Whether it’s pedigree pups or mangy mutts, decorators’ dogs are valued members of staff at embroidery and print shops from Barking to Furness. Meet Roo, Tilly and Bruce from RA Vinyl Designs in Whitby, North Yorkshire!
Full names: Roo, Tilly and Bruce
Breeds: Tri-coloured border collie, working cocker spaniel and tri-coloured, blue merle border collie.
Ages: 4 years old, 3 years old and five months.
Time at company: Roo and Tilly have been there since RA Vinyl Designs began in 2020. Bruce has been there since birth.
Job titles: Roo is top dog and referee, Tilly is office princess and Bruce is chief mischief maker.
Job descriptions: Roo is in charge of keeping an eye out for any deliveries and visitors. She also referees playtime between Tilly and Bruce. Tilly firmly believes that she is more entitled than the other dogs at the business. Her favourite sleeping place is at owner Rach Hodgson’s feet, under her desk or on her knee. Bruce’s job is to destroy everything he can get his teeth on. It is a fantastic way of checking products’ durability (note: no customer orders are checked in this manner).
Special skills: Roo loves talking to people on video calls, and showing her interest by a tilt of her head when people talk to her. Tilly has the puppy-dog eye look perfected, and Bruce’s skill is responding to hand signals. Sadly, Bruce was born deaf and so he is having to be trained through visual aids rather than voice commands.
![[L-R] Puppy Bruce, mum Roo and Tilly, all reporting for duty](https://www.images-magazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/image0-7123_amd.jpg)
[L-R] Puppy Bruce, mum Roo and Tilly, all reporting for duty
Favourite colours: For Roo, it’s red (Pantone 032C) as its the colour of her favourite ball. Tilly’s is grey (Pantone 17-5104 TCX) as it’s the colour of her favourite toy, her badger. Bruce’s fave is blue/cyan (Pantone 16-4529 TPX) as it’s the colour of his collar, which means it’s time for walks!
