The borrowers?

Having written on what I see as the perils of the popularity of “borrowing” pets via apps and websites, I was saddened to see that, with the COVID-19 puppy boom, these are now being seen as a “normal” alternative to doggy day care.

A sad narrative of puppy farm dogs with behavioural issues and ill health already exists, but even for the healthy dogs the lifestyle change of owners returning to their “normal” work pattern is likely to cause issues.

Doggy day care, a dog walker or dog sitter is a normal way to provide care for your dog if you are out for an extended period. However, not every dog is suited to this lifestyle, and employing a responsible and knowledgeable dog carer is key.

Care(ful) considerations

You need to establish who has responsibility for your dog at all times, and ask:

• are they exercised on or off-lead?
• alone or with other dogs?
• how will they be transported to a park or exercise space?
• who provides the third party and health insurance for your pet and when does this cover them?

There’s a lot to consider, and, sadly, it often isn’t discussed until an incident/accident has happened, when it’s often too late. Some doggy borrowing places do provide health insurance, but there are a number of limits to this, so do read the small print.

A species specific issue?

Yet this situation has existed for another species for some time and I haven’t heard of any issues from my equine buddies. Yes, horses seem to be a species where long-term and short-term “borrowing” is normalised.

Is there something we could learn from this?

Insurance policies are available to reflect equine borrowing that are more similar to car insurance – where rider and/or horse can be covered – but it seems that those within the equine fraternity are often seen as more responsible, and access to stables and yards for those “borrowing” is fairly easy, although they also remain secure places.

Borrowed behaviour

What I don’t know is whether horses experience behavioural issues due to having multiple carers/riders? It seems some dogs do suffer from stress because of this very situation, so it may not be a care model to copy.

What we do know is that the COVID dog population explosion continues, and these dogs do need care – whether with their current owner or a new owner.

We need to be ready to have easy-to-access advice to share on dog care options. Perhaps it’s even worth creating a poster for the waiting room that can also be popped on your website and social media, or sent to clients in a newsletter?

Just because it works for horses doesn’t mean it will work for other species.