{"id":44307,"date":"2023-10-20T15:35:00","date_gmt":"2023-10-20T15:35:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/startupsmart.test\/2023\/10\/20\/vinomofos-pet-project-brings-in-new-team-member-startupsmart\/"},"modified":"2023-10-20T15:35:00","modified_gmt":"2023-10-20T15:35:00","slug":"vinomofos-pet-project-brings-in-new-team-member-startupsmart","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/uncategorized\/vinomofos-pet-project-brings-in-new-team-member-startupsmart\/","title":{"rendered":"Vinomofo\u2019s pet project brings in new team member – StartupSmart"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/div>\n

<\/b><\/p>\n

Online wine retail startup Vinomofo has a very special furry guest in its Melbourne office.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Going by the name of JD, the 11-year-old staffy mix has quickly become used to office life, and is already beloved by the staff.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

It\u2019s part of Vinomofo\u2019s new partnership with animal rescue charity PetRescue, making it the first company to be fostering a dog in its office as part of the Workplace Foster Care Program.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The program involves companies taking in a dog or a cat during office hours and one employee looking after it at night.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

It\u2019s hoped that either through the startup or its network, a permanent home will be found.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cIt was meant to be\u201d<\/b> <\/h2>\n

Vinomofo co-founder Justin Dry, who happens to share a nickname with the rescued dog, says JD\u2019s presence has been welcomed in the office.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s a beautiful dog, it was meant to be,\u201d Dry says.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s more popular than me now.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re really, really proud to be involved with it. I\u2019m a massive animal fan and the rest of the team just loves them too, so there was no real hesitation once we checked with everyone.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

JD comes into the Vinomofo every day, and is cared for by campaign manager Charlotte Cels at night. The team is currently working on a social media campaign, and reaching out to its network to find the dog a permanent home.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Despite being a bit shy early on, JD now sounds like the king of the Vinomofo office.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cHe hasn\u2019t had the greatest life before he went into rescue, so he came to us quite a timid dog,\u201d Dry says.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cIt didn\u2019t take long though after he was showered with love from the team.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cNow he\u2019s a completely different animal, it\u2019s amazing to see. He\u2019s so happy and he\u2019s constantly being taken on walks.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

How a dog can improve an office<\/b><\/h2>\n

JD isn\u2019t the only one benefiting from the arrangement though, with Dry saying it\u2019s also helping with productivity and mood in the office.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s definitely been a lift in the team,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cDogs are just so happy and loving, there\u2019s no BS around their excitement and joy for life.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cJD calms everyone down and gets people out walking in the fresh air. There\u2019s a great vibe in the office with a dog around, everyone is lifted, happy and calm.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Dry encourages other startups and businesses to get on board with the workplace foster animal program, and see the benefits for the animal and their company.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

According to a study by PetNet, having a dog around the office improves employee morale and work productivity, lowers stress, decreases employee absenteeism and boosts employees willingness to work overtime.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

If you\u2019re interested in taking part in the Workplace Pet Foster Care program visit<\/i>  <\/i>http:\/\/www.petfoster.com.au\/<\/i>.<\/i><\/p>\n

<\/i><\/p>\n

Raising your<\/i> first round of capital<\/i><\/a>? Starting a<\/i> crowdfunding campaign<\/i><\/a>? Want to grow your business<\/i> with Instagram?<\/i><\/a> StartupSmart School can help.<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Online wine retail startup Vinomofo has a very special furry guest in its Melbourne office.   Going by the name<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":59318,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27,1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44307"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=44307"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44307\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/59318"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=44307"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=44307"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=44307"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}