Bring your dog to work day 2027: date, checklist and rules
Take Your Dog To Work Day 2027 is Friday, June 25. Here’s how to plan it, the rules to send owners and what to do on the day.
Bring your dog to work day is the one Friday a year when the office goes dog friendly. Its official name is Take Your Dog To Work Day, and people also call it take a dog to work day or dog day at work. A good one takes about four weeks of quiet prep: asking the people who would rather skip the dogs, checking the lease, and sending owners clear rules.
When is take your dog to work day 2027?
Take Your Dog To Work Day 2027 is Friday, June 25. It is held on the Friday after Father’s Day, so it falls between June 20 and June 26. It is an informal observance, not a public holiday.
| Year | Take Your Dog To Work Day |
|---|---|
| 2026 | Fri, Jun 26 (passed) |
| 2027 | Fri, Jun 25 |
| 2028 | Fri, Jun 23 |
| 2029 | Fri, Jun 22 |
Who started it: Pet Sitters International (PSI), an educational association for professional pet sitters, created the day in 1999 to celebrate dogs as companions and encourage adoptions from shelters and rescue groups. Take Your Pet To Work Week runs June 21 to June 25, 2027, and opens on Monday with Take Your Cat To Work Day.
Take Your Dog To Work Day is a registered trademark of PSI, and KraftyLab is not affiliated with it. Sources: Pet Sitters International and Wikipedia. Add it to the year’s plan with our employee engagement calendar.
Dog day at work: the planning checklist
Start four weeks out. If any answer is a firm no, run the remote version instead.
People: ask before you announce
One coworker with a serious allergy or a fear of dogs changes the plan, so start here.
- Ask everyone privately whether a dog allergy, a fear of dogs or anything else means they want distance on the day.
- Offer a dog-free option to anyone who asks, like a room, a floor or a remote day, with no reason needed.
- Tell the cleaners, security, reception and regular visitors which day the dogs come and which hours.
- Pick one dog-day lead, plus a backup, who can ask an owner to take a dog home.
- Treat service dogs separately: an employee who uses one at work goes through your usual accommodation process, all year.
Building: get the landlord's yes in writing
Your lease or building rules may limit animals. Check before anyone tells their dog.
- Read the lease and ask building management in writing whether dogs may use the lobby, the elevators and your floor.
- Keep dogs out of kitchens, cafeterias and anywhere food is made or served.
- Find the nearest grass for bathroom breaks and the quickest route out to it.
- If you share the building, tell the other tenants the day and the hours dogs will pass through.
Insurance: questions to ask your broker
A short email to your broker or HR, sent early, answers these before you commit.
- Does our general liability policy cover a dog bite or an injury caused by a dog on our premises?
- Does that cover apply to dogs owned by employees and visitors, not only animals the company owns?
- Does our lease make us responsible for damage a dog does to the building?
- If an employee is bitten at work, would that be a workers' compensation claim?
- Should we ask owners to confirm their homeowners or renters policy covers their dog away from home?
Space and supplies
Most of this costs little. The quiet room matters most.
- A quiet room with a baby gate, where tired dogs can rest away from foot traffic.
- Water bowls at two or three spots, topped up through the day.
- Waste bags, paper towels, an enzyme cleaner for carpet and a lidded bin outside.
- The biggest meeting room booked as dog-free for the whole day.
- A sign-up sheet: owner, dog's name, size, the date of its last vaccines and one line about temperament.
- Name bandanas, with one agreed color, such as yellow, for dogs that need space.
Rules to send dog owners
Send these two weeks out with the sign-up link. Signing up means agreeing to them.
- Sign up by [date]. We have room for [number] dogs, first come, first served.
- Your dog must be up to date on its vaccines, rabies included, and free of fleas.
- Bring only a dog that is house-trained and calm around strangers, noise and other dogs. Dogs in heat and very young puppies stay home.
- Keep your dog on a leash of 6 feet or less, or behind the gate at your desk, all day.
- Your dog is your job all day. Hand the leash to someone else only if they agree, and only for a short while.
- Bring a water bowl, a mat or bed, treats, waste bags and one quiet chew toy.
- Clean up straight away, inside and out, and tell [lead] about any indoor accident so it gets a proper clean.
- Ask before your dog greets anyone. Two dogs meet only when both owners say yes.
- Dogs stay out of the kitchen, the cafeteria, meeting rooms and [dog-free room].
- If your dog keeps barking, growls, snaps or looks stressed, take it home. That is the right call, not a failure.
- Dogs arrive between [time] and [time] and go home by [time]. Half a day is plenty for most dogs.
Things to do on bring a dog to work day
Keep it light. Two or three of these is plenty, and every one includes people without dogs.
- Staggered arrivals. Dogs arrive across a 30-minute window and meet people one at a time outside, before the office fills up.
- Desk-visit sign-up. Coworkers who would like a visit add their name to a list, and owners do one short round after lunch.
- Lunchtime group walk. Map a 20-minute loop. Anyone without a dog is welcome, and owners lead.
- Shelter wish-list drive. Ask a local shelter for its wish list and fill a donation box by the door all week.
- An adoptable-dog visit. Invite a rescue group to bring one or two dogs looking for homes at lunch, which is the adoption push PSI started the day for.
- The name-story quiz. Owners share how their dog got its name; everyone guesses the true story from three options.
- A five-minute trick slot. At 3 p.m., any dog that wants to can sit, shake or roll over for the room. Napping counts.
- One group photo. Owners, dogs and everyone else on the stairs or outside, at a set time, so nobody chases a shot all day.
Planning other days like this one? See our guide to take your child to work day and our list of fun national holidays for the office.
Take your pet to work day for remote teams
At home, the pets are already at work. Bring them onto one call.
- Open a photo thread on Monday. Ask for one picture of each pet at work during Take Your Pet To Work Week: under the desk, on the keyboard, in the way.
- Book 20 minutes on Friday. Cameras optional. Every pet counts: dogs, cats, fish, a tortoise or a well-loved houseplant.
- One sentence per pet. Its name, its age and its worst habit at home during work hours.
- No pet, no problem. People without one can show a childhood pet or describe the pet they would get one day.
- End with a hosted game. A live host runs an hour of games on the call, and pets on laps are welcome.
A summer games hour for the Friday call, with today’s price. Book about 2 weeks ahead.
Compare more virtual team games and virtual trivia, or get a free quote with your date and headcount. We reply within 24 hours.
Want a pet at the office every day?
That is a bigger decision, with weekends and holidays to cover. Our office pets guide compares fish tanks, visiting therapy dogs and other options that suit an office.
