i Still Love Dogs

How to Convince Your Employer to Observe Take Your Dog to Work Day

This Friday, there’s going to be a little more barking and growling than usual in offices across the country. That’s because June 22 is the 20th annual PSI’s Take Your Dog To Work Day (TYDTWDay).

Take Your Pet To Work Week is also being celebrated all week long so that offices closed on Friday and pet parents of other species can participate.

TYDTWDay is observed every year on the Friday after Father’s Day. It was created in 1999 by Pet Sitters International (PSI) as a way to “celebrate the great companions dogs make and to encourage their adoption from humane societies, animal shelters and breed rescue clubs,” according to PSI.

Unfortunately, some employers have to say no to TYDTWDay because of building codes, liability issues, allergies and other legitimate reasons. But your company still can celebrate by, for example, having a pet photo contest or a fundraiser for a local shelter.

“While TYDTWDay offers a fun opportunity to have dogs at work, its purpose since the inaugural celebration has always been to encourage pet adoptions,” said Beth Stultz, PSI vice-president and TYDTWDay spokeswoman. “We hear from participating companies that partner with local shelters or rescue groups to allow them to bring in adoptable pets, host benefit luncheons or charity auctions, or plan contests such as dog-owner lookalike competitions to raise money for local pet-related organizations.”

To convince your employer to observe Take Your Dog to Work Day, here are three helpful talking points.

1. Dogs Boost Employee Morale

Studies prove that dogs in the workplace can boost employee morale, increase productivity and even help improve sales. Employees say having dogs around increases their creativity, decreases their absenteeism and enables everyone to get along better.

A 2012 Virginia Commonwealth University study found that employees who brought their dogs to work had lower levels of cortisol, a stress-increasing hormone.

2. Pet-Friendly Workplaces Are Trendy

More and more workplaces are allowing employees to bring their dogs, including the offices of Google, Mashable, Etsy and Ben & Jerry’s. A 2015 Society for Human Resource Management survey found that 8 percent of American workplaces are pet friendly (up from 5 percent in 2013). This number is expected to continue growing as millennials — who will soon surpass baby boomers as the largest pet-owning generation, according to PSI — will make up almost half of the workforce by 2020.

3. Employees Stay Longer When Dogs Are Around

This fact should really seal the deal: 46 million people said that when they bring their dogs to work, they work longer hours, according to a 2008 survey by the American Pet Products Association.

Good luck! Here’s hoping everything goes so smoothly that your employer will decide that every day will be Take Your Dog to Work Day.

Photo: Pet Sitters International

Young Hero Pit Bull Saves Baby from House Fire

On June 3, one of the rare nights that Nana Chaichanhda let Sasha, her 8-month-old Pit Bull, sleep outside their Stockton, Calif., home, she was awakened by Sasha frantically scratching at the back door to get inside.

“I heard a loud bang and I was like, ‘What’s going on?’ And I heard Sasha crying, and she kept jumping at the door,” Chaichanhda told KCRA. “As soon as I got to the door, she runs in and starts barking.”

As Chaichanhda looked outside to see what could be spooking Sasha, she saw that her neighbor’s house was on fire — and the flames were spreading to her own house in the fourplex where she lives. Chaichanhda’s 7-month-old daughter, Masailah, was taking a nap in a back bedroom at the time.

Sasha ran straight to Masailah’s room, with Chaichanhda right behind her.

“She had already had my baby by the diaper and was dragging her off the bed,” Chaichanhda told FOX40. “I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, what are you doing?'”

Chaichanhda, Masailah and Sasha all made it safely out of the house, thanks to the hero Pit Bull.

“I owe her everything,” Chaichanhda told FOX40. “If it wasn’t for her, I would have still been in bed and things could have taken a worse turn.”

The family is temporarily staying with a family member. A GoFundMe campaign has been started to help them recover.

Chaichanhda said she hopes Sasha’s heroic actions will help change some people’s negative views of Pit Bulls. Many thanks to KCRA, FOX40 and other news outlets for sharing this Pit Bull positive story!

Photo via gofundme.com

4-Legged War Hero Sgt. Stubby Gets His Own Monument in Connecticut

Over a century after he bravely served in World War I, Sgt. Stubby, the most decorated war dog in U.S. history and the only one to be promoted to sergeant, is finally being honored with a monument.

The life-size bronze sculpture “Stubby Salutes” was unveiled over Memorial Day weekend in Veterans Memorial Park in Middleton, Conn. — Stubby’s home state.

Stubby, who is believed to have been a Boston Terrier/Pit Bull mix, was rescued in 1917 when John Robert Conroy, a soldier training for World War I combat, saw the stray dog on a field at Yale University. When Conroy’s unit was shipped off to France, he wrapped Stubby in an overcoat and smuggled him aboard. Conroy taught the dog to salute his commanding officer, which was so endearing that the officer allowed Stubby to stay.

Stubby became the “unofficial official mascot” of the 102nd Infantry, 26th (Yankee) Division. As he recuperated after being hit in the leg by a grenade, he kept other injured soldiers company and helped lift their spirits.

After his leg healed, he returned to the trenches and survived being sprayed with mustard gas. He was able to use his sense of smell and what he learned from this experience to help warn his fellow soldiers of impending gas attacks, and saved many lives. His excellent hearing allowed him to detect the whine of artillery before the soldiers could. He’d bark to warn them to take cover, saving even more lives.

