It’s Take Your Dog to Work Day 2021! If you’ve been working from home and are a pet parent to a furry canine pal, congrats: you have an unconditional partner in positivity. Pets provide companionship year-round, and during the crazy pandemic year (and a half), they were the real MVPs — Most Valuable Pals!
They reminded us to feed ourselves, take breaks, and go outside. They kept us company and gave us a sense of purpose as days slipped into night. As we see the light at the end of the tunnel, let’s vow to never take our people, pets, or the planet for granted! Here are some simple things you can do to give back to your pets and the planet on Take Your Dog to Work Day, wherever you’re working from:
Don't overfeed your pet. This one might seem counterintuitive, since food is love and we want to shower them with it, but there is such a thing as too much! Dogs come in all shapes and sizes that require different diets for optimal health, so follow the advice of your trusted veterinarian as to mealtime sizes, and keep table treats to a minimum.
Taking care to not overfeed dogs helps to keep them active and well for as long as possible, and also reduces waste and saves resources. Water, feed, and fertilizer go into growing the plants and meat products used to make dog food, just as it does people food, so try only to prepare and serve what is needed.
Look for quality ingredients & Certified Humane® products. For the health and nutrition of your dog, what goes into the food you give them, and how it's made, is an important way to mindfully care for them. You know how some foods energize and fortify you, supporting your body and mind? The food you give your dog should do the same.
Open Farm believes great nutrition is rooted in the integrity of their ingredients — including clean, nutritious whole foods produced in a way that respects the welfare of the animals that go into them. Launched in Canada in 2014, Open Farm was the first dry dog food to receive the Certified Humane® label, dropping in the U.S. sometime after.
This label is given based on extensive, objective, and publicly available standards developed by a committee of leading veterinarians and animal scientists to provide animals with a low-stress environment, proper shelter and socialization, and the ability to engage in their natural behaviors.
By committing to these standards, Open Farm respects all living things, including people, pets, livestock, and wildlife, which they believe produces better quality meat for furry family members, from animals raised in a kinder, more natural environment.
Choose brands dedicated to protecting the environment.
Living things also include plants grown through agriculture, creatures caught from the sea, and the very soil and earth balancing the world’s ecosystems in its cradle. As an extension of it’s “Do Some Good” mission, Open Farm works with partners and farms who share a commitment to ethical farming and sustainability to maintain this balance.
What is sustainability, anyway? More than a buzzword, it’s quite simply the ability to exist at a certain rate; with Earth Overshoot Day coming earlier and earlier every year, people, pooches, and the planet will cease to exist unless we better manage our resources!
Sustainable practices are a priority in everything Open Farm does, so they’re committed to working towards science-based targets including 42% reduction of their greenhouse gas emissions over the next decade, which is in line with the 1.5C goals of the Paris Agreement on climate change.
The commitment goes from partnering with leaders in sustainable fishing like Ocean Wise Seafood in order to only use sustainably sourced fish in their recipes, to creating the first nationwide pet food bag recycling program in the industry with TerraCycle.
To ensure all customers have access, the program is free to use and awards points redeemable for donations to the school or non-profit of choice, including your favorite pet charities. Simply sign up for an account, join the program, collect, and ship with your prepaid label to give back by keeping Open Farm bags out of the environment.
Our dogs have really been here for us, bringing us perspective in an uncertain world. This year on Take Your Dog to Work Day, we can make a difference in our furry friend’s lives by working together with local communities, municipalities, and conscious brands like Open Farm. We can be the amazing people our dogs believe we are, and make the change in the world that they deserve. Want to discover more ways to make a difference on Take Your Dog to Work Day? Check out the Open Farm blog for tips on pet care, treat recipes, and more.
