Backup Pack
Jake

Julie and Jeff rescued Jake the Dog at age 10 weeks from the Peninsula Humane Society. As you can see, Jake the puppy was a complete bundle of energy who never slowed down (well almost never...).

Now he's a full partner in The Barneson Group, a management consulting firm. Here's what the New York Times Workplace section had to say about Jake the Dog:

"I'm told that there are dogs who help their humans work. Jeff Steen, a management consultant in San Francisco, uses his Jake, a 16-month-old mix of Labrador retriever and Rhodesian Ridgeback, in place of a clock. The two are at their desk (one in front of it, the other under it) by 8 a.m.

Then, at 4 p.m., Mr. Steen says, "Jake's job is to make me take a break" so that Jake can take a walk.

At about 7 p.m. "he makes certain that I know it is time for play by placing his toy ever so gently in my crotch," says Mr. Steen. "That is kind of like the old whistle in the factory that signals the end of the shift."

Or as Julie, Jeff's beautiful wife, says ... "trusty assistant is beside you again."