The Dog Friendly Workplace Standard

"Dog friendly office" has become a thing companies say to win people over, and almost nobody checks what it means. The careers page says dogs welcome, then the reality is a policy that depends on which manager you ask, a dog left under a desk for nine hours, and a colleague with asthma who never felt able to say no. So the policy quietly falls apart and gets pulled. It was never complicated to get right, it just had not been written down. So we wrote it down.

Fair and transparent terms. Dogs allowed as a clear, published rule, not a manager's favour. No turning a dog away for its breed or its size. The terms are honest, consistent, and the same whoever is on duty.

Welfare. Water and somewhere to settle, breaks through the day, a safe space free of hazards, and a dog that is stressed or a risk to others is taken off the floor, not left to endure it.

Co-worker protection. The people who cannot share a room with a dog are protected. A private way to say so before dogs arrive, a real opt-out that holds, and dog-free areas that are genuinely separate.

See the requirements →

This is not a perk that costs the business. It is the opposite. People bring their whole selves to work and stay longer when their dog is part of the day, and the talent who care about it are exactly the people worth keeping. Done properly, with the opt-out people looked after, there is no backlash to manage and no policy to quietly kill six months later. A dog friendly office that is built right simply works.

The standard is open to read. Anyone may read it, understand it, and cite it, free of charge, and we hope they do. The full text is here whenever you want it. But reading the standard is not adopting it: it confers no right to claim any association with it, and there is no self-declared tier.

A workplace is placed in relation to the standard only through Roch Dog. We do not visit your office; we assess the evidence, cross-check it, and speak to the people who live it. If you want your workplace certified or licensed, get in touch. Only a workplace Roch Dog has authorised may call itself Roch Dog Workplace Certified or display the mark. No one may claim the standard, or use the mark, without that authorisation. Reading the standard is free and open; the mark is earned.

Get your workplace certified →

The law on dogs at work, on disability and on health and safety differs in every country and keeps changing, so the standard is not tied to any one country's rules. It describes what good looks like, in plain terms you can check, and sits on top of whatever the local law is. Where the law requires more, the law wins. Assistance and service animals have their own legal rights, and nothing here touches those.