Last Friday was Britain’s second annual Bring Your Dog To Work Day, an event which saw thousands of dog lovers, as well as businesses from a broad spectrum of industries, embrace the initiative and take their four-legged friends into the workplace.

Even celebrities joined in the fun with Ricky Gervais tweeting a picture of himself and his dogs with the message: Loving #BringYourDogToWorkDay.

The day was a tremendous success and featured in The Times, The Independent, Mirror, Metro, London Evening Standard, Mashable, Capital FM, BT and Yahoo. There was even a pooch invasion on ITV’s Loose Women - where the programme’s presenters Andrea McLean, Nadia Sawalha and Jane Moore brought their dogs into work (see picture below).

Founded by HOWND, the #BringYourDogToWorkDay hashtag started trending on Twitter in the UK, following thousands of ‘pooch selfie’ tweets from the public, plus mentions from celebrities such as Ricky Gervais. 

Bring Your Dog to Work Day supports animal welfare charities, and this year’s event was raising money for All Dogs Matter, a charity that rehomes hundreds of rescues every year in London and Norfolk. 

The Bring Your Dog To Work Day website accepts business sponsor donations (minimum of £50) and individual donations (minimum of £2) all year round. Just a small donation of £5 could be used to microchip a dog, while £10 is enough to buy new bedding.

“We are so pleased with the outcome of Bring Your Dog To Work Day; the publicity and rate of participation exceeded our wildest expectations. Thank you so much to all the business sponsors and individuals who took part, your donations will help All Dogs Matter continue their fantastic work rescuing and rehoming unwanted and stray dogs,” explains Jo Amit, co-founder of dog grooming product company HOWND, the company behind the initiative. 

Bring Your Dog To Work Day also held a competition, where individuals who donated £5 online and uploaded a ‘pooch selfie’ were entered automatically into a mega-prize draw worth over £700.

HOWND, Dogs & Horses, PetSafe, Long Paws, Natural Instinct, MedicAnimal, Leucillin, LoveSniffys, Vet’s Kitchen, Billy & Margot, Oscar & Hooch, Lily’s Kitchen, Company of Animals and Dependable Pets all donated products towards the mega-prize. Fish4Dogs gave a year’s supply of pet food as the runner’s up prize worth £636.  

The winner of the Bring Your Dog To Work Day mega-prize was Mike Lindley from St Helens. He uploaded a ‘pooch selfie’ entry of his dog Ralph to the ‘Dog With A Job Hall of Fame’. Ralph’s job description was listed as ‘Chief Music Blogger and DJ on Radio KC’.

“A huge well done to Mike and Ralph, we hope you have fun enjoying the mega-prize! Thank you and well done to everyone else who took part in the competition, every entry was original and it was great to see such enthusiasm. We’d also like to thank all the companies who donated towards the prizes for their support and generosity,” adds Jo Amit.

The competition runner-up was Carol Sales and her dog Leo. According to his ‘Dog With A Job Hall of Fame’, Leo collects the mail and keeps team spirits high in the office.

For further information - or if you would like to headline sponsor Bring Your Dog To Work Day 2016 - please visit Bring Your Dog To Work Day’s official website, or email hello@bringyourdogtoworkday.co.uk.