Borrow my doggy - any experience?

[taptonaria27]

We have a pup and will need holiday and day care from time to time, has anyone used this service? It sounds like a good idea but I'm a little scared of him getting someone inexperienced or them refusing to give him back

I am a borrower. It took a while to find a match but as long as you take It slowly and get to know eachother it might work for you.
I am experienced and I know that the dogs I borrow are not mine and it would not occur to me to keep one!!!
To be honest though when we do get a dog of our own I don't know if I would trust a total stranger with my dog.

Hi Tap. I have a 6 month old pup with separation anxiety, so joined BMD in the hope of finding someone who could puppysit him, while I go Christmas shopping or whatever. I can honestly say that it was a great move on my part! I got a lovely medical student who loves looking after him, and it gives me some free time. Pup is fairly low energy and sleeps lots, so she gets a nice warm and quiet home (after all, we're all out when she's round) to sit and study in ... not to mention a cuppa and good biscuits! Tonight I gave her some dinner before she left and paid her fare home. I think as long as both sides are respectful of each other, and it remains mutually beneficial, then it can work very successfully. I think I got pretty lucky, but there have also been other 'interested' parties where it came to absolutely nothing (people expressing an initial interest, but not messaging back etc). So you may have a few time wasters before finding the real deal. Good luck!

It sounds like a nice idea but there's no way I'd let enthusiastic but inexperienced people take my dog out without me. When I need care for him I pay my highly experienced and utterly brilliant dog walker. He's trained in canine first aid and is insured so I'm confident he'd be fine in the event of an emergency

But not it's a completely different thing to a professional dog walker and not everyone can afford one either. A dog walker is (hopefully) a professional who does it as a job whereas the dogs we look after are part of our family and we care for them as such, we do it from a love of dogs not for money
One of the dogs I borrows owner had a relationship break up for example and without our help she would have had to rehome or give up her job.
Plus I am most certainly not inexperienced, having owned dogs for 20 years.
I know not everyone is comfortable doing it and that's fine but the dogs we care for are better looked after and loved more than they would be being taken out for a couple of hours by a dog walker.
Anyone not happy to do it doesn't have to but it can work very well in many cases.

I can see both sides. Agree completely that it's more about the love than the money. And it depends on the dog that you have; mine is a daft wee thing who's happy to be with anyone, and has no behavioural issues when out on walks. My mum on the other hand would never consider a BMD borrower for her rescue Staffie, as she's harder work and needs an experienced hand.
Horses for courses, and all that!

I'm sure there are many instances in which it works really well and that not everyone who borrows is inexperienced, but the question of who would be responsible if something went wrong would worry me

All Borrowers are insured as part of their registration .
Sorry if it sounds as if I work for them or something ( I dont)

I've just registered as a borrower as there is a massive void in my life after losing our Springer Spaniel to a liver tumour.

I can't believe how many registered dogs there are within a quarter of a mile of my house. My life is going to feel so empty until we get a new dog and filling the void by walking someone else's dog will be a very welcome distraction.

Midlifecrisis007 Have you considered volunteering as a dog walker for the Cinnamon Trust? There will probably be dogs near you who need walks as their owners are elderly or unwell. It is a really great charity to volunteer for, I do dog walking and have a long term foster dog from them.

So sorry to hear about your dog. My old lurcher was PTS at the end of October with a liver tumour.

I've never heard of the Cinnamon Trust but will investigate. Thank you.

here

The map doesn't suggest much demand "in my back yard" of SW18.

I think those are the most urgent. I had a call about a dog needing walking last week and he isn't on there.

I dog walk for the Cinnamon Trust and love it. I have two dogs of my own as well and they're great friends with my CT dog. I would definitely recommend joining - it helps so many people to keep their dogs with them

I have to admit I'd never be able to entrust my dog to a stranger. It'd be like handing over one of my children!

Well I contacted a couple of dog owners from Borrow My Doggy 2days ago explaining that I live around the corner from them, have just lost my old dog to a liver tumour and that I'm desperate for an excuse to walk a dog again and haven't heard back from either. They obviously think I'm a potential dognapper!

It's torturing me finding poo sacs in all my clothes and not being able to use them....

i find it a bit odd. id rather pay a professional, registered dog sitter.

Could work for people - borrow my baby/husband/grandmother

Another plug for the Cinnamon Trust. They definitely don't have all their cases on the map and new requests for help come in all the time.
I walk a lovely old boy doggy three times a week. He is soooooooo happy to see me and his owner's life is made so much better by being able to keep him close.

I've downloaded the volunteer form for the Cinnamon Trust. Makes me chuckle that you need more references than for a passport application!

Suspect references is more to protect people whose homes you go to as most will be vulnerable people

Good point ChairRider4.

MidlifeCrisis007 brilliant! Hope you go for it. When you are accepted they will send you a pack with some posters to put up locally, vets, community centres, church halls etc so you can generate your own 'clients' by spreading the word.