What do you think of a business that rents dogs for the day or weekend?
Posted by Allen and Linda Anderson at 11/11/2007 12:48 PM and is filed under Topics in the News,Observations,Articles about Animals 
We read in the newspaper this morning about a company that is doing a brisk business by renting dogs to people who don't have the time or energy for giving permanent homes to dogs. According to this article, the company is growing rapidly. They charge people $40 for a weekend visit with one of their dogs.
No mention about where the dogs come from, how the homes are evaluated to see if they are suitable, or what happens to dogs who are moved from home to home like sticks of used furniture.
Guess you can figure out our reaction to this new "business." We are working night and day on our new book about dogs for next fall's release. Consequently we are vicariously meeting warm, loving, intelligent, and amazing dogs. There is absolutely no doubt in our minds that dogs can be scarred for life when humans jerk them around and ignore their physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual needs.
In our humble opinion this new "business" is an abomination. We don't know all the details, of course. It was a short article. But on the surface it sounds like something that people with time and money and little regard for dogs would be doing.
What do you think?
I found this article to be extremely sad. I must agree with Allen and Linda. Dogs should not be tossed around from home to home. This is not a good situation at all. Would we do this to a child? Dogs are no different than a child. They need steadfast love, a structured lifestyle, a balanced diet and daily structured exercise by a one and only family or owner. To think somone is making a profit from this just makes me very disappointed and sad for those animals. This is inhumane to those animals and so is not right.
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This has got to be the most asinine thing I've heard of. Wait until they get socked with a big law suit when some poor animal bites a kid monster. Then it will be all the animals fault, not the peoples, cause after all money talks and the innocent get the blame
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I had the same thought, that it would be rather traumatic for the dogs; however, maybe we need to know more. Do they screen the dogs for those with personalities that enjoy meeting new people? Who am I kidding? You are probably right that the concern is for making money and not what is best for the dogs (or people).
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Obviously, this is another way that selfish and inhumane people are taking advantage of poor, helpless animals. They don't care about the dogs' well being and are certainly not caring pet people or they would not participate in this kind of behavior. One of the things I have learned from my own pets is that they love the security of a routine. They even make their own routines. How is this possible when they are moved around like objects?
An example of this habitual behavior is our Sadie whom we adopted 5 months ago when she was 3 months old as a companion for our Lab, KC Shadow who lost his "big brother" Beauregard in November last year. Sadie, a Mastiff/Lab mix fit right in, bonding with KC, my husband Jon and me right away.
She developed a morning ritual of sharing her am cookies with KC. Jon is an early riser and gets up with the dogs, taking them out very early. He then lets KC back into my bedroom because he likes to sleep in with me. He and Sadie stay up, watching TV news or working on the computer. He gives her cookies during this time. Though she eats some of them, she very carefully leaves seeral around on the floor and in chairs for KC when he gets up. It's so cute to watch her show him where to find the treasures. They don't fight over them, she just leads him around and watches him eat the cookies. KC is 9 and he and Sadie have become the best of friends. I can't imagine having either of these guys moved around frequently. I'm even concerned about taking one of them to the store with me and leaving the other at home with Jon.
Needless to say, I'm appalled at people who not only have no insghts into animal nature, but continue to abuse pets for their own profit and gain. This is as bad as the puppy mills which make me cry!
Keep up your good work,
Regards, VTD
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We in Galway SPCA, Galway, Ireland are totally opposed to this new fad of renting dogs. This is a terrible thing to do to any dog, and leaves the dog unsure of who its family is, who to love, who to obey, where he features in a family. This is a new form of cruelty and should be recogonised and stopped by the authorities.
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A COMPANY THAT "RENTS" DOGS PARTTIME TO BUSY PEOPLE IS ONE OF THE MOST REPREHENSIBLE WAYS THAT CERTAIN HUMANS WILL GO TO MAKE MONEY. IT IS JUST ONE MORE SYMPTOM OF A WORLD SOCIETY WHICH HAS LOST FEELING,SENTIMENT AND REVERENCE FOR LIFE, THE LIVING AND ALL MEMBERS OF THE GROUP OF SENTIENT BEINGS. MOST PEOPLE WHO HAVE PETS-IE
MOVING AN ANIMAL AROUND TO FOSTER CARE IS CONFUSING ENOUGH FOR THE ANIMAL ALBEIT NECESSARY UNTIL A PERMANENT HOME IS FOUND.USING AN ANIMAL FOR PECUNIARY GAIN WITHOUT REGARD TO THE ANIMALS EMOTIONAL CONFUSION AND HURT FEELINGS IS BEYOND COMPREHENSION.
