# Down to 0 co-workers afraid of Bear!



## Subdolus (Jul 28, 2014)

Short background for context:
We're allowed to have dogs with us at work, provided they're dog friendly (as other people also bring dogs), well trained, good with all sorts of people including kids (sometimes employees' kids stop in for lunch or after work) quiet, and housebroken. I tend to alternate bringing in Bear and Quinn (our mini Schnauzer).

There were a few co-workers who, at first, were wary to outright frightened of Bear because he's a GSD and GSDs are 'attack dogs' or are 'vicious', apparently.
All but one, by now, has come around and now like seeing Bear in the office because he's a big furry love that wants everyone ever to pet him and rub his ears.

Today, the last person who absolutely _refused_ to come near him, going so far as to take a different set of stairs to avoid even having to see Bear laying by my desk, at work out of fear that he would attack (because GSDs are attack dogs, you know.  ) finally decided Bear was not going to tear his face off and spent some time with him at my desk today.

The best part was when he apologized to *Bear* for avoiding him and thinking he was a 'mean dog'. Not, "Sorry I didn't believe you and assumed your dog was a vicious, nasty thing", direct apologies to Bear, in baby talk!

The guy sat there, with Bear soaking up ear scratches and shoulder rubs, apologizing to him for assuming he'd be a mean dog. 

I'm sure Bear had no idea what was going on aside from 'nice man is petting me and talking to me, yessssss!'

On a similar note, the last small dog that was afraid of Bear started making play gestures at him this afternoon and they had a short little play time; Bear is super careful around little dogs, since he lives with one, and when this last little girl would run away if he looked at her he'd turn back to me, look dejected, whine quietly.
Today, she finally played with him and he had the biggest, dumbest, happiest grin when she didn't run away.


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## Mary Beth (Apr 17, 2010)

Congratulations Bear! You are a wonderful ambassador for the breed. That is great that you can go do work with your human.


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## CindyMDBecker (Feb 22, 2013)

Awwww Bear ... I wish you worked with ME! I'd smoosh you up big time!  That's great news.


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## Skywalkers Mom (Oct 26, 2012)

So I guess first name is Teddy? Great to hear.


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## Subdolus (Jul 28, 2014)

Mary Beth said:


> Congratulations Bear! You are a wonderful ambassador for the breed. That is great that you can go do work with your human.


I love that part of my job so much; having friendly dogs around in a tech place is such a HUGE stress reliever!

Rough day with a lot of busted databases to fix and angry customers to calm? Take a few minutes and rub some soft dog ears or snuggle with a friendly fuzzy dog. Works wonders.

We're moving to a new building this fall, and the most frequently asked question about the move was, "Can we still have dogs in the office?" (We can, since we own the new building and don't have to have landlord approval.)



CindyMDBecker said:


> Awwww Bear ... I wish you worked with ME! I'd smoosh you up big time!  That's great news.


He would love everything about you for that. The only thing he doesn't like is that I make him stay leashed to my desk, but that just makes him look at me with sad eyes while smaller dogs get to roam free.

I'm sure he'd be fine, but he's so HUGE (Big guy, 105lb) that he'd probably knock things over either with his body or tail, especially if he started playing the same chase games the smaller dogs play.

Not a huge deal as we have roof access so I can take him up there to run around in the 'mini dog park'.


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## Subdolus (Jul 28, 2014)

Skywalkers Mom said:


> So I guess first name is Teddy? Great to hear.


HA! He certainly looks and acts like one some days!

Officially, his first name is Bender's. 

A few people in the office have taken to calling him Buddybear.


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## Clare (Feb 6, 2005)

that is so cool! Way to go Bear!!!!


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