Working At Home With Pets

When you first start to work from home, you’re probably quite excited to be with your pets all day.

But as any pet owner can tell you, while a cat or a dog may be great company, they can also drive you crazy when you work from home and you’re on a deadline and they want to play.

So, to ensure that you get all the benefits of being at home with your cats and dogs and none of the drawbacks of working around a pet – we asked some animal trainers how workers doing remote work could ensure that their pet and their job never clash and this is what they told us.

7 Great Tips On Working From Home With A Pet

Our trainers said that by and large whether you have a dog or a cat or something more exotic, it’s quite easy for workers to find a happy medium with their animal companions as long as they follow these simple tips.

Give Them Personal Time In The Morning

This is as good for you as it is for your cat or dog. Before you get to work, spend some time outside of the home office and play with your cats and dogs.

Maybe take them for a walk or play fetch the ball on the carpet at home. Not only will this help to encourage your pet to quieten down after burning some energy but it also ought to help you burn some energy too – exercise is very important when you’re working in a home office.

In a post-pandemic world, we all need to ensure our life focuses on taking care of our health as well as our wealth.

Make Sure To Give Them Rewards For Good Behavior

If you want your dog to be the perfect companion during the work day, let them know when they’re doing a good job for you!

Positive reinforcement and repetition are the best way to train a dog (or, indeed, any animal), and giving them a little treat each time they do something well is the way to train them to carry out any task proficiently.

Human beings have a related behavior, in that they work for the reward of money from their boss.

Have Scheduled Play With Dogs And Cats

We know, you’re at your desk working hard and then your pup comes into your space and before you know it, it’s all cuddles and toys and the work is forgotten because your pup is just more fun.

Sadly, this is probably not going to work for your boss. So, it’s best to set break times where you can go and enjoy some fun with your animal, play with their toys, give them some treats, etc. without disturbing your work routine.

This is good for the animal too as they will appreciate the routine that you set and know when to come to keep you company and when to keep themselves busy.

Just make sure they have access to food during the work times and they’ll do the rest.

Create A Pet-Free Workspace

If your dog’s frustrated that it can’t just wander into the room when it wants to. Then you need to help it understand the separation of work and family life.

Create a pet-free space to work in and then keep your dog (or other animals) out of the space at all times. Make sure you have good lighting and a comfortable chair in that space too.

Give Your Pet Something To Do

Make sure that your pets are never bored while you work – provide food, water, and entertainment for them.

Toys and treats are ideal for helping them deal with separation anxiety while you get that work done and keep your boss happy.

Think About Video Calls And Your Pets

Don’t forget that meetings are, usually, not enhanced by input from our furry friends.

Try to keep your mic (or get a decent headset) away from the animal and on mute when not in use. Keep the camera away from where the cats are wrestling on the floor. That sort of thing.

In a more informal meeting though, don’t be afraid to introduce your pets to your team – this helps with team bonding.

Learn To Be Flexible

Finally, just remember that not everything will ever go according to plan. So, sometimes, be prepared to make excuses, explain what’s going on, and deal with the pet first and everything else later. Everyone who has worked from home knows that this is how it goes, sometimes, your colleagues will be sympathetic.

Final Thoughts On Working From Home With Your Pets

Working from home with a non-human coworker can be deeply rewarding but you need to ensure that you don’t squander your mental resources on having fun with animals when you should be productive.

Fortunately, the tips above should keep your productivity up while working in the house and ensure that your pet’s happy too.