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The canine conundrum: What to do about dogs in the office
犬类难题：怎样处理办公室养狗的情况
Theodore Roosevelt's bull terrier once chased the French ambassador up a tree. Sir Gavin Williamson, a British politician, refused to remove a tarantula he kept in a glass tank from the office.
西奥多·罗斯福的牛头梗曾把法国大使追到了树上。英国政治家加文·威廉姆森爵士拒绝将他养在玻璃缸里的狼蛛从办公室移走。
Pets, more commonly dogs than spiders, have long been a feature of all sorts of workplaces. Pets have become an even bigger part of work life since the covid-19 pandemic.
宠物（更常见的是狗而不是蜘蛛）长期以来一直是各种工作场所的一个特色。自新冠疫情以来，宠物已经在职场生活中变得更为重要。
Searches for pet-friendly offices on job platforms have rocketed. One in five American families acquired a pet during lockdowns; two-thirds of households now have at least one.
在求职平台上，对"宠物友好型"办公室的搜索量激增。五分之一的美国家庭在疫情封控期间养了宠物；现在三分之二的家庭至少有一只宠物。
Those who want to go into the office may find that their pets cannot be left alone and that doggy day-care is frightfully expensive. That leaves managers under increasing pressure to let them in.
那些想去办公室工作的人可能发现他们的宠物不能独自留在家，而且宠物狗日托非常昂贵。这使得经理们面临越来越大的压力，不得不让宠物狗进办公室。
How welcoming should they be? Apart from, perhaps, in operating theatres or sausage factories, there are obvious benefits to a permissive approach.
他们应该给狗多大程度的欢迎呢？也许除了在手术室或香肠工厂，对狗持宽容态度有明显的好处。
Dogs in the workplace can boost morale and productivity, and not only those of their owners. Petting colleagues' pooches can also lead to serendipitous conversations, and reduce feelings of isolation.
工作场所的狗可以提高士气和效率，而且不仅仅是对主人有这种效果。摸摸同事的小狗还能带来意外的有趣对话，并减少孤独感。
Experiments suggest that employees are more likely to perceive those in a team as friendly if there's a dog in the vicinity than if there isn't.
实验表明，附近有一只狗的情况与没有狗的情况相比，员工更有可能认为团队中的人们是友好的。
The problem for managers, though, is that some people hate dogs, even if they keep their loathing to themselves. They might be allergic to them, or especially sensitive to canine smells and sounds.
然而对于管理者来说，问题在于有些人讨厌狗，即使他们把这种厌恶藏在心里。他们可能对狗过敏，或者对犬类的气味和声音特别敏感。
Not all dogs are trained in office etiquette: those that are left unsupervised may roam freely, chew on co-workers' belongings or make a mess on the carpet.
而且并不是所有狗都接受过办公室礼仪培训：那些无人看管的狗可能会在办公室里自由游荡，咬坏同事的物品，或者在地毯上大小便。
What should managers do? Unfettered openness can make the dog-phobic uncomfortable and unhappy. At the other end of the scale, a few big companies like PwC and HSBC have instituted no-pooch policies in recent years.
那么管理者应该做什么？无拘束的开放态度可能会让怕狗的人感到不舒服和不开心。而在天平的另一端，普华永道和汇丰银行等几家大公司近年来制定了禁止带宠物上班的政策。
That may ensure there is no barking havoc in the office, but forgoes the benefits of welcoming pets. The ideal is to seek middle ground.
这可能会确保办公室里没有狗叫声造成的破坏，但也放弃了欢迎宠物的好处。理想的做法是寻求中间立场。
Google, for instance, bans dog-owning staff ("Dooglers") from bringing in noisy pets and limits furry incursions if other employees are allergic.
例如，谷歌禁止养狗的员工（"谷狗主人"）携带吵闹的宠物进入公司，如果其他员工对狗过敏，也会限制宠物进入公司。
Beyond a few company-wide rules, such as banning dangerous breeds and ensuring dogs are vaccinated and office-trained, individual departments could be left to decide their own policies in consultation with their teams.
除了一些全公司范围内的规定，如禁止危险品种和确保狗接种疫苗并经过办公室训练外，单个的部门可以在与团队协商后自行决定宠物政策。
Opening up the office to dogs might seem like an easy way to make the workplace seem more flexible. In fact, it takes a flexible workplace to make a dog-friendly approach succeed.
把办公室对狗开放似乎是一种让工作场所看起来更灵活的简单办法。事实上，是首先需要一个灵活的工作场所，才能使对狗友好的政策取得成功。
