Are dogs the key to workplace happiness?

This week we delve into perhaps the workplace's most divisive issue: should you bring your dog to the office? Isabel (a cat person) talks to Lindsay Bumps (dog person), from Ben & Jerry’s ‘K9 culture committee’. The ice-cream maker has had dogs in its offices since the 1970s, so it knows how to get the balance right for everyone: the animals, their owners and even the 10 to 20 per cent of the population who are allergic to dogs. What can Ben & Jerry's teach the managers who are just starting to allow pandemic pooches in the workplace?

Then, Isabel talks to Henry Mance, the FT’s chief feature writer and author of How to Love Animals: In a Human-Shaped World. Henry has written for the FT about the boom in office dogs — and he thinks there are many benefits to having pets in our workplaces. Can he win round Isabel and her fellow office-dog sceptics? 

Want to read more? 

Henry Mance on dogs in the office  https://www.ft.com/content/b25d8001-3ca5-4927-a990-7027acc6e4cc

We love animals — why do we treat them so badly? Henry Mance in the FT https://www.ft.com/content/fdc7ae21-bd59-4887-8417-7905d57b67ba

Some cute photos of Ben & Jerry’s K9-5ers  https://www.benjerry.com/about-us/our-k9-5ers

We love to hear from you. What do you like (or not)? What topics should we tackle? Email the team at workingit@ft.com or Isabel directly at isabel.berwick@ft.com. Follow @isabelberwick on Twitter 

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Presented by Isabel Berwick. Editorial direction from Renée Kaplan. Assistant producer is Persis Love. Sound design is by Breen Turner, with original music from Metaphor Music. Produced by Novel.

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