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.

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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