Chances are if you walk in the front door of Express Press on a weekday you'll be greeted by a perky white-whiskered face and a lick on your hand.

The company greeter, Cody, part-Yorkshire terrier and part-Maltese, has been welcoming customers to the printing company in Penn Center, Wilkins, for the better part of seven years. He has his own business card.

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	Post-Gazette Janet Teeple, left, an owner of Pugliese's Flowers, and her 15-year-old beagle shepherd, Sammy, visit Corky, a Welsh Penbrook Corgi owned by Diane Truffa, right, at Professional Office Systems in Vandergrift. Click photo for larger image.

In Vandergrift, Corky, a Welsh Pembrook Corgi, has been in her post as Professional Office Systems mascot for six and a half years, accepting "designer" treats from fans who sometimes stop by the store just to visit her.

She'll do tricks to amuse a customer and sometimes visits with her boyfriend, Sam, the dog who comes to work with the owners of Pugliese's Flowers, just up the street.

Certainly, dogs have always earned their keep on farms, as canine police officers, and as service animals for the handicapped.

But during the 1990s, taking one's pet dog, or even sometimes the cat, to the laid-back, high-tech offices of the dot.com era became a growing practice. Small, privately owned offices were where the practice spread the most, and they are still the places where the family pet is usually welcome.

There's a Take Your Dog To Work Day held on the Friday following Father's Day, organized by Pet Sitters International, a group that provides educational resources for professional pet sitters across the country.

There are no laws covering animals in the workplace, other than restaurants.

"That would be a no-no, for any type of food facility," said Allegheny County Health Department spokesman Guillermo Cole.

Otherwise, there are no other health department policies in place to prevent it, he said.

Corporate policy might prevent an employee from taking a pet to work, and leasing policies, like those in effect in Monroeville Mall, prohibit animals other than service dogs, a Mall spokeswoman said.

But with very few exceptions, everyone loves the office or store pet.

"People come in and say, 'Where's the dog?' " Rose Burns said. She and her husband, Rob, own Express Press.

Customers and suppliers bring Cody toys and treats and make interacting with him part of their visit, she said.

When he's not in the office, people seem disappointed, and, like a lot of human employees, sometimes he doesn't want to go to work.

"He chooses," Mrs. Burns said. She knows when Cody needs some time away from the office. He tells her by sitting on the stairway landing in their Plum home and refusing to come down when he's asked if he's ready.

When it comes to more sensitive matters, such as bathroom breaks, there are no problems whatsoever. The printing office is next door to a parklet, where Cody can take his break.

Employees sometimes take him out, giving both of them some fresh air.

The office is nonsmoking, so instead of cigarette breaks, staff can take "puppy breaks," Mrs. Burns said.

She said she and her husband probably wouldn't have a dog unless they could bring it to work with them. Leaving the pooch at home alone five or six days a week just isn't right, they both feel. Like the Burnses, David and Diane Truffa, owners of Professional Office Systems for the past seven years, made the decision to get a dog only if they could spend time with it. Taking 6-month-old Corky to work was their solution.

Well-behaved and friendly, Corky does all the tricks expected of a civilized dog, like shaking hands and speaking on command. "Bang," says Mrs. Truffa, and down goes Corky, who rolls and finishes the play-dead trick with his short legs in the air.

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	Post-Gazette Rose Burns has her dog Cody at work. Cody comes to work every day at the Express Press office in Wilkins and greets customers. Some, like Dr. Ted Levine, left, bring Cody presents. Click photo for larger image.

Janet Teeple, who along with her husband, Wayne, owns Pugliese's Flowers, said Sam came to them late in life.

Now 15, the beagle-shepherd mix was originally owned by the Teeples' daughter, Kristin, who had to give him up.

They, too, didn't want to make a dog spend most days alone, so they decided three years ago they'd keep Sam and make him part of their job. He goes on deliveries with the couple and has three beds scattered throughout the shop so he can plop down pretty much where he wants.

Mrs. Teeple said Sam is ready to come to work with them each day. He even gets "dressed."

"We take his collar off at night," Mrs. Teeple laughed. So Sam, like most workers, has a morning routine that includes getting dressed.

While dogs in the workplace are a relatively new phenomenon, felines, too, have been known to inhabit theaters, studios, warehouses and bookstores. One such place is Reads Ink in Vandergrift, where a feline or two has lived almost continuously since the used- book store was opened 13 years ago.

Proprietor George Hines said it started when he discovered a stray mother cat had given birth to a litter of kittens in the window well of his building. He adopted them all and after veterinarian checkups discovered all had feline leukemia.

The cats loved the bookstore and so did the customers. But because of their conditions, the cats all died prematurely.

"It was breaking my heart," Mr. Hines said, so he thought he'd never get another cat. But when a veterinarian told him he could have cats again as long as he waited at least a year for the virus to die, he rethought his decision.

Eight years ago, shelter cats Angel Baby and Demon Seed, better known as Good Girl and Bad Girl, came to live at the bookstore.

They roam freely between the shelves and tables lined with literature and up the steps to Mr. Hines' apartment above the store.

All of the pet owners say they've encountered customers who want nothing to do with the animal staffers.

Mrs. Burns said Cody seems to sense if someone doesn't like him, and he goes into her office. Corky does the same thing, Mrs. Truffa said, and it doesn't bother her or Corky.

Some people are afraid of dogs, she said.

There are people, or at least one that Mr. Hines knows, who are afraid of cats.

Just like the dogs, the cats are shooed away from the main store area, but, since they're cats, they likely exit with a lot more attitude.