‘The branch manager is asking for your input’: The least helpful co-worker on the planet is also the cutest

Pets are many people’s pride and joy. Dogs are among the most TikTok recently going viral on the popular video-sharing platform.

In the 30-second clip, ed by @oh_so_curious_george (who describes herself as “Single dog mom of a rescue named George” in her bio), a woman is seen working remotely from home, having a Zoom meeting from the comfort of her sofa. At the same time, her dog, George, clamors for her attention with what appears to be a small stick in his mouth, causing her to laugh uncontrollably while undeniably being inconvenienced by the pooch. The on-screen text reads, “When you’re in the middle of a Zoom meeting and your dog interrupts to discuss his top priorities,” and the video’s description says, “Top priority is more bones and less personal space.”

The adorable video has garnered quite a reaction from the TikTok community.

How did TikTok react?

While several people acknowledged that the dog was inconveniently interrupting the woman, even those people had to it it was a good interruption. Such comments included, “Perfectly acceptable interruption. Unless he clicks the button that turns the camera on,” “best interruption in a long time,” “we encourage pet interruptions on our Teams meetings since they are the REAL star employees,” and “My rule is that if a dog is bothering a team member on a meeting, the meeting is paused to ire the puppy appropriately.”

Some people suggested some things the pup might be saying if he could talk, writing things like, “please do the needful and play with me,” “this could be an email come play,” “mom make sure they know what’s on my Santa Paws Christmas list … THEY NEED TO KNOW!” and “Mother, I have an urgent matter that warrants discussion post haste!”

Others told of their own similar experiences with dogs while working at home, telling stories like, “Listen my dog did this once but he got mad and smacked the keyboard and somehow unmuted himself so the whole meeting heard his complaints,” “My dachshunds always crying or shredding something when I’m on the phone. I don’t get the distress,” “My dog always gets jealous on zoom calls and wants to be apart of the conversation,” “Mine heard “let’s go” on a Teams call once, immediately got hyped and body slammed me excited for his walk,” and “I work making calls from home and my script has come to naturally include, “–and sorry for the barking dog.” XD”

Most s simply found the whole thing lovely, writing things like, “SO funny and endearing,” “Soo sweet,” “So adorable,” and “He is so Precious.”

However, the best comment came from a who played on the fact that the dog was holding a stick, writing, “The branch manager is asking for your input!”

According to data collected by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics in 2024, 35 percent of employed people did some or all of their work at home on days they worked in 2023. Combine that statistic with the American Veterinary Medical Association’s data, which says 45.5% of American households have dogs in them, and that’s a lot of potential for pooches to cause mayhem on work calls!