Why the pawing arrives like clockwork
Hourly pawing is rarely random. Your dog has learned the rough interval after which pawing pays, because at some point in most hours you give in with a stroke, a few words, a treat or the break you were vaguely due anyway. Standing desks make it easier for her: your hands are at her head height, you are on your feet already, which to a dog looks halfway to going somewhere interesting, and shifting your weight and walking on a desk mat keep drawing her attention.
Put a mat where you actually want her to be
Place her bed or mat beside the desk, close enough that she is with you, which is what she wants, but positioned so she is not directly under your feet or in front of the desk where every shift of your weight lands in her space. Teach the mat as her work spot in short practice sessions away from real deadlines: reward her for settling on it while you stand, type, talk aloud as if on a call and move around the desk. Build the length gradually, paying her frequently at first with a treat placed quietly on the mat.
Break on your schedule, before she asks on hers
The strongest change comes from making breaks predictable and slightly earlier than her usual pawing. Set a rhythm that suits your work, perhaps a short garden break, a water top-up and a quick game or sniff every hour or so, and start it while she is still settled rather than waiting for the paw. She learns that breaks arrive without being requested, which removes the point of requesting them. Between breaks, let the mat be genuinely restful: avoid calling her over for a fuss every few minutes and then expecting instant stillness again, because mixed signals keep her half waiting for the next interaction instead of switching off properly.
Answer pawing without paying for it
When the paw lands anyway, respond in the dullest way that keeps everyone safe. Avoid eye contact and conversation, step back or turn slightly so the behaviour gets no audience, and wait for her to give up and return to the mat, then reward her there after a short pause so the payment clearly belongs to the mat, not the pawing. If she escalates to barking or scrabbling, she is probably telling you a break really is overdue, she needs the toilet, water or movement, so meet the need calmly and note that the gap was too long.
Shape the workday around calls and deep work
Look at your diary and place her biggest supports where you most need quiet: the long chew before a call-heavy hour, the proper walk before an afternoon of deep work, and a household member covering a break when your meetings run back to back. Practise settling through a phone ringing, a doorbell and you talking at full call volume during training, rather than discovering during a real call that your voice at that pitch winds her up.
Keep the same workday rhythm across the household
If others in the home work different days or wander through your workspace, her routine needs their cooperation: no one summons her off the mat for a game mid-morning, and anyone covering a break uses the same timing and the same mat cue. Note your break pattern, the chews that last and the times of day she finds hardest, and keep that workday plan in KinsLe with Care Teams so the household runs one rhythm and her settled hours keep getting longer.