Dogs in Breweries Staff Education Course
Being a dog-friendly brewery can be a great way to build community enthusiasm about your space, contribute to a fun atmosphere, and ultimately, sell more beer.
But hosting dogs is not without its risks and headaches. As a bartender in a dog-friendly brewery, are you prepared to navigate these dog issues safely in order to create the best experience for all of your brewery guests?
Welcome dogs into your brewery space safely and confidently with our Dogs in Breweries Staff Education Course! Learn from a dog expert about what you can do to keep your brewery functioning smoothly and safely even with dogs hanging out with their people. We want to help your brewery become a great dog-friendly space - ready to keep welcoming dogs for years to come.
Two Ways to Learn
Online
Get your whole team set up with some online learning on the topic of dogs in breweries! This is our complete workshop, curated into an online format with videos, text lectures, quizzes, and downloadable resources.
In-Person Workshop
Bring DWYD® Expert Amber Quann to your brewery to teach you and your brewery staff about dogs in breweries - in a personalized workshop. Dialogue easily about your most burning questions about hosting dogs in your space.
Topics Covered:
Dog body language
How to greet a dog safely
Helping customers be responsible for their dogs
Preventing & responding to incidents like dog bites & fights
Understanding & mitigating health risks
Understanding the differences between service dog, ESAs, Therapy Dogs, and pet dogs and your responsibilities in each of these categories
And so much more!
Earn Certified Dog-Friendly Brewery Status!
The biggest impact breweries have seen from the Dogs in Breweries Staff Education Course have happened when the whole team is on board!
That’s why we have created the DWYD® Certified Dog-Friendly Brewery award - to reward breweries who invest the time in educating their whole team on how to be dog-safe at the brewery!
Requirements for Certification:
Brewery Management Letter - Submit a signed letter from your brewery management -- Owner, General Manager, Taproom Manager, or any combination or variation on those positions -- expressing support for implementing dog-friendly practices in your brewery.
Staff Education - Have 75% of your brewery's Bartending Staff complete this online course or attend an in-person "Dogs In Breweries" workshop.
Demonstrated Commitment to Dog-Friendly Practices - Submit a brief summary of different steps that your brewery is taking to make your space dog-friendly and dog safe. These steps can look differently for every brewery (and taking this course is a big demonstration of your commitment already!) and we aren't going to tell you what you have to do. But we do want to hear what ideas you have taken from this course and started implementing in your unique brewery space!
Annual Reassessment - Each year, to keep your designation as a Drink With Your Dog® Certified Dog Friendly Brewery, your brewery must submit an Annual Reassessment Form summarizing your employee course completion records and continued commitment to dog-friendly practices. Staff members who have already taken the Dogs in Breweries course do not need to retake the class, but new staff members (up to or exceeding the minimum 75% of staff members completion requirement) should complete the course either online or through an in-person workshop.
Online or In-Person Learning
Testimonial From New Belgium Brewing in Fort Collins!
“We here at the New Belgium tasting room in Fort Collins were fortunate enough to take Amber’s Drink With Your Dog® Staff Workshop in June 2019. A lot of us who work in the tasting room have dogs ourselves and are self-professed dog lovers. So of course we LOVE it when guests come to New Belgium and bring their four-legged friends! Nothing makes our day like happy people drinking beer with their happy pups.
Before Amber’s class, we’d noticed a significant increase in guests with dogs. While this mostly meant more dogs to coo over, we were starting to struggle with boundaries and how to talk to dog owners whose dogs seemed stressed or a little ornery. We didn’t want to kick people (or their pups) out and we didn’t want to set up a bunch of strict rules that drove people away. This is where Amber and Drink with your Dog saved us!
The class is the perfect combo of information, discussion, and practice. Her information was fact-based, supported by scientific research, and immediately applicable. After a short lecture and some discussion, three dogs and their owners came so that we all could practice the techniques she’d presented. Because a lot of the class focused on dog body language, we were surprised by how much communication we’d been missing from our furry companions!
In just the past month since taking the class, our staff has noticed a big confidence boost when address folks and their dogs! She gave us the vocabulary to positively talk with guests about their pup. This took a lot of the anxiety out of having to hold a difficult conversation. Instead of us feeling frustrated and guests feeling embarrassed or picked on, we could set reasonable boundaries and still provide an enjoyable place for everyone.
All in all, the Drink with your Dog class was eye opening and has already helped make our tasting room an even better dog friendly experience for humans and dogs alike!”
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