How do you celebrate National Take Your Dog to Work Day at your veterinary clinic when COVID restrictions may prevent your staff from bringing their puppers to your practice?
Here are three suggestions that will be fun for your staff and pet owners:
Post Your Puppers on Social
Pet Sitters International created Take Your Dog to Work Day in 1999, to promote the special bond that exists between people and their furry family members and encourage adoption. The idea is that if more non-pet owners are exposed to the joys of pet ownership, they’ll be encouraged to adopt their own pets. To help more dogs find homes, post pictures of staff members and their pets on your practice social channels. This not only helps spread the pupper love and encourages adoption but gives a human (and pet) face to your practice, which strengthens client engagement and makes you relatable and approachable to prospective clients.
Celebrate a Work-at-Home “Colleague” of the Month
For pet owners working virtually during the pandemic, dogs effectively became work-at-home “colleagues,” and a whole new brand of humor sprang up that can roughly be called Trying to Work at Home with Pets.
In keeping with the workplace and humor theme, create a relatable post (stylized after Employee of the Month recognition) that celebrates a Work-at-Home “Colleague” of the Month connected to your veterinary practice. Example:
In recognition of National Take Your Dog to Work Day and the virtual workplace, ABC Veterinary Clinic celebrates Bailey, our Work-at-Home “Colleague” of the Month!
Bailey’s attributes
- Thinks every idea is super terrific!
- Loves team outings.
- Excellent listener.
- Happy to share office space (even when it’s not built for sharing).
- Understands there are no bad decisions—unless those decisions cut into snack or nap time.
Room for improvement:
- Plays with squeaky toys during conference calls.
- Prone to staring and guilt trips.
- Thinks flopping across a laptop counts as IT support.
Have a Virtual Pet Photo Caption Contest
If you use a collaborative communication platform like Microsoft Teams, create a group chat for your team and ask them to share photos of their pets with humorous captions reflecting a work-at-home theme.
For inspiration, read:
- Pet Memes Made Easy
- 10 Pet Memes That Will Make You Laugh Out Loud
- 7 Funny Captions for Stock Cat Photos (because Pet Sitters International includes cats in Take Your Dog to Work Day)
Then, have your staff vote on a winning entry and post the entry to your socials (provided the winner gives permission).
If your staff doesn’t have time to collect a pet photo and write a caption, choose a copyright-free stock photo from a site like Pexels, Pixabay, or Unsplash. Ask the staff to write a funny caption and choose a winner.
Make sure to hashtag any Take Your Dog to Work Day social posts. Pet owners enjoy sharing humorous social posts as much as they enjoy sharing funny YouTube pet videos, and shares increase awareness of your veterinary clinic.
Above all, encourage your staff to have fun. Where the pandemic pet boom created a stressful situation where busy practice teams are run off their feet, taking a few minutes to relax and enjoy a bit of fun in your veterinary clinic can go a long way to alleviating stress and returning a sense of balance.
Speaking of alleviating stress, download our Free Pet Water Safety Client Education Kit. With another backyard pool explosion happening this summer, save time (and stress) educating clients about pet water safety.
