Instagram account @DogsWorkingFromHome made its first post during the onset of the coronavirus crisis, and already has hundreds of submissions, according to The Guardian.
The coronavirus outbreak has meant that many countries across the world are having their employees work from home to slow the spread of the disease. This means colleagues can out each other’s pets during video conferences.
Mark Polchleb, a brand manager from Melbourne, thought this pet video conferencing experience deserved its own home online. “I just took advantage of the fact that my dogs are at my feet. I thought ‘we all need a bit of happiness in our lives right now’,” Polchleb told The Guardian.
Polchleb’s idea became @DogsWorkingFromHome, an Instagram account dedicated to the pets that both enliven and complicate working remotely.
“I think we’ve all experienced trying to type on the keyboard with the dog edging its head into your hands,” Polchleb said.
Polchleb’s dachshunds Billie and Ollie, who he co-parents with his husband, were already popular on Instagram, having previously amassed a few thousand followers.
As of now, the account only has one rule. “[The dogs] definitely need to be at home. Obviously we’re at a time where we’re encouraging people to stay at home and indoors. We’ve had people submitting dogs at cafes, which is a big ‘no-no’ from me. We want to see those doggos at home with their families where everyone should be staying for now.”
The account currently has 47.1k followers and growing. You can follow them @dogsworking fromhome.
Does your dog work from home?
Commentary
Among the many things that the Covid-19 crisis has taught is that people can be extraordinarily creative. This account was a brilliant idea it depicts the wondrous sense of phenomena that dogs are surely feeling from seeing their parents at home more often than usual.
When things clear up and get back to normal it would be nice to see companies everywhere adopting more flexible approaches that would give employees better work/life balance to allow them to spend time with family and their four legged furry friends.
