My Boss's Dog Keeps Peeing By My Desk

GOOD QUESTION

I am lucky enough to have a job that I don’t hate and that pays well, and I’ve had it for about a year. Our office is dog-friendly, and my boss Christie brings in her dog, Ricky, once or twice a week.

Let me start by saying that I have never owned or lived with a dog, and my parents are both very allergic (somehow the gene skipped me, I guess). It’s therefore very difficult for me to discern negligence from just … mildly inadvisable dog parenting.

We frequently work late nights during quarter-end and Ricky will go eight to ten hours without being taken out. I’m the only one in my role, and though it was never stated, it became obvious after I tried to shoo Ricky out of my office once or twice that part of my job was dogsitting Ricky when he’s in because having him in her office is “distracting” for her. For the most part, I don’t mind. He’s cute and relatively quiet.

However, Ricky often has “accidents” by my desk in the late hours because Christie doesn’t want to take him out once they get in. I’m tired of him peeing next to me at approximately the stroke of midnight. Whenever it happens, Christie insists that he never pees on the carpet at home and scolds him because he should be able to hold it.

I’ve only had to clean it up twice, but I finally cracked last week and told her that I’d prefer it if she found a way for Ricky to not pee by my desk when he’s in. I feel that this is a perfectly reasonable request.

Further, the various dog people in my life have informed me that her treatment of him in the office combined with Ricky being at home for 10+ hours on days she’s in the office without him likely crosses the line of “mildly inadvisable dog parenting” and that if she’d just take him out more it would probably solve the problem. However, after I said something she became VERY upset that I “don’t want her dog around” and has been passive-aggressive about it (e.g. “I’d love to bring Ricky in Thursday but I guess you’d prefer he stay home”).

Do I have to apologize for asking her to keep her dog from peeing by my desk? Am I being unreasonable? I like the dog fine, but I’m not a dogsitter. I’m an accountant.