"Rent"-a-Dog?

I think when you are looking for a shelter, you need to look for one that is not "high kill".  If a shelter has a high turnover of dogs and doesn't have much time to get to know each dog or do any training with them you just won't know what you are getting.  But often there are wonderful dogs in low-kill/no-kill shelters who are "long stay" through no fault of their own.  Sometimes they are too "boring" looking!  Or they are a little older and get overlooked in favour of the younger dogs, despite the fact that they are reasonably well behaved, steady and friendly.
 
I think it's hard for some people to visit a dog shelter because they all just seem to be pleading "take me home!"  If you are there doing some good - grooming or walking one of them it outweighs that feeling because you know you have helped them and done some good.  And as I say, some shelters are totally OK with you visiting and helping out in very small ways; you don't have to be the most mobile or active person to sit with a lonely dog on a bench and give it your time and attention and much needed love.  If your dad is too frail to manage volunteering even those small ways - or if the shelter doesn't want people to volunteer in that way - then just visiting might be more upsetting for your dad than beneficial....?
 
In which case volunteering yourself and the shelter allowing you to borrow one of the steadier dogs to visit your dad would be the ideal provided you could find one like glenda described. 

Thank you for the additional thoughtful and insightful posts.

If I could keep dogs where I live (moving is not an option), I would have adopted one a long time ago.  Like my father, I love dogs, so visiting this forum makes me "drool..."

I agree that there are liability issues (both ways) with taking out a dog.  I would think that a signed waiver is a given.  Also, if a dog were "loaned" out, the owner/handler would need to see/approve the facility and residents (and me!) before anything could even begin.

I still plan to visit a nearby animal shelter to see if they will allow my father to visit and hopefully pet a dog or two.  Tried to get there this past weekend, but the traffic was so bad, I couldn't make it in time.

Thanks again for all the input!

 

I'm very late seeing this thread, but wanted to add my thoughts.  First of all, it's so wonderful that you're looking to do something like this to help your Dad -- it will most definitely help him both physically AND mentally in huge ways.  I can't praise you enough for trying to arrange this!
 
To echo some of what has been said already, a certified therapy dog would be a great idea because they've been tested for temperament in various situations/environments, and if affiliated with an organization, they usually have liability insurance or some other kind of safeguard. 
 
I would suggest trying to find a local chapter or representative in your area from an organization called the Delta Society.  We registered our dog there several years ago after some special testing for us and for our dog.  We specifically did it in order to bring him to the sub-acute unit of the hospital where I worked at the time.  We reported to an activities director person once every two weeks, and she gave us a list of patients who'd requested dog visits.  We tried to see as many as we could in a couple hours, so the visits depended on the length of the list, how engaged each patient was, etc.
 
Having said that, if someone had found us through that activity and contacted us about doing something special outside our usual commitment at the hospital, I would definitely have tried to accommodate the request.  So, perhaps you could find a Pet Partners Team (that's the term used by Delta Society) who is living in your area and who will do something special outside theer usual visits in the local hospital or care center.  I'd suggest searching for a Delta Society contact name or number in your area, and I'd also call a few care centers or hospitals and ask to speak to someone in Social Services or some type of patient-liason department to ask if they have the name of a team who visits there.  Then you could contact that person directly.
 
I sure hope you can work this out -- I have seen with my own eyes how much comfort and joy a visit with a dog can bring to someone who is lonely and/or in pain in a hospital bed or care home.  My precious dog is in heaven now, but I can tell you that the memories of the hours we spent doing pet visitation with him are among my most cherished.  It was so heartwarming to see his big handsome face bring a smile to someone else's.  Good luck - I really wish you and your Dad all the best.

Where are you in So Cal? I'm in Los Angeles and would be glad to talk to you about my girl socializing with your dad [] PM me if you want to chat about it!

I think it's so great that you are working this out for him!

There are some good places, locally, to go on outings that will get you close to interesting/nice dogs. Sheepherding rings, pet shops and community centers that have obedience, conformation, or agility classes ... the owners of these dogs are often happy to be sicializing their dogs in a controlled fashion. Perhaps students of local therapy dog programs would welcome the opportunity. (I only know one person locally that does therapy training, ask me if you'd like an introduction, again, it's in LA)

I'd check with rescues more than shelters for other kinds of access to dogs. My experience with shelters here is that the only dog time you'll get is through bars []

Many apologies for being so, so late in replying.  Thank you for the additional input!  I did check out the Delta Society, and am keeping some information for reference.  And Ixas_girl, I am humbled by your generosity--thank you very much!  However, my father is in Ventura County, which is a little too far away.

I finally made it out to the animal shelter this past weekend to check the place out, and came away depressed.  All those dogs in those horrible metal cages, barking like mad.  I wanted to gather them up and take them all home (well, except for the pit bulls, sorry).

On the bright side however, the person at the counter did say that I could take my Dad over there, and that they do allow the dogs out to be petted.  I hope to take my Dad there this coming weekend--I'm keeping my fingers crossed that things work out well. 

Thanks again for everyone's ideas and suggestions--your help has been invaluable!  What a great forum...but then again, anybody who likes/loves dogs, has to be a great.

Our shelter has "humane education animals".  They are not shelter animals, but are animals belonging to employees and volunteers that are used for things like going to schools to teaching how to approach a dog, doing PR at special events, etc.  At my shelter, I offered a cat as a humane education animal, so if anyone calls and asks if someone could bring a well-socialized, well-behaved cat that enjoys being handled to their school/event/hospital/whateve, I would go and volunteer with the cat.  Our volunteer coordinator uses her dog, and another volunteer uses her rabbit.

If no shelters have employees or volunteers that can help you (rather than just give you a shelter dog for a day), maybe contact rescue groups and see if they have a foster family that would be interested?

On the bright side however, the person at the counter did say that I could take my Dad over there, and that they do allow the dogs out to be petted. I hope to take my Dad there this coming weekend--I'm keeping my fingers crossed that things work out well.

 
You know since your dad can get out and about with your help I believe that there are probably alot of dog shows in your area that you could take him to.  You can always take him there to visit.  I do agility and there are people there all the time just to see the dogs and there have been some groups from senior homes that come to visit.  If you are interested in this route I could direct you to some web sites that would list these events.