Want to lower your stress levels at the office? Take your dog to work. Research finds employees who do so not only experience less angst during the day, but their co-workers could benefit from Fido’s presence too.

Researchers at Virginia Commonwealth University’s School of Business monitored the stress levels of employees at a company with a long history of allowing dogs in the workplace. Some of those workers owned dogs and others didn’t.

They found that while everyone started the day with low baseline levels of cortisol — our body’s stress hormone — dog-owners who didn’t bring their pooches to work reported drastically higher levels of stress by the end of the workday.

In contrast, those who had their dogs with them experienced lower stress levels, and about half of that group felt dogs were important to their productivity.

“We think dogs’ presence in the workplace may reduce stress for their owners, increase job satisfaction even for those without pets, and it may increase perceptions of organizational support,” said researcher Randolph Barker. “It’s a low-cost wellness intervention, or benefit, that’s available readily to any organization.”

Could bringing your dog be the next great trend in the workforce or is there something else you’d rather see?

[CNN]

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