Living in Austin brings all the benefits of dog friendly places. A good majority of coworking spaces around town allow you to bring your dog along. I had a first hand experience bringing my great dane into Galvanize (where I was working at the time). There was also another dane there so I thought things would work out perfectly. That was until Bunny, my dane, decided he wanted to be vocal. If you haven’t heard danes bark yet, let me tell you, it’s a roar. Immediately everyone’s heads turned. No work was getting done. I was mortified! That the last time Bunny came with me to work. The whole day I was keeping an eye on him and could never really concentrate.
How Work and Woof Started
This is where Jill comes in. She’s the founder of Work and Woof which opened up June of 2018. It’s relatively new but already making some noise in the community. When Jill was working in Chicago a few years back, she found her love of coworking as a social media specialist. Eventually she moved to Austin and settled into East Austin but found the same problems as I did after she got her pup. After doing a few focus group interviews with other freelancers, Jill found that she wasn’t the only one who felt this way. This is what eventually led her to start Work and Woof.
What It’s Like Coworking
Every coworking space has it’s niche group and it’s quite obvious that Work and Woof specializes in pups. Therefore, most people aren’t fazed by the barking and dogs running around in the back. When I walked in, I was immediately greeted by Adrian at the front desk. He gave me a tour of the place and let me settle into a back room which had a view of their outdoor park. I was able to close the door if the barking was too loud.
I decided to take a stroll around and check out the rest of their amenities. The general area is an open space which allows for people to mingle and meet but still sections off to small spaces if you need to get work done. The kitchen has your essentials and opens up to the common area. You’ll also find a few phone booths that they’re working on to sound proof since it’s close to the open space area for the dogs.
Lastly, my favorite part of the whole concept was that I was able to watch or play (from the other side of the fence) with all the pups that were in. As any dog lover, your day is so much less stressful when you have a sweet pup waiting to be petted. You’ll also notice that there were several people working with the dogs to make sure they played nice and were entertained throughout the day.
Events
One of the more popular things to do at Work and Woof is to attend their events. As dog experts, they throw great events and partner with vendors and retailers during the evenings and weekends. I also was thrilled to find out place is an open kennel (meaning the dogs can openly play with each other rather than be cooped up in their own room). This means the weekends tend to be more social with everyone bringing their pup to hang out and casually get some work done. They’re also BYOB so you can enjoy a slow Saturday afternoon while your dog socializes as well.
Who Should come
Majority of people who seek out a place like Work and Woof have been freelancers. They want a space to work but don’t want to leave their dog at home. You have peace of mind knowing your dog is taken care of. They’re not chewing on cords, peeing on the floors or anything else your dog may do or even not do but you have the anxiety that it may still happen! This doesn’t exclude companies though. Several of the offices can be rented out and easy for team to work from.
One of my favorite amenities at coworking spaces is free parking. Work and Woof is relatively new so you won’t be able to see the building from the street (they’re in the works of putting up the sign at the complex). There’s tons of parking and the coworking space is conveniently close to everything on South Congress.
Come bring your pup and check out Work and Woof the next time you want a place to get some work done!