For those of us that have the pleasure of working from a home office, we all know that there can be many distractions. Are these distractions welcome? Well, when it is a furry member of our family sometimes these distractions can be fun!

Our virtual team here at DemGen has a family full of pets to either enhance our days or cause those little bumps in the business world. February 20th is Love Your Pet Day so we wanted to share how we at DemGen manage our day to day work lives, while also including our cuddly creatures as well.

Pets can make it hard to get things done through the day. Do they want a walk when you really feel you don’t have the time? Do they walk across your keyboard as you try to type an important document? Do they bark for no reason just as you are starting a call? Is your desk covered with dog treats and cat toys? Is your lap full of lap dogs and not a laptop?

All of these things can be also viewed as needed productivity. If it is time to walk the dog view this time as a needed break for you also. You can come back rejuvenated and full of new ideas. If the cat is filling up your desk space view this time as a time to stay at your desk and push forward getting more and more done.  Who knows what that frisky feline will get up to if you leave him alone with your computer! The comfort we get from our pets is as therapeutic as it is hectic at times. When you are having a day that you feel is just not going well, a soft cuddly snuggle with Kitty or a game of fetch with Rover can be all that we need to help get our day back on track.

Giving our pets their own area in our workspaces will often help. Keep their beds or crates in the same area you are but not right beside you. They will enjoy the comfort of being near you but hopefully without too much distraction. Keep a ball or a play toy near or on your desk. As you are on a call, maybe a quick toss of the ball to Fido may just keep him distracted to keep the call going successfully.

We all love and cherish our pets as parts of the family and working from home can make that connection even better. Some of our DemGen family pets can be viewed below and remember Feb 20th is Love Your Pet Day…. But so is every other day!

Harry – Ragdoll/Persian cross cat. Owner: Chris Draper of DemGen. Harry is known for lending a helping hand when it really isn’t needed. His favorite pastime is to hit the redial button or even the speaker on Chris’ phone at most inopportune times!

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Harry

Slink the mini dachshund and Charlieferb the Himalayan beauty. They are the best of pals that entertain Lisa Messervey of DemGen throughout her work day.

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Slink and Charlieferb

Smokey and Busta are the beautiful rescues of Tamara Smith of DemGen. Smokey is a tiny kitty that thinks she’s huge. She has stared down dogs and may think she is one, given she loves to fetch. Busta is an overly social character that loves to bring friends home to hang out, much to Smokey’s chagrin.

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Smokey

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Busta

Maggie May (yes named for the Rod Stewart song, as she already had a cousin named Maggie) came to the home of Dan and Pam Christie, both of DemGen, as an 8 month old rescue chocolate lab/beagle mix. Initially she was scared of everything from brooms to people. Now 3 years later Maggie May has adjusted to and loves the stream of people in and out of the busy business-based house each day. As you can see she is a Detroit Red Wings Fan and her never ending love is a blessing to this family. Just watch the tail go when you say T R E A T!

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Maggie May

Introducing Shih-tzu’s Tucker (left) and Willow (right) owned by Kim Miller of DemGen. Tucker is 10 years old and loves to spend his time napping during the work day when Willow lets him. Willow is a typical 10 month old playful puppy and she loves to spend time on a lap in place of a laptop!

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Tucker and Willow

Thanks for taking the time to enjoy our pets as much as we do!

Kim Miller

© DemGen 2013