workforce initiatives

In side by side wag tests, Planet Dog was chosen 10 out of 10 times as being cooler, sweeter and more refreshing than the corporate competition. Here's why:

We can bring our dogs to work. At this moment, we have 35 dogs on staff in three different locations. In addition to testing products, they wrestle, play in the agility tube, chase, romp and do some very serious power napping.

The drawbacks? If you don't watch it, your lunch will end up in Arlo's belly and hearing "i gotta go" when it's the dead of a cold Maine winter. The advantages? Among the obvious, lower blood pressure and having a reason to get out - even when it's the dead of a cold Maine winter.

Our guests always receive a loud, frenzied and sniffed-filled greeting - even the mailman cracks a smile. Then back to the power nap.

Planet Dog Foundation field trips. Field trips??? Yep. And fun ones, too. We take staff to our grantees' locations so they can see The Foundation at work. Our last two trips were to the Patten Free Library to watch the reading assistance dogs in action and to the The Service Dog Project, Inc. in Ipswich, Mass. to visit Great Danes trained as balance dogs to assist people with mobility issues.

Volunteer Days. Employees are expected to spend 4 hours of every month working with an animal-related non-profit organization. This way our whole staff can "romp the romp."

Summer Hours. Ah, summers in Maine. Thankfully, our summer flex-time policy lets people and their dogs take full advantage of it.

Overall health and wellness and continuing professional education are very important for a waggging workforce. We get an e-bulletin each month with tips on how we all can stay in top form physically and every employee is eligible for Career Development and Tuition reimbursment to stay in top form mentally.