Terrence Greene knew he found the right place to work when he learned he could bring his dog, Minnie, to the office. The Manhattan resident says that's when he decided to accept a job offer from Mcgarrybowen.
"It makes life so much easier. You don't have to rush home after work for them. You can do whatever you have to do and they're here, so you don't have to worry," Greene said.
Shelby Semel is a dog trainer. She says the number of requests by companies to train the dogs of their employees at work has increased in the last five years.
"There are offices that have me instill appropriate rules for the office dogs so that way, there are off leash times, different ways to make it more, you know, conducive to a work environment for everyone," Semel said.
Bombas, which manufactures socks, the tech firm Bitly, and Mcgarrybowen, a global advertising agency, are among the companies allowing dogs at work. Employees say they see it as a perk.
"I live by myself so being able to bring him in here and not have to go home in the middle of the day and not have to worry about how he's doing and what he's doing in the middle of the day has been really nice," said business intelligence manager Melanie Chin.
Business owners and managers say dogs in the office are a great way to boost morale and even gain new clients.
"He turned up in a pitch meeting upstairs. It ended up, we won the pitch. It was a good thing," said Shelton Ellis, senior assistant to the founder of Mcgarrybowen.
"Dogs are their children. Because of that, it's just as imporant as day care to have the ability to have their dogs in the office. It reduces stress for them, keeps the environment more calm, and frankly, keeps everyone happier," said Phil Gaughran, the CIO of Mcgarrybowen.
But a crazed canine can create just the opposite atmosphere - and upset workers who aren't so fond of man's best friend. That's where trainers like Shelby Semel come in.
"There have to be ways in which you can, you know, sit at your computer and type and not worry about your dog," Semel said.
Mark Josephson, the chief executive officer at Bitly, says he wanted to build a company where everybody enjoyed coming to the office.
"Everybody should be able to bring their dog to work," he said.
And at Bitly and a growing number of companies, they can.