators, and the building lobbies while the owners just keep walking and leave their dogs lovely mess for others to clean up? Then they take them outside to pee and poop all over the place, and only half of the owners take the time to clean up the mess. Puppies at work who clearly aren’t housebroken, dogs off leash because the Amazon, city, county, and state rules for leashes simply do not apply to very special people. It’s one of those things that sounds good on paper; however, in reality it’s annoying as hell to everyone else. Have we become so millennial that we truly need to bring our dog to work? Seriously.
I wrote this post a few years ago. Since then I haven’t heard anything about these problems. I can’t imagine Amazon would turn a blind eye if this is really happening.