​Around the Capital Region, dogs and cats who hang out in their owners’ shops and businesses are brightening the days of customers with a lick or a purr.

In November, William, the cat at the Shaker Heritage Society, had a post on his Twitter feed that summed up the raison d'être of all these pets at places of work: Using the hashtag #PetsAtWork, he wrote, “Because I am an adorable stress reducer. And better than a blanket.”

Here are a few of the friendly animals that can be seen — and petted — at area businesses:

— Patches at Mach’s Treasures, 1274 Central Ave., Albany: When you tell Patches to sit, she does you one better and leans back on her haunches and raises her front legs. It’s a pose she can hold for some time, particularly if she is hoping for a treat.

She is part Jack Russell terrier and part miniature Italian greyhound. She is with Nancy Mach, who owns Mach’s Treasures, “all the time,” at work and at home. At the antiques shop, Patches has a small bed behind the counter, and comes out to greet each new customer.

The little dog had been left behind in an empty apartment, says Mach. Her son found out about the dog and brought her to his parents, who not long before had lost the cocker spaniel they had owned for many years.

“There are people who come in just to see her,” said Mach. “They bring her toys. I even have one customer who makes her homemade dog biscuits”;

— Annabelle at Capital Psychology, 3761 Carman Road, Guilderland:  Counseling psychologist Debra E. Felsman, who works at Capital Psychology, rescued Annabelle, a chihuahua-dachshund mix, when the dog was only about a year old.

“I worked at a different office then,” she said, “and I just couldn’t bear to leave her at home.

“So I started bringing her to work, and she’s been coming with me ever since.” That was 12 years ago. 

When she adopted a second dog, poodle-mix Lulu, from the Mohawk Hudson Humane Society, she started bringing her to work as well.

The outgoing Lulu soon became “the welcoming committee,” Felsman said.

Lulu, who is now about 10, is not a certified therapy dog, “but she is therapeutic,” Felsman said. “It’s her personality. She sits on the couch with my clients, and they pet her, and she snuggles or just sits or whatever.”

Once in a blue moon, Felsman has a client who does not like dogs, but it has happened only a few times over the years. Most people absolutely love it, she says; they find it to be comforting. 

Lulu is “kind of homely,” her owner says matter-of-factly, “but she is the sweetest dog ever”;

— William at the Shaker Heritage Society, 25 Meeting House Road, Albany: William is “sort of the community cat,” said Shaker Heritage Society gift-shop manager, Pat Williams.

He is an indoor-only cat. A sign on the front door of the meeting house reads, “Please do not let the cat out. Thank you.”

William has the run of the building except during the three busy craft fairs held each year. “We’re afraid he will get out. We don’t want to chance that,” Williams said.

During those times, William is confined to the office, but he is with the staff all day and also gets a number of visitors who ask specifically to see him.

William was adopted “many years ago” from the Mohawk Hudson Humane Society and is estimated to be about 17. “He was one of the largest cats they had,” said Williams. “He looked like a lion, and he was so big, he was just a very striking cat at the time.”

Nowadays William “is like a senior staffer. He can be a little bossy,” according to Williams. He wants affection when he wants it, and so has been known, in his determination to reach someone’s hand, to step on a computer keyboard and accidentally send an email mid-sentence, or hit the key that opens the cash register drawer.

He gets his own mail, Williams says.           

And William’s own Twitter feed, @WilliamtheCat2, has 134 followers;

— Ginger at The Cottage Herb Farm, 311 State Street, Albany: The gift shop has been in business in this location since 1942, and there has always been a dog on the premises. The current canine is golden retriever Ginger, 8.

When little children come in, says shop owner and dog owner Daryl King, Ginger will get down low to the ground, to make herself smaller. “She has an innate sense that she has to make her 90 pounds shrink a little bit. Goldens are very intuitive,” said King, whose grandmother established the store and who represents the third generation of its women owners. 

Ginger is a “day working dog” and then heads home with King at night.

The dog is a “member of the family,” and King wouldn’t want to leave her alone all day, she said. King also said, “She’s just a natural part of life”;

—  Olivia, Riley, and Piper at Joyelles Jewelers, 318 Delaware Ave., Delmar: Joyelles Jewelers has three dogs that come to the store each day with their owner, shop owner Mary Vail.

Olivia, Riley, and Piper are all small female dogs. They range in age from younger than 1 to 10.

They keep everybody happy, Vail said. Customers like to play with them while waiting for something to be wrapped, and the dogs keep kids occupied while their parents look around.

Do they ever have any customers who are afraid?

Once in a while, they do, she said, and then she confines the dogs to the back room.

Vail herself is allergic to dogs, “but I don’t care. I only just found out recently. I’m also allergic to cats, and I still have a cat.”            

She will soon begin getting shots, which she says is “better than giving up my dogs.”

After all, she says, it’s not forever.

How often does she need to get the shots? “Once a week, for a few years”; and

— Pete at Altamont Country Values, 106 Prospect Terrace, Altamont: Pete is an indoor-outdoor cat that lives at and around this Agway store 24/7. Pete is “10-ish” now, and, as he has gotten older, he tends to stay closer to the property, says owner Dan Dymes.

He first showed up nine years ago, says Dymes, who believes Pete was someone’s pet. The cat, then about a year old, was “already housebroken, friendly, the whole nine yards.”

What made Dymes decide to take him in?

“I didn’t. He decided to stay.” Pete “has more control around here than I do,” he said. “He’s in charge at all times.”

Staff and customers alike love him, Dymes said. There are some who come in just to see him.

Are there any who are allergic?

“You mean besides me?” Dymes says.

Pete’s owner has been “wicked allergic” to cats his whole life.