Woof! You found our list of the best bring your dog to work day ideas!
National Take Your Dog to Work Day is a US holiday celebrated on the last Friday in June. Employees observe the occasion by bringing dogs to the office. Bring Your Dog to Work Day activities are ways to highlight your furry best friend while working from the office or home.
This year, Take Your Dog to Work Day takes place on June 25.
This event is similar to Bring Your Pet to Work Day and Virtual Take Your Child to Work Day, and supports boosting morale and improving company culture.
This article includes:
- games for Take Your Dog to Work Day
- Take your Dog to Work Day activities
- virtual bring your dog to work day ideas
Here we go!
List of bring your dog to work day ideas
From pet performance reviews to photo albums to trivia, here is a list of ways to celebrate Bring Your Dog to Work Day while working from home.
1. Pet ID badges
Making Pet ID badges is an easy and inexpensive way to celebrate Bring Your Dog to Work Day while working from home. This activity requires little effort and is sure to delight the pet owners on your team.
All you need to do is to ask for the employees’ dog’s names and pictures when collecting RSVP’s. Then, design an ID badge or nametag using Canva. Be sure to include your company name and logo and the dog’s name and photo, and possibly a department.
2. Pup-formance reviews
Pup-formance reviews are evaluations for your virtually visiting furry friends. Doggy daycare report cards are the inspiration for this fun event souvenir. At the end of the day, email participating employees an assessment of their dog’s behavior.
We made a template for you to use:
The exercise is just for fun, not to seriously evaluate the dog’s behavior.
Feel free to make your own version with custom details, or use this template as is.
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3. Puppy hour
Puppy hours are dog-themed virtual happy hours. These events embrace the idea that the best part of Zoom meetings is the chance of seeing a coworker’s dog onscreen. To host a puppy hour, invite attendees to a video meeting and encourage guests to bring their doggos to the call. Humans can have a drink while dogs enjoy a treat or two. Covering the first round of cocktails and bones is a nice touch.
Zoom happy hours are already less stressful than in-person pub nights for shy colleagues. However, adding animals to the affair gives socially anxious teammates more incentive to attend and spend time with coworkers.
Pro-tip: Take lots of screenshots!
Check out our guide to online happy hours.
4. Guess the owner game
The guess the owner game is one of the easiest and most fun virtual games for Take your Dog to Work Day. To gather materials, ask remote employees to send you photos and names of their dogs. Using a Google Form makes the collection process easier.
Throughout the day, post pictures or names of the dogs to a Slack channel, and invite teammates to guess which employee the pooch belongs to.
Check out more virtual games for team building.
5. Four-legged family photo album
Photo albums are one of the simplest virtual take your dog to work day ideas. Simply invite employees to a shared photo album and encourage staff to upload pictures of their marvelous mutts.
Here are some photo-friendly platforms to consider:
- Online photo platforms like Imgur or Photobucket
- Smartphone cloud albums
- Social media group
- Google Drive folder
You can also repurpose a board on project management software like Trello and Asana to serve as the photo album.
The best part of this activity is that coworkers without dogs can also enjoy the photos. You can keep the album live for staff to look at post-holiday whenever an instant mood-boost is in order.
6. Canine clubhouse Slack channel
One of the easiest virtual bring your dog to work day ideas is to start a dog-themed Slack channel. You can name the channel with a title like #canine-clubhouse, #digital-dogs, or #co-barkers.
Throughout the day, celebrants can post photos, stories, and videos of their pooches. Coworkers can also issue challenges to other dog owners, such as “get outside and enjoy the sunshine for ten minutes” “show us your most furrocious guard dog face,” or “balance an object on your dog’s head or snout– best pic wins!”
You can also create special doggie emojis for the occasion. Here is a custom emoji tutorial for Slack.
Pro tip: Keep the channel active after the holiday ends for anytime dog discussion and impromptu remote team bonding.
You and the remote team can also bond via Slack by playing games.
7. Dog Zoom backgrounds
Most folks hope to catch a glimpse of dogs during Zoom calls. However, sometimes dogs refuse to appear on screen, especially when you actually want them to come.
One way to ensure your pup makes a cameo during Bring Your Dog to Work Day is to use a virtual background. You can invite remote employees to use their dogs’ photos as Zoom backgrounds during meetings throughout the day. Plus, this special touch is a way to pay homage to the holiday without disrupting workflows.
Here are more ideas for making Zoom meetings fun.
8. Puparazzi photo altering contest
Photo altering contests are fun activities for virtual take your dog to work days. During these events, coworkers alter photos of each other’s pets in entertaining ways.