Among his other heroic deeds were capturing a German spy by the seat of his pants, and allegedly preventing a little girl from getting hit by a car in Paris.

After he died in 1926, Stubby was stuffed and his body is on display in the exhibit “The Price of Freedom” at the Smithsonian Institution. Last month, the animated movie “Sgt. Stubby: An American Hero,” which told the story about this amazing dog, premiered in theaters.

For decades, members of Conroy’s family have been trying to create a memorial for the hero dog. “Stubby Salutes,” a fitting tribute, was sculpted by artist Susan Barary. She’s known about Stubby for 25 years and has wanted to create a sculpture of him for a long time, the Hartford Courant reports. She said she’s inspired by the bond between people and animals, as well as the love between Stubby and his fellow soldiers.

A plaque on the statue’s pedestal says Stubby is “America’s First Dog of Service” and served with his friends “in their battles, hardships, sorrows and joys. He was a morale booster.”

The $80,000 statue was paid with donations, including $30,000 from the nonprofit U.S. War Dog Association, which honors U.S. military dogs and their handlers. Conroy’s family hopes that interest in Stubby will raise awareness and support of organizations that train service dogs for veterans. You can find out more at sergeantstubbysalutes.org.

Barary’s statue “nailed it,” Conroy’s grandson, Curt Deane, told the Hartford Courant. “I couldn’t be happier.”

More About the Amazing Sgt. Stubby:

Photo: WTNH News 8/YouTube

2 Dogs Trapped Near Hawaii Lava Flow Rescued After 10 Days

Carol Hosley’s two small rescued dogs, a Jack Russell/Pug mix named Brus and a terrier mix named Little Dude, are both terrified of men, probably due to their previous abusive owners.

Hosley lives on Hawaii’s Big Island. When firefighters arrived at her apartment earlier this month to help her evacuate because of the lava flowing from the Kilauea volcano, Brus and Little Dude were spooked and ran away.

To help find the two, Hosley enlisted the help of Aloha Ilio Rescue, the nonprofit group from which she rescued Brus just six months ago. For 10 days, searchers looked everywhere for Brus and Little Dude. “[W]e’ve just kept going back, and going back,” Daylynn Kyles, president of the rescue, told Hawaii News Now.

Kyles and two friends finally found the dogs yesterday morning — in an extremely dangerous predicament near the volcano’s 17th fissure. “They were stuck behind a fence, and they couldn’t get out because the lava had surrounded them,” Kyles said. “It was crazy.”

To rescue Brus and Little Dude, Kyles and her companions crawled through the grass and over the fence line. Although the two dogs were terrified and had been bitten by red ants, they were otherwise okay, considering their ordeal.

Hosley may have lost some personal belongings, but she is more than thrilled that the lives of her two precious dogs have been saved thanks to the bravery of Kyles and her friends. Brus and Little Dude are temporarily staying at Aloha Ilio Rescue until Hosley can find permanent housing.

“I just couldn’t be happier,” Hosley told Hawaii News Now. “The other stuff is stuff, but I got the dogs.”

Aloha Ilio Rescue saves about 600 dogs a year on the Big Island. It relies on donations to continue rescuing these dogs — and with the Kilauea disaster happening, it could especially use them now.

Photos: Aloha Ilio Rescue/Facebook

Firefighter Saves Dog’s Life Day After Her Doberman Dies of Cancer

Three years ago, Kelly Jernigan, a captain with the Winston-Salem Fire Department in North Carolina, adopted two Dobermans who’d had a rough life.

When one of them, Zion, first ventured out in his new backyard, “it’s almost like he had never seen grass before,” Jernigan told WGHP.

Sadly, Zion was later diagnosed with cancer. On Tuesday, Jernigan made the difficult decision to end her beloved 11-year-old dog’s suffering. His death had Jernigan “down all day yesterday and all day today,” she said on Wednesday.

Later that day, the fire department got a call about an apartment building on fire. As Jernigan and her fellow firefighters were making sure everyone had evacuated safely from the building, they heard barking. It was a small dog, named Cinnamon, who was alone in one of the apartments while her owner, Ann Love, was at work.

Jernigan gently lifted the frightened dog into her arms and carried her out of the building.

“Just getting her, you can tell she’s very skittish and I would be, too,” she told WGHP. “You know, somebody coming up looking like this, with helmets and gloves.”

Rescuing Cinnamon was “kind of good timing for me,” Jernigan said. “It kind of helps me heal.” She brought Cinnamon inside the cab of a fire truck and gave her water. She probably got a good, much-needed laugh when the little dog accidentally sounded the siren.

Jernigan then rigged up a makeshift leash and walked Cinnamon over to her grateful owner, who had rushed home from work when she heard about the fire.

Cinnamon jumped up into her crying dog mom’s arms. “To know that she was okay, it made my day,” Love told WGHP. “I love her.”

It made Jernigan’s day as well. “Once I got my hands on this one, it’s like all is right with the world,” she told WGHP.

Three people were displaced by the fire, WGHP reports, but fortunately no one — with two legs or four legs — was injured, thanks to the heroic efforts of Jernigan and her colleagues.

Tissue alert: WGHP captured Jernigan’s rescue of Cinnamon in this video.

Photo (not Zion): Skeeze