A year and a half ago, we brought home a new member of the family on a bright, sunny Saturday morning. Her name was Ella, and she was a 7-week-old Golden Lab puppy.
We had never had a dog before, so I wasn’t sure what to expect, but I had seen enough commercials and happy puppy videos to know that there would be laughter and cuddling and joyous naptimes and enough Instagram moments to start an entire new account.
It would be bliss!
~Insert record screeching sound here~
How I imagined what it would be like having a new puppy, compared with the reality of having a new puppy, was like being smacked across the face with a ham hock.
Don’t get me wrong; there were plenty of joyous naptimes, laughter, and cuddling but there were also chewed baseboards and shoes, midnight trips outside, and plenty of accidents. Lots and lots of accidents. Little puppy bladders don’t hold a lot, and when they need to go, they need to go, RIGHT NOW.
Thankfully, I was working from home, so I managed to catch and/or prevent plenty of those accidents and help Ella adjust to her new home.
But now I wonder about families who also get their puppy on a Saturday but then have to go to work Monday morning. BE (Before Ella) I would have thought it was ridiculous to take time off work because someone got a new puppy. There are some life lessons we don’t understand until we experience it ourselves.
But now I know.
Which is why I don’t think it’s ridiculous at all (now) that BrewDog, a craft beer company, is offering Puppy Parental Leave (or what they also like to call Mutt-ernity Leave) for their nearly 1,000 employees around the world. In fact, I think it’s incredible.
On the Dog Days blog they wrote:
"Yes, having dogs in our offices makes everyone else more chilled and relaxed – but we know only too well that having a new arrival – whether a mewling pup or unsettled rescue dog – can be stressful for human and hound both. So we are becoming the first in our industry to give our staff a working week’s leave on us to help settle a new furry family member into their home."
Oh, and if you’re interested they also offer sabbaticals, profit sharing, and enhanced maternity and paternity pay for “two-legged” arrivals.
Well done, BrewDog, well done. I give you two paws up for a pawsome initiative.
RELATED: Me-ternity: Do Childfree Professionals Deserve Paid Leave Too?
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