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Is your office going to the dogs? Five top dog-friendly employers.

Only 17 percent of US employers allow pets, even though researchers find that dogs make employees happier, more productive, and encourage teamwork. Read our list of the five top dog-friendly companies.

American Humane Association

Photo courtesy of the American Humane Association
American Humane Association employee Jone Bouman holds her dog Twigden, who was adopted from a shelter in Los Angeles six months ago.

  • By Sara Afzal Correspondent

You might expect the American Humane Association to be pet-friendly, but the Denver-based organization goes well beyond that. Pet gates decorate every office door. Almost half of its 165 employees nationwide bring their dogs to work.

Twigden, a two-year-old Lhasa Apso and terrier mix, regularly accompanies Jone Bouman, director of communications at the group’s film and TV office in Los Angeles. “He makes me utterly happy,” she says. “And I’ve actually seen the faces of people in my office relax and their shoulders go down whenever they pick him up for a hug or he trots into their office for a visit.”

Dog-friendly workplaces also influence more people to become dog owners, says Katenna Jones, an educator and applied animal behaviorist at American Humane. “It also allows working people to adopt a pet, when they otherwise might not be able to due to time constraints. This saves the lives of pets.”

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