ANIMALS HAVE SOULS AND ARE IN TOUCH WITH THEM.SOME HUMANS SEEM NOT TO CARE IF THEY ARE IN TOUCH WITH THEIR SOULS.THEY SIMPLY DON'T CARE ABOUT SOULS. FRANKLY MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THIS "COMPANY" WOULD BE IMPERATIVE TO SHUTTING THEM DOWN ONCE AND FOR ALL.
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I think on the surface it sounds bad . But I think its better then the animals sitting in cages at shelters and hopefully they would get a chance to adopt them.
Also I would much rather someone rent a dog and find out a dog isn't right for them then to get a dog and dump it in a shelter or abuse it. But they should only do this for dogs who love people and who don't get nervous about being passed around.
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In your article, you say that you have a "humble opinion" about weekend dogs. My reaction is much more than a humble opinion. I'm outraged! We live on a farm, and animals just happen to be a part of the farm. We have two dogs that are a part of our family, it makes me sick to hear of animal abuse. I feel as though there ought to be some sort of law dealing with this sort of abuse. There are laws against cruelty to animals, and I feel that the weekend dogs should be considered animal abuse. One of our dogs had been traumatized, and it took a long time to get our dog to trust us. Now she sleeps at the bottom of my bed, loves to play "ball", and knows just where to sit during meal time to get hand outs or accidental drops of food. It's hard to work with these animals, and I think that some of them might have to be humanely euthanized because they can't be rehabitalized. It is so sad that those defenseless animals often don't have anyone to speak out for them.
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Caring animals minds think alike, Linda and Allen. I covered the same topic in my blog on FloridaPets.net this past week, with equal disapproval. My thoughts can be read here:
http://floridapetsnet.blogspot.com
"Who wins and who loses with rent-a-pooch?"
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Where can I read this article?
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I have seen this article, too. I think it's horrible. While my heart sees the benefit of moving pups out of a shelter environment if even for short stints, my head knows that these poor animals can't adapt or ever feel "at home". No stability, no consistency. How can you monitor their food or their health? What if they get hurt and nobody is told? The list is endless.
I know some will think I'm stretching here, but I'm trying to illustrate a point....raise your paw if you've stated, "It's just a rental." when you spill your coffee while racing out of the Hertz lot? Or dropped a library book in a puddle before it is returned?
The point is that when we rent things, we don't treat them as our own. I know people probably wouldn't be so careless with a pet, but on the other hand, let me share this:
One of my colleagues took her precious Great Dane/Aussie mix for a groom at a national pet store chain. When she picked him up, his head was hanging and he was limping horribly and crying. Everyone shrugged their shoulders and said they didn't have a clue. "He was fine a few minutes ago."
It has been 4 months and $6000 of surgery to repair the damage to the torn ligaments on BOTH sides of this neck where the doctors believe he fell or jumped off of a grooming table. Nobody would take responsibility, let alone admit that at some point, there had been an accident. They provided no medical care, even though the vet was on the other side of the door! They just put him back in his pen and then sent him home hurt.
It's bad enough that animals are "milled" for money. We shouldn't be renting them to people who don't have the time or resources to be full-time, responsible dog parents.
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Regarding renting out dogs, although I too reacted with horror, I eventually gained sufficient control to think through Why This Business? There are many problems for dogs in shelters. Few are "no kill". Most claim high adoption rates for their "adoptable" animals, which parameters are difficult for many pets to meet, given their understandable anxiety/fear in their newfound situation. Although it's not a good business choice to rent dogs out (as it could damage them heart and soul), it might, however, lessen the high death rate of dogs in pounds. The article I read sounded like maybe 3 people at most share a dog. I'm hoping each dog has the capacity to be tolerant of being moved around. And, I'd hope all parties involved in the "share" of this wonderful dog have to go through training programs, financial and home checks, etc., as this is not the ideal lifestyle for any animal. Yet, again, it may be a vast improvement for the animal, considering other choices. I live in a city, and I go through Animal Care & Control facilities every 5 days, trying to help match up lost animals with the flyers people put up for lost pets. Few seem to get back to their home, and many are rescued by alternative rescue groups combing through this facility (thankfully!). Beautiful creatures such as cats, dogs, birds, rabbits, chickens, and rats. Yet, and esp. with dogs and cats, there still are not enough people in place to sufficiently cover all the bases for these animals. If the alternative for a dog is euthanasia over a shared home, so long as there is some type of continued monitoring in place, it seems to be a viable solution. More information is needed, though, and especially once this system is in place for a while, to see if IT passes or fails, instead of judging it now. Today's workers (at least in my home city) work such excessively long hours & travel so much, they might not otherwise ever enjoy an animal's love, without this alternative choice. (By the way, I'm not affiliated with this business or its plan of action. Just someone trying to understand why a group of people would create this business. For me, I adopt and rescue all my animals planning to love and care for them their entire lives, and even past my own life expectancy.)
