Pets for Rent??!!!!

MsFifers

:mad: Just been browsing to avoid work this a.m. and came across this story in the Guardian website:
http://lifeandhealth.guardian.co.uk/consumer/story/0,,2152375,00.html

This October, an American firm called Flexpetz will open a branch in London. It will enable customers to spend just a few hours or a few days with one of Flexpetz's dogs, all of whom, says the website, are very lovable and fully trained. After you've spent Christmas nuzzling, chasing, making home movies of and surreptitiously feeding turkey under the table to the dog (its eyes filled with glowing, if temporary, adoration), someone from Flexpetz will even pick it up from your home or office. There may be some tears on parting, but you would get over the loss. Perhaps by hiring a different dog the following day.

Am I alone in thinking that this is a horrible idea?!

If you aren't in a position to look after a pet, then you should just accept this and this responsibility-free version is just nasty!

alexdenby6

commercialism

peasant

Couldn't be legal, could it?

If it was, it shouldn't be.

jameshayes

Old person to be left alone for a few weeks because family are unavailable,
sick person in need of some care for a few weeks,
someone on a short term work assignment in Ireland who doesn't have time...


I think it's a good idea...

peasant

And what exactly would a person that is sick/unavailable/doesn't have time want with a rented pet?

And what would said pet make of the sick/unavailable/timeless "carer"?

MsFifers

I know it would suit a lot of people - but its not the people side of things I was thinking about. Do you not think it would be really distressing for the dogs? They move from home to home, and just when they are becoming familiar with the place and beginning to get attached to the person, they are whisked off somewhere else. I think it would cause behavioural problems in the dogs at the very least.

Isn't it canine nature to form long-lasting and secure bonds with their packs/families/owners?

I'm sure most of the people availing of the service would care about the dogs in their own way - but it just seems a bit selfish and irresponsible to me.

Leeby

Doesn't sound too nice for the pet though does it? Spending time with a new owner, bonding, feeling loved, and then being taken away from them only to be rented again and feeling the same all over again? Sounds a bit cruel to me, sure the poor pet would be wrecked.

If you need some company for a while but can't keep a pet in the long term could you not just foster a homeless one while it's waiting to be rehomed.

peasant

The dogs would be social cripples after 3-4 rentals and useless to dangerous after a few more.

They will know no rules (as they change with every rental) and so they will make up their own, becoming unmanageable even by experienced people, never mind clueless renters.

This is the most stupid idea ever.

Ruu_Old

peasant wrote:

The dogs would be social cripples after 3-4 rentals and useless to dangerous after a few more.

They will know no rules (as they change with every rental) and so they will make up their own, becoming unmanageable even by experienced people, never mind clueless renters.

This is the most stupid idea ever.

Agreed, terrible idea.

comongethappy

It can't be good on the dogs - being shifted from one home to another. It doesn't work out very well for most foster children when they are moved several times! I could understand if a dog is trained to work with nursing homes, etc... but leaving a dog in a strange home for a few days/weeks, only to move it when it beings to feel comfortable? Not a very good idea.

jameshayes

Personally i think it is a good idea, and I am a very keen lover of animals, i have adopted and cared for dogs all my life and I dont see it being a problem for them behaviourally.

Attol

I think this is a horrific idea. A pet is a long term commitment. Abandoning it after a few cute photos or whatever is just plain wrong. I can't believe that this could be allowed.

peasant

jameshayes wrote:

Personally i think it is a good idea, and I am a very keen lover of animals, i have adopted and cared for dogs all my life and I dont see it being a problem for them behaviourally.

"Love" makes you blind.

It's exactly that kind of "love" that's going to affect the dogs negatively.

Assuming for a moment that only animal "lovers" rent a dog for a few hours or a few days (and not anyone who just wants something they can shout orders at or kick around for a while) ..what are these people going to do with the dog in the short period?

Exactly ..shower it with "Luuuurve"

Spoil it rotten ...feed it all sorts of shyte ...endulge in its every whim and behaviour ...admire the cuuuutsey woootsey lickle doggy woggy and its comical antics ...

Nobody's going top be strict with it or show it its boundaries ...after all you paid good money to feel the Luuurve and have some FUN!


What is that dog going to be like after several rentals?
It'll be wound up to the nines, it's going to think that it's top of the heap, that it can do nothing wrong and that people are just there to entertain, admire and cater for it.

In short ...it will be unmanageable ...and with the wrong kind of dog even dangerous. When the Luuurve isn't forthcoming the way it is accustomed to, it'll just help itself ...to the food on your table ...the toy in your Babie's hand ...to the biccie in your mouth :eek:

Where will that dog end?

In doggy heaven before you know it ...only to be replaced with the next rental object.

Do me a favour and keep your "animal loving" to yourself, will you.


EDITED to add:

It's one thing if you spoil your own dog with too much "Luuuurve" ...at least you will be there to see the consequences and sooner or later you will have to draw a line in the sand and start saying "NO!"

But in a rental situation nobody would be doing that ...or if they tried, the dog would probably take offence, having been spoiled previously

jameshayes

So do you all disagree with therapy dogs? Dogs that spend 5 hours a day with one person and the rest of the day with another? A dog that see's as many of it's careers dieing as it does years of it's life?

That cant be easy for a dog - loving someone and then them passing away - then been asked to love someone else??

(i'm not saying that all people therapy dogs companion die, but many do because of old age)

The purpose of the dog is to prolong life and keep it's patient happy - does the dog know it's prolonging life?

If a dog is like a human in regards to feelings which i think they are - will it not be thinking 'sh!t, my owners keep dying / giving me back' 'what am i doing wrong'

peasant

jameshayes wrote:

So do you all disagree with therapy dogs? Dogs that spend 5 hours a day with one person and the rest of the day with another? A dog that see's as many of it's careers dieing as it does years of it's life?

Emmm ...therapy dogs aren't just handed out to sick people like medicine (and then passed on to the next patient).

They VISIT sick people, accompanied by their owner/handler and at the end of their "working day" they go home to their normal home environement.

lightening

Maybe the dog comes with rules. Don't know how it would be managable though with kids and the like. What if you get some dope who just spoils it, lets it jump up on people and stuff... And then you get an ex army seargant who wants a really really disciplined dog. Wouldn't really be fair on the dog.

One of my dog needs constant training and rewarding. When my friends mind him when I'm away, there is a bit of retraining needed, not much, but its a bit more stress on the dog.