SEATTLE — When Amazon's new HQ2 opens for business in Arlington in 2019, two legged-employees might not be the only workers roaming the company’s new National Landing campus.
That's, at least, not if Amazon’s first headquarters in Seattle is any indication.
"There's about 6,000 dogs registered to work at Amazon right now," Amazon spokesperson Allison Flicker said.
"It's a really neat part of Amazon’s culture that has been going on since the very beginning."
It all started in 2010, when a husband and wife team who worked as computer programmers at Amazon asked if they could bring their Corgi, Rufus, to work with them.
The company agreed, and Rufus quickly became a local celebrity around the halls Amazon.
"They used his picture on some of the early pages of Amazon," Flicker said. "They used his paw to launch some of the early product pages of Amazon. They let him click the mouse, and he really is a legend in the history of Amazon."
Flicker said registering your dog to work at Amazon means they are well behaved, and up to date on all shots and vaccinations.
"It's not dogs running wild in the office," Flicker explained. "They usually just sit by your desk or in your little office."
For bathroom breaks, Amazon built two dog parks. One on the 17th floor of its "Doppler" office tower, the second outside the base of the "Day 1" building. That one is also accessible to street traffic and open to the public.
"For dogs that do come to work every single day they kind of become a member of the team," Flicker said.
"It's something by in large people adore working at Amazon."
Amazon said the top three most popular dog names on campus are Lucy, Bella and Charlie. The top three dog types at Amazon are Golden Retriever, Labrador and Labradoodle.