I also can't help but respond to your sad story of your colleague's dog who was injured while being groomed at a national pet store chain. Myself and another animal lover were at a national pet store chain ourselves one night, getting supplies. We and several other people were rivoted to the actions of one young pet groomer we could all watch from the store side of the glass. She was mean, rough and downright abusive to the small dog she was grooming, who kept yelping. No one moved. Everyone just stared. I finally broke the chain of silence by yelling across the room to any and all employees in the store to get the manager and to DO SOMETHING! Action was taken and the dog rescued from her hands. We can stop abuse! Just act
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I read that article too, and felt terribly sad at the idea. It reminded me of people who choose their pets to complement their decor. If they change carpet colors, they change pets. The insensitivity of that kind of thinking, plus the fact that the media reports it as a cool new business, is chilling.
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Rent a Dog?? I can't even imagine the emotional issues that would come from this...I was so appalled that I did a google search and found this website.
It has 1 main article and then if you scroll to the bottom, there are quite a bit more... so many that I didn't have the heart to even read them all...
http://itotd.com/articles/377/rent-a-dog/
What is this world coming to?
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What a ridiculous idea to "rent" out animals for the weekend...stupid stupid people.
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Odd that this should come up as I am reading "Rescued - Saving Animals From Disaster". I've had the book for some time..I can only read a little at a time..it's hard for me, what they went through makes me cry. Then I read the Angel Animals email with this story mentioned, and I thought, I must say something.
My gut and instinct tell me renting animals is wrong and cruel...then I read the comments about it's better then being in a cage at a shelter..and I think maybe I don't know enough about this to be making a comment. I think we need to know the full story here.
Are the animals from a kill shelter, and is this an alternative to them being euthenized?...if so and they are being treated well..then how can I say it's bad if it's saving a life? If not and it's more of a business transaction without oversight and rules and strict screening..then of course I'm appalled. I guess what I'm feeling is...I want every animal saved, in a warm place with people who can love and care for it properly. I am vehemently against animal cruelty and believe the consequences abusers face are not nearly severe enough. My problem with this issue is - I don't know if this is a means of fostering an animal into a family on weekends until it is adopted...or passing it around to anyone for a buck. My guess based on what I see in the nature of human beings is that it probably is the latter...and if so..every life is precious...and there is no price that can be paid for love.
As for myself...my dogs both came from shelters...and they came to me forever, and forever is not nearly long enough to repay the joy and unconditional love I have received in return. There is nothing I would not do for them.
How could I do anything less then all that is possible for a soul that gives me everything and asks for nothing in return. Is that not the very living breathing definition of love? I say it is....and I see it everytime I look into my dogs eyes...and so then, how blessed am I? And how sad is it, then that so much love is out there in cages just waiting for someone... anyone... to simply look into it's eyes and bring it home forever.
Please click to help feed animals in your local shelter
http://www.theanimalrescuesite.com
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I am reserving judgement on this article because far too often the entire story is not told, sadly the sensational part of it is all we see.
I truly believe any contact with animals is important in our lives and with the cost of pet care today too many people cannot be owned by a pet; therefore, for a person who loves animals - hopefully the rental service investigates this - and for "social" amimals it could be a weekend retreat, bonding and sharing of hearts, yes, even for a weekend.
I sincerely hope Linda and Allen you will find out more about this business so that we can truly be objective. Until I know more, I agree that it sounds appalling on the surface, yet I see people holding and loving animals for an entire weekend who might not ever get that chance if it weren't for someone bringing them to them. That in itself, $40 for the price of gas and caring for animals throughout the week sounds as if a lot of profit is not the motive. I will watch and listen and learn, it is after all what our animals do for us.
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