I have always had a dog.  I grew up with dogs and as an adult I now own a dog.  It is my  love of dogs that made me want to be a veterinarian. 

A lot of other people love dogs too, and many studies have shown that pets can help people relax and provide them with other health benefits.  In fact my own dog used to participate in a program to visit residents in nursing homes for exactly that reason.  Many dogs seem to love helping too.  However, the dog is accompanied by his owner during each visit, and at the end of the visit the dog and the owner return home.  

What if you wanted a visit from a dog in your regular everyday life?  In Boston, discussions were held today to decide whether or not to allow a dog rental company called FlexPetz to operate there.  According to their website, FlexPetz is available in NYC, Los Angeles and London.  I did a double take on that one too.  What exactly is a dog rental company?  Like the name sounds, paying customers can rent a dog for a specified length of time.  At the end of the time period, the dog is returned.  Not surprisingly, people have a lot to say about it. 

The Boston Globe writes, "FlexPetz, a California-based company, will open a Boston branch of its dog rental service this spring with a fleet of 10 dogs available for romps on the Common or weekend sleepovers. The company bills itself as an 'unique alternative to full-time pet ownership' that will even drop off a dog when you're ready for it and pick it up when you've had enough. It is drawing howls of condemnation from local animal rights groups and animal behaviorists."  

Dogs, cats etc., writes"As you will recall, Flexpetz is the company that acts as a pimp for the dogless. The owner of the monumentally bad idea rents dogs to people for a day or a weekend or whatever.

"These poor animals — the dogs, not the humans — are taken by people who are given a minimal amount of training and pay a lot of money for the privilege of being allowed to think they are — for the moment — dog owners."

The Boston Globe also asks, "'Why would you need to rent a dog when you could walk a dog in a shelter in your community?' said Gary Patronek, director of animal welfare and protection at the Animal Rescue League of Boston, where dogs that go out on walks with volunteers wear red vests that read, 'Available for adoption.'"  

Not everyone is so critical.  Hub Politics offers a different view, "Let’s face it, in this day and age, paying someone else to take care of your child is routine. If these pet rental agencies are regulated in some fashion, who’s getting hurt here? Sure, there may be guys who want to rent a dog with the hopes of picking up women, but as long as the animal is cared for, where is the harm? As one of the Boston pet owners in the article said,  some dogs may require a 'routine' that only a permanent home can provide. If this is true for animals, how come we think nothing of dropping off our (human) children during their most impressionable years to spend hours at a day care facility with someone who doesn’t them? Or how about shared custody situations with divorced parents and their children? That’s not really a permanent home. We know that has an effect on children, but we think nothing of it. And the big worry here is that a few dogs may get a little confused?"

While I think there are some good arguments for why this is a good service, I have to say that I'm not a huge fan of this idea because I view pets as part of a family.  I know not everyone agrees with that.  I also that for any truly wonderful relationship to grow, there needs to be trust and all parties need to take care of each other.  I am sure that there are dogs in this company that get better care than some dogs that people own.  Some may get more attention than some pet owners provide.

Again from The Boston Globe, "FlexPetz's president and CEO, Marlena Cervantes, said the dogs often come from shelters and are specially selected for temperaments that can withstand the weekly uprooting. She said they are not without structure and routine in their lives; when they are not rented out to customers, the animals live in dog day-care facilities where they roam free and enjoy pack camaraderie. She said the dogs may wish they were in more permanent situations but that compared with the shelters where many of them came from, they are better off." 

To me though having a pet is about being in it for the long haul.   If it is about the love and affection for an animal, I also agree that people can spend time walking a dog in an animal shelter.  Pet sitting offers another option.  Instead of paying to rent a dog, the owner would be paying you.  However, I am also disturbed that this could lead to a slippery slope.  As commenter V on Hub Politics wrote, "It’s a get rich quick scheme. Next thing you know, they will be starting the 'rent-a-kid' franchise in a yuppie neighborhood near you.

"Now back to the state house where nothing is going on but giving illegal aliens free in state tuition……."

Alex Elliots also blogs at Formula Fed and Flexible Parenting