Most people leave their pets at home when they go to work, but not Bill Stewart of Owensboro, KY. For Bill, every day is "Bring-Your-Dog-To-Work Day". He has four dogs that love going to work with him and hanging out at his business Advanced Systems, Inc. at 101 West 9th Street.
Bill started bringing his dog to work years ago with Hooch, a Rottweiler. Hooch went everywhere with Bill. One day while they were out on the road, Bill found a Labrador mix puppy that was nothing but skin and bones. He named her Gracie and Hooch adopted her as a sister.
Not long after Gracie regained her strength, Hooch died of cancer. Bill and Gracie continued to work together, but he discovered that Gracie was eating all the time. She ate so much she had to be put on a Weight Management diet. Bill and his human staff still need to watch her or she will eat anything she can including cardboard!
During this budding relationship, Bill took in a Rottweiler-Boxer mix and named her Jada. Then, a receptionist asked him to care for her dog, a Golden Retriever named Emma. Next came "the baby", Madison -- another Golden Retriever. Emma is the oldest dog, but Gracie thinks she's the "Mama".
Bill and Mary Embry, one of Bill's employees, take care of the dogs while they're at work. Mary said that the dog's are Bill's "children" and they receive tons of fatherly love.
The "pack" loves to ride in Bill's SUV. All four of them know when it's time for "work' in the morning and when it's time to go home in the evening.
Since this article is the second "Pets welcome" column, I asked if they allow other dogs to come in. Bill confirmed that they do and said that sometimes, people will stop by just to visit his dogs and/or bring in their own.
Do you have one or more pets at your workplace? Are there any other businesses that would like to be profiled in a future article? If so, contact me on Facebook, Twitter or by email -- tjpinkston@netscape.net .
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