"You can literally feel it when you walk into a great start-up culture. The room has energy. There’s a buzz. Doors are open. Whiteboards are filled with hieroglyphics. People are getting stuff done. Meetings are short and to the point. You might trip over a dog."
This is quite possibly the best possible description of a good startup.
It's not unheard of ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dogs_in_warfare ), after all, people routinely take their best friend into war.. so taking "man's best friend" makes plenty of sense.
That said, my office is in a no-pets building, and I'm happy for it. It makes it a non-issue.
Your war analogy reminds me of a comment a startup CEO once made to me: "A startup is a war. I am at war, and if one of my men can't keep up I will shoot him."
I had great success generating extra interest in an open position for a senior software / CTO position by advertising that we had a "dog friendly" workplace, and that I, the CEO, would be delighted to walk the dog during the day.
This is quite possibly the best possible description of a good startup.