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'renting' Puppies For A Weekend


Danois
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A colleague (from the Northern Beaches in Sydney) was telling me that one of the pet stores up that way essentially 'rents' out puppies for a weekend - you get to take them home and do all things puppy with them and then return them at the end of the weekend!

Presumably playing on the old tug on the heart strings trick - people bonding and then not bearing to return it.

On the face of it, it seems better than leaving them in a glass cage on the weekend but it could only play havoc with them and confuse the hell out of them as no 2 families would do things like toilet training the same.

I feel for the person who ends up buying a puppy who may have gone through several weekends being rented out.

Anyone else have any thoughts on this?

Edited by Danois
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Anyone else have any thoughts on this?

Disgusting - pups could be traumatised! Not everyone is suitable for a pup, let alone to foster a confused young dog - I know pet shops are low but you think they'd at least have some duty of care to the animals to know they were safe - i'm pretty sure they're not doing background and yard checks! Mongrels. If they were staying with a carer for the weekend that'd be one thing but individual puppies being rented out? Terrible. :laugh:

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I don't believe they should go to just anyone. If it was a choice between seeing a puppy in a cage all weekend to seeing them go to a loving home, I would choose the latter. The better option would be if they used the same people to look after them on the weekend that they know and trust.

Better to not be there at all though. :laugh:

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I overheard a conversation a few years ago ago in a pet shop where a woman brought back a puppy that she'd bought that morning. She'd got home and realised what a crazy idea it was and how mad her hubby was going to be. The woman in the pet shop said no way would they take the puppy back, once it's left the store, that's it, it could have picked up a disease. Seems like a big shift in the way of thinking!

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What a horrible idea. A puppy is a commitment for life, in some cases up to 17+ years. Its not teaching your children a very good lesson- you can just rent a pet when it is convienent for you. I don't believe pet shops should sell animals, there is no need for them to sell live animals, they would make enough by selling pet products such as beds, grooming equipment, accessories etc.

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Lots of stores do it. Our local one does it, quite a few local families mind the pups over the nights/weekends.

The same happens at the Avalon pet shop & Warriewood. I don't think they rent them though, you can just put your name down to care for a pup for the night.

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We used to have a local pet store that fostered out pups overnight - we took home 2 Rotties and a Shepherd one night, and came back the next day with 1 Rottie and the Shepherd... and money to pay for the other Rottie that decided that he wanted to stay with us... *grin*... the pet store would check the vaccination status of any dogs currently owned by the potential foster carer, and they also advised that the pups were not to be taken anywhere but the foster home or mixed with any other dogs other than the ones they knew the vacc status of. Any pups/kittens not fostered by people they knew the pet shop owners took home themselves - no pups/kittens were ever left on the premises when it was not manned.

This same petshop also gave advice on desexing - and for people on low income, handed NDN vouchers to, and directed to the local vet that participated in that scheme. All pups/kittens were housed in spotless large areas - plenty of room for all occupants of the enclosure, with lots of toys and clean water on hand. Not one locked glass case in sight...

All pups/kittens were fully up to date with their age appropriate shots too.

T.

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Lots of stores do it. Our local one does it, quite a few local families mind the pups over the nights/weekends.

The same happens at the Avalon pet shop & Warriewood. I don't think they rent them though, you can just put your name down to care for a pup for the night.

They were the two I was thinking of :) Warriewood has just so many pups atm. Friends of mine mind them, they are a lovely family and the puppies get to sleep with the kids all night. Lovely for pup at the time but I wonder how hard it then is for pup to go back to pet shop after a night of cuddles, loving and human companionship.

The first and last time I was in the Avalon one recently a family was buying a staffy type pup and the shop assistant said when it comes time to breeding she knows of some 'nice boys' to mate their girl with. I walked out, never to return or recommend.

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Warriewood makes me cry just about. :rofl: They do send the pups out to whoever wants to 'mind or puppysit' them for the night and they hold the amount of the pup on a credit card in case they are not returned.

I don't know whether it is worse that they sit in the little glass boxes by themselves from closing at 5.00pm to re-opening next day at 9.00am. :)

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Renting a puppy out for the weekend i feel is a terrible idea.

Making the decision to take on board a new pup in the house should not be an emotional or impulse purchase. It's all well and good to have the dog for the weekend and the "oh how cute can we keep him?" attitude. Feeding and walking a dog (as would be all that's required for basic needs for a weekend) isnt half of what a dog needs in the long term. There's a lot to think about before taking a pup on. It's why so many of them end up on the 'unwanted' lists at the RSPCA,Animal welfare league etc.

Any animal should never be made as inpulse/emotional purchase. It's a commitment for a good length of time.

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