You step off your bike and slide your gloves off. While you reach for your helmet strap, a dog waddles up to you. You reach down, give the pooch a couple of strokes, and remove your helmet. You start walking to the shop door and are escorted by your new four-legged friend. The dog walks you up to the counter where you speak with the shop manager about the work that you have scheduled for your machine. You hand the keys over and the dog exits with the shop manager to the shop.

The idea of having a shop dog is nothing new. I’ve seen dogs around mechanic shops since I can remember. To be fair, we didn’t bring the family vehicles to corporate owned, chain shops. Big businesses don’t look too kindly on animals hanging around. But small, usually family owned businesses have a reputation of keeping a furry companion close. I have met shop dogs who live in the shop full time, when the owner closes down, the dog stays there as added security. There’re shop dogs who go home with their owners after the day is over.

Why have a shop dog? I’ve heard people disagree with keeping an animal nearby because of the safety risk. But I haven’t seen a shop dog get in the way, in fact, I always see them doing their job, escorting people, checking in on the shop, keeping out of the way.