Here are the basic steps:
- Have staff submit pics of their dogs
- Chose a theme if you would like
- Give staff a week to alter pics
- Share the results during a zoom call, or in a photo album
- Vote for a winner and send a prize
This activity promotes creativity and creates a memorable keepsake for dog owners involved.
Check out our guide to workplace competitions.
9. Doggy trivia
Playing doggy trivia makes a fun virtual team building activity for Bring Your Dog to Work Day. First, send employees a questionnaire about their dogs.
Here are some sample questions to ask:
- How many dogs do you have?
- What breeds?
- What are their names?
- Does your dog do anything funny?
- Do you have any amazing stories about your dog?
- Provide pictures!
Then, use this information to make a custom trivia game. You can use Kahoot to make the quiz, then give players a room pin to enter to start the game. To show questions, share your screen. Players use mobile devices to answer questions, and the app automatically keeps score. The prize for the winner can be a gift certificate to Chewy or a dog gift basket.
Check out our guide to virtual trivia.
10. Dog Day icebreakers
Starting meetings with dog-themed icebreakers is one of the easiest virtual take your dog to work day ideas. Simply pick a prompt or two and give each teammate a turn to respond.
Here are some dog-themed icebreakers:
- What kind of dog(s) do you have?
- What kind of dog(s) did you have growing up?
- What is your favorite breed of dog?
- Who is your favorite cartoon or movie dog?
- What is the funniest thing you have ever seen a dog do?
- What is the silliest dog name you have ever heard?
- If you could get any kind of dog, which one would it be?
- What do you wish you could tell your dog?
- What do you think your dog could say if it could talk?
- Share a cute or funny dog picture.
Check out our ultimate list of icebreakers.
11. Puppy park date
If your crew lives in the same city or region, then you can coordinate a dog park meetup after work or during the weekend. First, decide on a dog park to visit. Then, set a date and time. Next, send invitations to staff. Finally, show up with snacks and swag for the owners and pets on the day of the event. Be sure to take pictures. Also, invite non-dog-owners to join in the fun. Staff will likely be happy for the chance to bond with coworkers and pet dogs!
Coordinating occasional in-person gathering is one way to boost company culture in remote offices, and Take Your Dog to Work Day offers the perfect opportunity for a meetup.
12. Canine care packages
Sending care packages to employees’ dogs is a nice touch for Bring Your Dog to Work Day. A week or two before the holiday, send a small box full of dog treats to each participant.
Items to include:
- Bones
- Biscuits
- Chew toys
- Tennis balls
- Rope toys
- Logo dog tags or bandanas
- Pet picture frame
Speaking of presents, here are some gift ideas for your two legged workers.
13. Help a hound
One of the perks of in-office Bring Your Dog to Work Days is that mutt-less team members can interact with colleagues’ dogs. As much as dogless individuals may enjoy seeing puppies on screen, there is no substitute for petting or playing with real-live dogs. You can remedy this situation by pulling a reverse Take Your Dog to Work Day. Instead of bringing dogs into work, bring work to the dogs. Specifically, give employees an hour or two off to volunteer with a local dog charity or shelter. Then, encourage your employees to take pictures or video and share highlights in a team chat or channel.
For more charity ideas, check out our list of virtual volunteering opportunities.
14. Doggy talent show
Puppy talent shows are one of the more fun and interactive virtual Take Your Dog to Work Day activities. These events allow owners to showcase their pooches’ special skills and tricks.
First, invite the group to a Zoom meeting. Then, give each pet owner a turn to show off their dog’s best tricks. Examples might include backflips, playing dead, singing, or dressing up like celebrities. Audience members can use the polling feature or chat to vote for a winner, but are sure to cheer for every pooch performer.
For inspiration, check out our list of virtual talent show ideas.
15. Canine costume contests
One of the cutest ideas for virtual take your dog to work days is to host a canine costume contest. A week or two before the event, invite your employees to submit photos of their pooches in their finest attire. This heads up gives team members plenty of time to make or buy a costume. You can pick a theme for the contest, such as “dogs recreating favorite paintings,” or “movie mutts,” or leave the options open-ended.
Employees can post pictures to a shared photo album, social media page, or Slack thread, and coworkers can vote via emoji, likes, comments, or via survey or form.
You can award a puppy-themed prize to the winner, such as a social media spotlight on the company account, or a dog subscription box.
Check out our tips on virtual costume contests.
Conclusion
When working from home, every day may feel like Take Your Dog to Work Day. However, you can better spotlight your furry friend on the holiday by participating in dog-centric virtual events. Inviting man’s best friend to Zoom meetings helps to humanize coworkers and accelerates team bonding. This holiday is a low-lift culture activity with a sizable payoff.
For more furry friends, check out our list of the best office pets and this list of team building animals.
We also have a fun guide to Talk Like a Pirate Day at work.
Angela Robinson