Take Your Dog to Work Day (sometimes abbreviated as TYDTWD) was first started in 1996 in the United Kingdom and June 24, 1999^[1] in the United States. Created by Pet Sitters International this day celebrates the great companions dogs make and encourages adoptions from local shelters, rescue groups and humane societies.^[2] The day offers a fun, summer Friday for U.S. employees to introduce their four-legged "best friend" to co-workers and PSI believes that dog-less co-workers will be encouraged to adopt when they witness the human-animal bond. There is also increasing participation in TYDTWD in Canada, Australia, United Kingdom, and New Zealand.^[3].

On June 24, 1999 PSI held the first Take Your Dog to Work Day in the United States. An estimated 300^[4] companies participated nationwide. 2000 saw the acquisition of TYDTWD by the now defunct Pets.com. Pets.com promoted the event using their mascot, Buddy, the sock puppet. That same year, pets.com closed its doors as a result of the dot-com crash, and PSI regained the rights to TYDTWD. In 2001 PSI was hosting the third annual TYDTWD. That year saw the introduction of the first TYDTWD “poster dog,” Ernie. The next year (2002) continued the “poster dog” theme with Sandy. 2003 saw the participation of over 5000^[4] companies in TYDTWD. That number doubled in 2004 with an estimated 10,000^[4] internationally participating companies. The poster dog for that year was Little Nicky, who was the oldest TYDTWD poster dog to date. 2005 saw a record number of 37,191 hits on the PSI TYDTWD web site. The event was featured on such media as The David Letterman Show and the Tonight Show with Jay Leno, as well as CNN Headline News. The poster dog for that year was a pit bull named Chloe.