Is dog sharing for me and my family?

[sweetmelody]

Can anyone share any experience they’ve had of sharing a dog? Link to any threads? I couldn’t find any.

My daughter would like a dog. We’ve always maintained that full time dog ownership is not for us. We currently look after our neighbours’ Schnauser when they are away/go on holiday and we love having her but have never explored anything more.

A different neighbour popped up on the what’s app group today asking if anyone might be interested in their puppy. They are hoping for a local home as their kids want to see the dog regularly and would offer to look after him/walk him.

i DMd them asking why they no longer want the dog and they said both parents work, children not home from school until after 6 and they feel the dog isnt getting the level of attention it deserves.

So I asked if they’d consider a dog sharing arrangement. They said they might be interested and would have a think about how the mechanics could work. But I need to do my own research as, truth be told, I have no idea about what could work and what we should avoid. Two questions I already have is how could the money work (as they already own the dog), and would it be difficult for the dog having two homes? It’s a 10 week old cockapoo.

That’s actually quite a sad situation. They must have known that they wouldn’t be home when they got the puppy.
A responsible breeder wouldn’t have let a puppy go to such a home. The best breeders usually get you to sign that the puppy will be returned if it doesn’t work out. It can have only been with them 2 weeks.
At that age it needs feeding 4 times a day, socialising, play and lots of rest. It will be forming attachments, settling and learning some basic commands.
I’d certainly not go ahead with a puppy share in this situation. The money would be the least of your problems. It’s really not fair on the dog.
I could see a type of share working maybe with an older or disabled person who has a mature dog but can no longer exercise it as it needs. A family could walk the dog evenings, weekends etc and offer play and stimulation.
I hope you find a solution that works for you but please avoid this situation.

They sound utterly irresponsible and would be terrible co-owners. The puppy needs a better home than the one it has but only with a family who can make a proper commitment to it.

Who would be financially responsible for pet insurance end costs of any treatments not covered?
Who would make decisions on what level of medical care to go for, if the dog was very ill or injured and one family wanted to put to sleep it the other family wanted to spend £5000 on significant medical care who would make the decision?
What if one family decided to move at some point in the next 15 years, who keeps the dog?

i don’t think it’s. Choice id go for, i think there are too many opportunities for it to break down.

What utter pieces of work. Tell them to re-home the dog properly back to the breeder (although a good breeder wouldn't have touched such people with a ten foot pole). Their kids feelings don't come above the rights of the dog to have a nice, loving and competent home.

If they give the dog up. They give it up. They don't get to be a part time dog owner because it's convenient.

Side-note: I am SO sick of parents putting their sodding children's wants over animals physical and emotional wellbeing.

Thank you - this is helpful advice

Tell them to re-home the dog properly back to the breeder (although a good breeder wouldn't have touched such people with a ten foot pole).

No. Sounds like Gumtree or Pets 4 Homes. Poor puppy.

It was my suggestion, not their’s, and I’m educating myself about whether it could work. They know rehoming back to the breeder is an option available to them.

I wouldn't touch this with a bargepole (I understand wanting a dog, I wanted one for years before the time was right). There's so many things that could go wrong that PP have mentioned (money, insurance, health decisions, moving, training, consistency...). Your neighbours seem to have acted impulsively getting the pup and didn't think through how it'd work with their lifes/work. I don't think that bodes well in terms of training, socialisation etc. I also think there's a fair chance the kids will get bored and stop coming round to walk it and it'll become your dog full time but with all the difficulties of shared ownership. But importantly I don't think it's good for the dog especially a pup. Your neighbours need to give it back to the breeder (if it's a responsible one) or rehome it via a reputable charity.

Hmm, the concept of a dog share - especially with a very young puppy - sounds like a logistical nightmare. Dogs need stability, routine and the opportunity to form attachments to their family. I can sort of understand a situation where one family agrees to look after the dog if the other goes away/do a bit of dog sitting and walking, but I feel that one family would need to be the owners and do the bulk of the work.

Their kids aren’t going to walk the dog, all kids say that. They just want to be able to pop in and see it when it suits them.

The most you can hope for is getting this dog, and maybe they’d look after it when you go on holiday. So don’t get the dog unless you’re prepared for it to be totally YOUR dog.

Don't do dog sharing not with the neighbourhood dog or any other dog.
Dogs are creatures of habitat, they like routine and predictably. They need to know where their home is.

If you don’t think full time ownership is for you I think the current set up you have is the best thing for everyone, no dog should have a part time family for anything other than a short amount of time and I don’t mean that in a mean way but our dog takes up as much time and attention as the kids (teens) do now as we have to figure him into long days in work/ days away and get someone to come over/ him to go into doggy daycare/ kennels. No lie ins as he has to be brought in, no early nights as he needs to pee last thing. Vets bills are low so far as is cost of food but they’ll increase

Hopefully the breeder will be able to find a better home.

Have you considered Borrow my doggy or the Cinnamon Trust?

Look at the Cinnamon Trust, Borrowmydoggy or whether fostering for a rescue would work for you. This particular case they need to re-home the puppy properly, suggest they contact Spaniel Aid or similar.

A dog-sharing arrangement like this sounds like a really bad idea. A way of shoe-horning a dog into two households neither of which has the space and time to take proper care of it.

Although some dogs thrive spending time in two closely connected households (households that are part of the same extended family and can seem like one social group as far as the dog is concerned), a more transactional set-up would risk being odd and dislocating for dogs, even if it operated without tensions, misunderstandings, unmatching expectations, etc - which seems unlikely

We seem to have reached a point where everyone feels it should be possible for them to have a dog in their life. That's not the reality. Plenty of us have lives that don't have the right space for a dog.