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FlexPetz - Rent-A-Dog

Saturday, December 01, 2007

Walking a dogThe Telegraph Newspaper publishes a report about a company in the United States called "Flexpetz", a "rent-a-dog" company seeing its success building upward.

The convenience of Flexpetz is that at the end of day, they'll come to your house and pick up the pet, rather than you having to return it.

The article goes on to explore the opposing opinion pet sharing, suggesting that it's horrible for the dog...
But Paula Greaves, founder of the animal helpline Pet Search UK, gets hot under the collar at the whole idea of dog sharing. 'Sharing a pet is a terrible idea,' she says. 'If you can't commit properly to a pet as part of your family, you shouldn't have one. Dogs have loyalties, feelings and pine for people. It just won't work to try and share your dog with a lady up the road.'
I think it's actually wonderful idea.

So many perfectly healthy and adoptable dogs are being killed by organizations like PETA and government run shelters, for no other reason that they don't want to commit money to keeping them alive. The "rent-a-pet" is actually a humane endeavor; dogs that would otherwise be euthanized, have a chance at life.

And in fact that's where Flexpetz gets their dogs, from shelters.

There are so many people who can't commit themselves to a dog, and this is way for unwanted dogs to be wanted. The "rent-a-dog" solution can give shelter dogs a new lease on life, give some companionship to someone, and generate some taxable commerce.

It's a win-win-win all around.

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4 Comments:

  • I agree that it is a good idea and gives the dogs a new lease on life, as long as they are still adoptable. So that perhaps after someone has "rented" the dog a few times and decides that maybe they are ready for a dog, that the dog may still be available for adoption. This especially works well for leash training dogs and getting them to be better around all kinds of people!....

    From the other point of view, I can also understand why it might be emotionally damaging for the dog to not have a perminant owner and home, but it's better than being euthanized!!!

    By Anonymous SchnauzerLover, at 12:17 PM, December 03, 2007  

  • This really is neither a new idea nor an original one. There have been companies in Japan who have offered the same service.

    Personally, I don't think it's a good idea, either.

    Yes, there are LOADS of dogs put to sleep in the US every year - nearly 4 million, to be exact. But they're not going to be saved through rent-a-dog. Maybe a handful will actually be saved by Flexpets. The others will still be PTS.

    Only those that are already highly adoptable and don't have major issues will be saved through this. I mean, who wants to rent a dog that is so shy it will cower in the corner, or so aggressive that it will bark and lunge at everyone? That's neither highly adoptable nor easily rent-able.

    The way we decrease that number is to EDUCATE people about owning dogs and breeding them, not about letting them rent a dog and then return it to the agency if there's an issue or problem.

    I think that really encourages bad ownership. Don't like the one you rented? Have problems with it? Return it to the agency and get another instead. What is that teaching people?

    AND they don't even have to be responsible for the rented dog. How convenient. No time to take off if the dog needs to go to the vet. No vet bills to pay. The agency takes care of all that.

    So you get to walk a dog for a bit, have it in your home for a bit, but in the end, you're not responsible for the dog. Heck, if the dog runs off and gets run over by a car, you'll probably not even be that upset. After all, it wasn't YOUR dog that you've loved and trained and cared for. It was a rental.

    If someone just wants to walk or play with a dog every so often, they could just as well volunteer for an elderly person on their road or in their neighborhood, taking that person's dog for walks and such.

    By Blogger Mauser*Girl, at 1:08 PM, December 03, 2007  

  • Interesting article. I would have liked to read the original at the Telegraph. I didn't manage to find it there. Can you put a link next time. It makes it easier to follow sources.

    We don't really get much of this kind of thing in Sweden but there's been quite a lot of press about renting pets in Japan over here. I guess we're old-fashioned. Personally, I don't really like the idea although I can see how humans will benefit. Why not just encourage people to take dogs from the pound for a stroll. We do that here in Stockholm although there is a fee. It helps keep the pound running.

    Jon
    www.your-dog.nu

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 6:58 AM, December 11, 2007  

  • I think it is a good idea. All a dog wants is time spent with them. These people provide a safe shelter and food and people to play with the dog.
    Some dogs love being with anyone. It's true some dogs are one person dogs. I have one and I have two cockerspaniels who would be happy with anyone.

    By Blogger KathleenGail, at 9:15 AM, December 12, 2007  

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