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From The Times
May 10, 2008

A scheme for the benefit of people rather than for pets

Caroline Bower: Analysis

My concern about this scheme is that it seems to me to have been set up for the benefit of people and not pets.

Many of the behaviour problems that I see relate to the fact that, even in one family home, dogs are being treated inconsistently by each member of the family.

This problem can only be compounded by a dog going to different people.

I don’t like the idea at all. My anxiety is that what is happening here is that pet dogs are being treated like commodities, just like renting out a car or a wedding dress, and I do not feel from what I have heard that the welfare of the dogs themselves has been thoroughly considered.

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There is also a danger of people renting a dog for the weekend not taking the same responsibility for its care and its behaviour in public as they would if it were their own dog, or if it were a dog belonging to a friend or if they were professional pet sitters.

I would like to know more about how the dogs are kept in their domestic situation. I would like to know that they have a home base with a primary carer. Dogs are like children and they need an attachment figure.

Caroline Bower is a companion animal behavioural counsellor, a partner in the Veterinary Hospital Group, Plymouth, and co-author of The Dog Owner’s Problem Solver

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