Written by Josh Reynolds, JK Team Content Manager
Today is International Bring Your Dog to Work Day, and the offices at JK HQ are packed with pooches!
It’s the second ‘International something day’ this week, after International Drive Your VW to Work Day on Wednesday. Click here to read all about that.
Dogs are a huge part of all of our lives and families, and many our four-legged friends make semi-regular visits to the office, but this is definitely the most dogs we’ve ever had here at the same time!
We saw loads of great dogs at the JK Open Day earlier this month, but they weren’t allowed into JK HQ itself, and tootled around in the field outside, instead.
Let’s try give you a rundown of who all of our new desk mates are, in between the excited barks and the sound of waggy tails whacking against office furniture!
They're having a paw'd meeting! Luna (front left), Benji (rear left), Bela (middle), Otter (rear right), and Holly (front right), sat in one of the meeting rooms here at JK HQ!
Name: Benji
Breed: Labradoodle
Human: Mark Reynolds, Just Kampers’ founder and chairman
Likes: Sleeping in inconvenient places, carrots, and playing with Mark’s grandkids
Dislikes: Bath time
Benji is a pretty chill dog, which is good, because he is massive.
He often draws attention when he’s out for walks, and a kid once asked their parents ‘is that a polar bear?!’ while pointing at Benji.
He’s not in too often, but absolutely loves going for a ride in Mark’s 1967 Beetle Cabriolet and feeling the breeze in his ears.
When he’s not at JK HQ, Benji likes be wrapped in a blanket and watch Mark work on his cars.
Name: Bella
Breed: Chocolate labrador
Human: James, JK’s MD
Likes: Licking people, her wobble ball toy, food
Dislikes: Mops, vacuum cleaners lawnmowers - anything that moves!
Name: Toby
Breed: Golden / fox red labrador
Human: James, JK’s MD
Likes: Muddy walks, cluddling on the sofa, food
Dislikes: Bathtime
Bella and Toby’s reputations preceded them into the office, but they’re not nearly as manic as James made them sound. I mean, they’re not calm, and I can hear their tails wagging against James’ desk from here, but they haven’t eaten any chairs or tipped over any bins!
The pair of pooches really love going for a ride in James’ VW T6.1, especially if they’re heading to the beach or anywhere else they can run around for a few hours.
Name: Holly
Breed: Cockapoo
Human: Jason, from the JK marketing team
Likes: Her mum, treats, playing catch
Dislikes: Going out in the rain
Holly made herself right at home in our marketing office, and made it clear to Jason that she wouldn't be sitting on the floor all day, but would like to spend some time stood on his desk, with her head on his shoulder.
Only momentarily scandelised when Benji ate some of her breakfast, she's spent quite a lot of time today trying to dig through her dog bed, which seems counter-productive!
Name: Luna
Breed: Labrador
Human: Monika, from our finance team and Dave from the warehouse team
Likes: Water, balls and treats
Dislikes: Loud noises (relatable)
Luna is here a lot, which is great, because she’s really well behaved and friendly!
She spends most of her time in Monika’s office, so sometimes we won’t know she’s here and she’ll just appear by our desks.
Monika and Dave take turns looking after Luna while she’s at JK HQ, and loves watching the sheep when they’re in the field outside the office.
She even has her own hi-vis vest for walking through the warehouse!
Name: Ebony
Breed: Mini Cockerpoo
Human: Sarah, from our finance team
Likes: A ball (any ball), treats, stealing slippers
Dislikes: Having a shower
Okay so technically, Ebony isn’t actually Sarah’s, but Sarah was so excited about International Bring Your Dog to Work Day that she borrowed a dog from her friend to bring in. Now that’s dedication!
Besides, Sarah’s got a snake and I don’t think there’s a Bring Your Snake to Work Day (and if there is I might be booking that day off…).
Ebony is a bit of an enigma, as we haven’t met her before today, but she seems like a very polite young lady and she would certainly be welcome back to JK HQ if she fancied another visit.
Name: Otter
Breed: Sprocker
Human: Julie, from our finance team
Likes: Tummy rubs, attention, exploring the office
Dislikes: When people have to get back to work and stop tickling her
Alright it turns out a Sprocker is a real dog breed, even if it does sound like an obscure tool you’d send the work experience kid out to find. Part Cocker Spaniel, part Springer Spaniel, no part aquatic mustelid, Otter is actually Julie’s daughter’s dog, but she’s still very welcome!
Julie has three dogs herself. Jack, her 14-year-old Toy Poodle has been in quite a lot recently because he hasn’t been feeling well, but he can’t be in today because he’s getting his hair cut (priorities!). She told us her other dogs, Bucky and Titan were ‘too naughty’ to come in, but I don’t believe that – look at them! Look at those ears!
Part Cocker Spaniel, part Springer Spaniel, no part aquatic mustelid, Otter is actually Julie’s daughter’s dog, but she’s still very welcome!
