Norbert the dog is a full-fledged member of Peppercom’s UK office. In addition to sitting, sleeping, playing with his various toys, wagging his tail and barking whenever someone rings the bell at the front gate, Norbert has one main job responsibility: chief morale officer (and, he’s the nicest and smartest CMO I’ve met in some time, btw).

Despite being a huge dog lover, I’m not a fan of bringing canines to the office. That’s because I remember working at a firm where the creative director’s two dogs literally ran amok every single day. They’d sprint up and down hallways, rip sandwiches out of people’s hands and, on at least one memorable occasion, defecated outside the conference room just before a new business pitch. Talk about a bad omen!

Norbert, on the other hand, is just a very cool pup. He knows his place and role, minds his owner, Jacki Vause’s commands and, in my opinion, adds a very real and positive intangible to the London office workplace culture.

All that said, there’s no way in hell we’ll get a puppy in the NY office. It’s really nice to visit a dog-friendly business, but I just can’t see our 55-plus person NY agency finding a dog as perfect as Norbert. And, besides, who needs excrement outside the conference room?