Is renting your dog out a thing now? Plus dog sharing questions...

November 3, 2018 6:36 AM

I'm not in a place to own a dog at the moment, but need that good stuff in my life so exploring the possibility of helping to walk and care for someone else's dog(s). This advert asking for £300 in return for a share of a family dog "alternate weekends and when we go on holiday" has pissed me off, but I'm unsure if I'm overreacting.

I'm going to register on borrowmydoggy.com which as far as I know has lots of people making non-financial arrangements to share dog care. To me the Gumtree advert asking outright for such a large "donation" plus such a rigid custody arrangement seems odd and entitled. Or is this a thing now? Perhaps this is standard and I just hadn't come across the practice before?

Perhaps asking for the donation weeds out the less than committed people? I know it's not exacly renting the dog out per hour, yet my first reaction was - oh my god, we'll have a doggy-version of AirBNB soon! Yuck. To me it would be like asking for money to spend time with grandma or your child.

It would be interesting to hear from folks who have dogs as to whether you'd share your dog out, or already do so, and on what basis. Or if you've been a dog carer or borrower, to find out how you've made satisfactory arrangements. Also what issues you've come up against. I'm quite interested in perhaps borrowing a dog while I get my ducks in a row for my own dog pal, so any and all advice gratefully received.

posted by doornoise to Pets & Animals (13 answers total)

I have walked friends’ dogs, and dogsat, and in contrast to this, they have generally paid me. (Initially I did it to help them out after they had a baby and they asked if I could keep walking their dog for some money.)

This ad rubs me the wrong way too, and I suspect they may feel entitled to do it this way because it’s a small, (I’m guessing) purebred dog that they probably paid a lot of money for. I think people are more likely to see small dogs as toys or accessories.
posted by needs more cowbell at 6:46 AM on November 3, 2018 [3 favorites]

I haven't heard of sharing dog care. It sounds cool!

I just wanted to say local shelters pretty much always love to have people come play with and walk their dogs, in case you think that might scratch your itch.
posted by mkuhnell at 6:47 AM on November 3, 2018 [7 favorites]

Given the large prevalence of dog theft (both for reselling and for dogfight bait), you might want to think of that £300 as a damage deposit. And the rigid custody arrangement is to avoid somebody who wants the dog 24/7 for the first month, then pops up randomly for an hour in the middle of the day every couple of weeks after that. I’m not sure how dog-sharing with a stranger would work without a rigid schedule, honestly - sounds like a recipe for arguments and resentment on both sides.

Do you know anybody with a dog who you could offer to help out with dog care? Friends, neighbours? That sounds like a more flexible option for occasional walks and dog sitting, if you don’t want to be tied to a set schedule.
posted by tinkletown at 6:49 AM on November 3, 2018 [2 favorites]

It’s their dog and they’re literally entitled to set the terms of this odd arrangement however they see fit. I too would love a dog but don’t have the lifestyle for it but paying to share someone else’s dog isn’t something I’d ever want to get involved in. Getting paid or volunteering is a more straightforward relationship.
posted by bleep at 7:06 AM on November 3, 2018

This is super weird. Dogs are family members. Would you rent out your kid to someone who is giving you money to spend the weekend with them?! Absolutely not. So who would rent out their dog? A monster.

Pet sitting is a thing, but YOU get paid. Because it's a job.

Foster a dog through a local shelter. Watch your friend's dogs. Do not pay a puppy pimp.
posted by KMoney at 7:12 AM on November 3, 2018 [5 favorites]

If they’re paying all the vet bills and maybe even other expenses, then £300 doesn’t really sound like a bad deal to me.
posted by amro at 7:14 AM on November 3, 2018

Also, I don’t think it’s so weird. I’m assuming they go away every other weekend, though, and that this arrangement is an alternative to paying a pet sitter.
posted by amro at 7:15 AM on November 3, 2018

To me this is an unusual enough set of expectations that I’d worry the family would be difficult to work with in other ways.
posted by eirias at 7:16 AM on November 3, 2018 [11 favorites]

It's not weird to pay a dog-sitter for the same reason that it's not weird to pay a baby-sitter - because caring for pets, like caring for children, who are not your own, is a job. Sitters may become fond of their charges, and payment for this job can take non-financial forms, but they are still providing a service, as a job.

That exchange of payment does not make them a member of the family, however. And usually it's the parent or the dog owner paying the sitter, rather than the other way around.

That may be why it feels weird to you - usually it's the dog owner paying the sitter, and not the sitter paying the dog owner. This person sounds like they're trying to set up some kind of joint-ownership thing, but that's a whole other legal ball of wax - consider, when a couple divorces and they agree to joint custody of the kids, there is a whole team of lawyers on hand to work out exactly how the logistics would be of that arrangement. You don't just have the parents say "okay, I put up this much money and you put up that much, this makes us co-parents, it's a done deal!" That's effectively what this person is trying to do, so yeah, it's weird.

Fortunately I think most people will also think it feels weird and avoid that ad.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 7:23 AM on November 3, 2018 [1 favorite]

I hate to be judgemental but I suspect these owners are the type of people who think any professional fees are ripoffs and would like someone to style their hair for the joy of it, alter their clothes for free, get free legal advice or trade yard work for a box of store bought cookies etc. It raises my hackles for sure.
posted by RichardHenryYarbo at 7:31 AM on November 3, 2018

This isn’t renting. It’s a one-time fee to weed out people who aren’t really interested. Not the way I would go about it, but it’s not “pimping out their dog,” either.
posted by roger ackroyd at 7:31 AM on November 3, 2018 [1 favorite]

I can see the appeal of this. A lot of people aren't able to get a dog through rescues (anyone with a youngish child, for starters) but don't want to spend thousands on a purebred dog. Or they rent, or work long hours in the week but could devote their weekend.

One thing you could look into is dog fostering. My SIL does this, usually for about two or three weeks at a time whilst they get ready to transition the dog to a family. Seems to work very well as long as you don't get too attached!
posted by threetwentytwo at 7:32 AM on November 3, 2018

A lot of people aren't able to get a dog through rescues (anyone with a youngish child, for starters)

What? We rescued two beagles with two kids under 5 in the house.

Volunteer at a shelter if you need to scratch the dog time itch and can't take on full time care. Shelters always need the help, and those dogs probably need your love more anyway.
posted by COD at 7:53 AM on November 3, 2018