Today is Bring Your Dog To Work Day, which means our four-legged best friends can join us in the workplace and make the office a better place for the day.

But what is Bring Your Day To Work Day? Established in the UK in 2014, this is an annual nationwide event aimed at raising money for animal welfare charities. For just one day a year, all office rules are thrown out of the window as our pooches join us for a day of fun and fundraising.

Not only is this an excellent opportunity to raise money, it also has many positive effects on employees too.

The Blue Cross has identified that having a pet in the workplace can reduce stress levels and heart rates. Apparently stroking a dog can even lower blood pressure! But the advantages don’t stop there. Research conducted by Workthere found that 42% think having a dog in the office would be beneficial to their productivity, 34% believe it would make them happier and 25% believe bringing their pooch to work would improve their work/life balance.

I spoke to Amanda Papageorgiou, Benefits and Wellbeing Advisor at a national broadsheet newspaper, on this subject and she said “Dogs make everyone feel relaxed by forcing people to step away from their desks to interact with nature and reset their minds before moving on to their next task. It’s also a great way to boost innovation – one of the biggest blockers to creativity is stress after all!”

Office dogs are also great for candidate attraction with 43% of 18-24 year old’s admitting they would be more likely to apply for a job that allowed pooches in the workplace! 41% of 45-54 year olds own a dog and I’m sure they would love the opportunity to bring them to work, especially as 80% of them have never worked in a pet friendly environment.

I’d love to see photos of your dogs in the office today - if you've taken one tweet me @ForwardRole_RW or send me a message on LinkedIn. And if you haven’t participated this year, please do take part in 2020 and have a day filled with activities and raise some money for your chosen animal welfare charity!

Rachel Wheeler heads up the Product, Trading and Ecommerce team at Forward Role.