Rent Dog for the Weekend? Outrageous!

 i disagree- i think it's a good idea IF they are being taken from shelters. if a family will take these dogs out for exercise, socialise them with a variety of different families, and who knows maybe the family will fall in love with them and want to keep them!

or, maybe a family's not sure if a dog is right for them... and that was the only thing stopping them from adopting one of their own. why not rent one, to see how it goes and then start searching the shelters? 

as long as the dogs are not being mistreated, how could this be bad?  

JRTZoe I have the same feelings as you. I think this "trying out a dog" could be very advantageous to families who are not sure if they want a dog yet - much better than them going ahead and getting one and then only later realizing a dog isn't for them., putting the poor thing back in a shelter or just plain neglected. Plus, the shelter dogs get exercise and socialization.

 However I think the issue here is that people are making money off of this. If the money, or at least part of it, was going back to the shelters, then sure, great! But I don't like the fact that the money is just lining businessmen's pockets, you know?

I think that this has a potential for disaster.  It's one thing for a shelter dog to be cared for by knowledgeable people or rescue personnel, but to just rent a dog out to anyone with a Visa card is irresponsible and not in dogs' best interests, and just feeds the insatiable "instant gratification" desires of the inept masses.  The only ones being served by this business model aren't only the undecided, they might also be the people with the three toddlers who will terrorize Fido, or the ones with a dog at home already who will attack Fido.  Can you imagine any more scary scenarios?  Maybe the really stable dogs that get nice people would like it, but some dogs will be traumatized by the pillar to post routine.  On balance, I think this sucks.

I can see where this thing can go wrong....just watching my dogs.....they do best when all is good, a stable routine and a stable home environment.....even just strange visitors can get them to act nervous.....I could not imagine that placing a dog with different people, and some perhaps with no experience, will do good for the animal.....and to make money off the deal is sickening.....