A dog's life: Pets more welcome at work and play

The Lhasa apso was 10 months old when Meredith Voller got her from a shelter and named her Stevie Nix. Voller, who is now director of marketing for the Hotel Monaco in Salt Lake City, was at that time working for the Hotel Monaco in Chicago.

From the first, Voller had big plans for little Stevie Nix, plans to make her "director of pet relations," plans to bring her to work every day and use her sweet hairy face to promote the hotel's pet-friendly image. Over the next few years, before Voller and Stevie moved to Utah, the dog welcomed thousands of guests at the nightly manager's reception.

Stevie Nix made the guests laugh with her rock-star name and the way she danced in circles when Voller held up a treat.

A couple of newspapers in the Midwest carried stories about the "director of pet relations." Stevie also made a brief appearance on "Good Morning America." There the little dog was asked about her resume, asked if she had experience in hotel hospitality. The human concierge who acted as her spokesman sidestepped the question and said Stevie brought "natural charm" to the job.

But to watch Stevie Nix at a manager's reception at the Hotel Monaco in Salt Lake is to see that, in fact, much of the dog's charm comes from being reserved. Stevie doesn't jump on guests. She doesn't shed. She doesn't beg.

She doesn't even approach the guests unless they coax her. She mostly just keeps her eyes on Voller. If there are no treats in evidence, no invitation to dance, Stevie might retreat under the bar to watch her owner from a sheltered spot.

This is the personality of a dog who was starved and neglected for most of the first year of her life, Voller explains. "She was the product of an abusive puppy mill." The dog came to her scared and with a tendency to lunge at other dogs.

From the first, though, Voller found Stevie to be smart and obedient. Voller nurtured Stevie's good qualities, taking the dog with her to work, spending time, teaching her how to behave.

This week is National Pet Week, and in two respects Stevie Nix is emblematic of national trends in pet ownership. First, increasing numbers of employees want to bring their dogs to work. Second, more and more hotels welcome pets.

When it comes to traveling, 19 percent of dog owners say they bring their pet along on trips, according to a survey taken in 2006 by the American Pet Products Manufacturers Association. That's up from 16 percent in 2002.