Animals have been companions of humans throughout written history. In modern times, we are used to the idea of a pet at home. Each of us who has been lucky to live with an animal, can understand the beneficial effect that our four-legged (usually!) friends have on our mood, our character, our health and in general our daily lives.

Recent studies that have begun to scientifically investigate the benefits of the human-animal bond, have concluded that pets positively influence our behavior, reduce the anxiety and stress of everyday life, reduce the feeling of loneliness and improve cardiovascular health. Researching a little more, we will discover more and more beneficial qualities of animals in our lives.

But apart from our lives at home, we’ve been wondering, how beneficial can animals be in our work as well? An initial answer is given to us by Google itself, which is at the forefront of this movement, having gone so far as to call itself a "dog company", as their presence is included in its Code of Conduct.

In recent years it has been observed that more and more companies are adopting this logic and allowing their employees to bring pets to work. In addition, there are companies that have a pet that resides in the company's premises.

Studies on this subject have jointly concluded that the presence of animals in the workplace has the following benefits:

• Stress reduction

Contact with animals is known to increase oxytocin (anti-stress hormone) levels and reduce cortisol (stress hormone) levels. As work is the place where stress levels rise, we can understand how much dealing with our four-legged friend can relax us.

• Communication improvement

Animals are often a pleasant reason for discussion and communication between people and, by extension, colleagues, bringing people them together.

• Productivity increasement

A short detachment from work in order to engage with your pet has proven to be of high quality and helps us work more efficiently. In addition, employees who have their pet in the workplace, are used to working longer hours, having eliminated the stress of returning home so that their pet isn’t alone.

Looking back at the personal experiences we had when there was a pet at work, we can either confirm the above or give even more reasons why the presence of pets in the office is beneficial.

As Mahatma Gandhi said, "The greatness of a nation can be judged by the way its animals are treated." Perhaps, after all, the culture of each company is reflected in this phrase.

By Giannis Kountouris, Sales Manager of our team! 🎉