It’s a dog’s life for one special puppy pal

puppy pal

Something for the weekend: If the first date you will be circling on your 2022 calendar is National Bring Your Dog to Work Day (24 June in case you were wondering), then we hope you didn’t miss the opportunity to have canine cuddles every working day of the year.

That’s right, charity Guide Dogs is recruiting a canine science assistant, which means looking after adorable puppies to make sure they can grow into happy healthy companions for people with sight loss.

It’s a widely-accepted fact that pets in the workplace are great wellbeing and motivation boosters, and it only gets better as the role is four days a week, “may include opportunities to work from home” according to the employer – get puppy-proofing – and, we kid you not, involves watching dog videos as well.

Actually, we think the timing of this role is a little harsh on the posties already weighed down by sacks of Christmas cards, who could now also be lugging millions of job applications to Guide Dogs HQ in Leamington Spa.

Be reassured that it is not all about the fluffy puppies, as the job will also require data collection and entry, and project admin. As it’s a 12-month contract, who knows, the opportunity could throw you a bone and come back up next year.

Helen Whiteside, chief scientific officer at Guide Dogs, said the charity breeds and trains more than 1,000 dogs every year.

“This important role will be centred around the wellbeing of our puppies: getting to know them, interacting, and engaging with them as they grow up into happy, healthy guide dogs,” she said. “We’re excited to see the applications and look forward to offering this dream position to a lucky candidate with exceptional research experience.”

At Employee Benefits we think the clear advantages of working with dogs should be recognised by more employers as part of well-rounded motivational benefit packages. See you on 24 June!