Julie has three dogs herself. Jack, her 14-year-old Toy Poodle has been in quite a lot recently because he hasn’t been feeling well, but he can’t be in today because he’s getting his hair cut (priorities!). She told us her other dogs, Bucky and Titan were ‘too naughty’ to come in, but I don’t believe that – look at them! Look at those ears!
Name: Bela
Breed: Minature Doberman
Human: Sandra, from the JK finance team
Likes: Snuggles under a blanket, car rides, walks
Dislikes: Being left alone
Bela is in charge today. No question about it. This little lady knows she's the boss, and has the confidence and swagger to prove it. Easily the smallest dog here (I initially thought she was a chihuahua), she's taken absolutely no nonsense from any of the others here, and has sat very peacefully with her human, looking down on all the other dogs.
Bela gets two photos because we couldn't pick which of these was better, so you get to see them both!
Dogs who’d be jealous if they knew they were missing out
It’s a good thing that dogs don’t actually know it’s International Bring Your Dog to Work Day, because there’s a fair few JK Team dogs who can’t make it into the office today, and they’d be gutted if they knew they were missing out!
Between people being off on annual leave, over in Germany for VW shows or their dogs having prior engagements, there's a fair few who aren't in today - here's some of them:
Name: Hooper
Breed: Labrador
Human: Shaun, JK Sales Director
Likes: Films from the 1980s, swimming, and sneaking onto the bed
Dislikes: When Shaun goes to work
Hooper (or Hoop Doggy Dogg) is Shaun’s Labrador, who may or may not have a crush on Luna.
Happiest in the water or Shaun and Caz’ T2 Bay, Hooper also loves roaming from desk to desk in the offices here, getting attention and checking the bins.
Poor old Hoop is missing out on making new friends at JK HQ today because Shaun is over in Germany for the Hessisch Oldendorf 2022 show – there’s always next year, though!
Name: Mylie
Breed: Terrier
Human: Lorah, head of Customer Service
Likes: Her bunny, cuddles, and cuddles with her bunny
Dislikes: Fireworks
Mylie is a distinguished older lady who can’t be at JK HQ today because her human, Lorah, has the day off – bad planning!
She's has never been to JK HQ before, but Mylie looks like she wouldn’t be any trouble, as long as no one messed with her bunny.
Name: Casper
Breed: Mongrel (in a nice way!)
Human: Mark, who founded JK back in 1989
Likes: Benji, fetching tennis balls, and waiting for Mark’s grandkids to drop food
Dislikes: Letting go of tennis balls
Casper is a great dog. He’s a good boy. He’s just… very excitable. When he’s around Benji he likes to play chase and roughhouse.
All that playing and dashing around is fine in the garden, but not so much in an enclosed space while people are trying to work!
Sorry Casper, but you’ll have to sit this one out – next year you can come into the office, and Benji can spend International Bring Your Dog to Work Day at home being jealous!
Names: Bucky, Jack and Titan
Breeds: ???, toy poodle and ???
Human: Julie, from the JK finance team
Likes: Hearing everything, being cute, and running
Dislikes: Not being allowed to JK HQ on Bring Your Dog to Work Day
Bucky, Jack and Titan have been served a great injustice: None of them have been brought in to JK HQ today, even though it’s International Bring Your Dog to Work Day and they’re clearly all dogs.
Sadly, Bucky and Titan have been labelled disturbers of the peace, and ‘too naughty’ to come into the offices (by Julie, I’d never say anything bad about them).
Jack, on the other hand, is perfectly well behaved, he’s just busy having his hair cut, his ears shampooed and his claws manicured – Normally I’d say that’s better than a day at the office, but there’s loads of dogs here today, so…
I can't write all of this about dogs without talking about some of the cool dog products we've got in stock at JK HQ!
All the dogs who've come in today have been given one of our JK dog bandanas to go over their collars, like an unofficial staff uniform, as well as a melamine dog bowl (which they're noisily drinking out of).
We had these designed and made to make our dogs feel even more like part of the family, and so they had bowls to match the rest of our JK melamine dining sets. They're really popular, and they're on special offer at the moment, too.
If you love to bring your dog camping with you (and why wouldn't you?!), or they spend a lot of time in the car, we'd recommend fitting a set of these air vents, which allow nice cool air in whilst preventing your dog from escaping, or anyone reaching into your camper. They're easy to fit and remove, too!
Last but not least, we've got easily the fanciest dog product that's ever hit the shelves here at JK HQ. It's a real 'my dog is part of the family' statement, and an investment in keeping them safe and secure while you're out and about.
What am I referring to? Only the Dometic K9 80 Air Dog Kennel!
Yeah, that's right, an inflatable dog kennel, made to the same incredibly high standard as a Dometic air awning - a spacious little home away from home for your dog! We had to take the opportunity to get one out of stock to see what our dogs thought of it, and you can see the results here!
Written by Josh Reynolds, JK Team Content Manager