The Hardworking Copperlane Puppy
by Jayna Manseau—Copy Editor
Friday, June 26, 2020, will be the 22nd annual Take Your Dog to Work Day. #TYDTWDay was first celebrated in 1999. As for Charlie, this handsome “furbaby” gets to go about five days a week! Copper Lane Gifts & Interiors off the square in Dyersburg is where Charlie goes to work. Charlie “mom,” Mandy says that Charlie has daily visits from friendly work neighbors. They stop by most days to give a quick tummy rub or to give him a special treat.
Charlie is a four-year-old Goldendoodle that has made going to work even more fun! Being able to take your pet to work is a win-win for everyone. Dogs, (especially Charlie) in the workplace promote communication, make you smile more and boosts team morale. Overall it is a stress reducer. Mandy says that “nothing really phases Charlie, we have kids who lay on him!”
Mandy told us how they have their regulars and surprised shoppers that get to see Charlie. He’s grown up at Copperlane and surely has no problem making new friendships with whoever walks through the door. “For the most part, he's here about five days a week. And he's been coming since he was about three months old. We have customers that come in, just to see Charlie. We have a pet-thru at our restaurant next door and people will walk into pet Charlie and go to lunch.” Charlie has had a strong influence on the local community.
“There's been a lot more people in town getting Golden Doodles since I've been bringing him for the last couple of Christmases. I've had little girls that came in and they say they want a Charlie [for Christmas] and end up getting one and they call it their Charlie dog.” his mom says with a proud grin.
“Yeah, but now there are about three or four people in town that do Goldendoodles and Labradoodle breeding. [It’s] really popular. We sold a ton of Charlie ornaments at Christmas. A lot of those. They were just like pictures of him or like, golden doodle ornaments in his coloring.”
Charlie not only has won the hearts of those in his town but has grown an audience outside of his community as well. Mandy tells us that the story of Charlie most spread by word of mouth, and when friends of family and friends would come to visit from out of town, they absolutely had to make a pit stop to meet the one and only Charlie!
“We have people that live in town, and their relatives come in. They [the relatives] will be just shopping for whatever and they're like, “Oh yeah, Charlie's here.” And these people come in my store and they know my dog's name. They are from out of state or wherever you know. I joke that more people downtown know my dog's name than mine. Everyone's like “You're Charlie's mom!” and I am just like, “yeah!”
Charlie continues to make friends wherever he goes! He has been featured in Copperlane’s commercials and his mom has even created an Instagram page that captures Charlie’s special moments in life. His newest adventure is that he will soon be taking on the role of big brother this spring! You can follow him for more life updates on Instagram at @charlieshopdog and @copperlanegifts!