Dogs by the hour: Company offers pet rental service

In a country as gregarious as Japan, in a city as crowded as Tokyo, people still seek companionship.

Hmm...could be stressful to the dogs. Not everyone that comes to this shop will actually know how to handle dogs. Being cynical and could get a lot of thumbs down but here goes...comfort dogs, comfort women.

The dogs here need to be highly trained animals to do what is being asked of them. I hope that the owner does more than just pay lip service to the concerns.

Being cynical and could get a lot of thumbs down but here goes...comfort dogs, comfort women.

There are such animals as comfort dogs, they are highly trained and very well taken care of animals, they are also known as therapy dogs as well, cynical is not the right word, ignorant would be better.

I'm sure the lady running this establishment thinks of her dogs as a kind of therapy dog, but there is a huge difference between trained dogs being taken by their owner/handler to visit patients in a controlled setting, and animals being loaned out to anyone with ¥3,600 to spare. Letting people come in and pet the dogs under supervision is one thing, letting anyone who wants take them out unsupervised is quite another. I wouldn't let just anyone go off with my dog. I hope Ms Tsuchiya vets her customers very carefully and has the backbone to say No when necessary.

I can understand and sympathise with little Rino's Dad's motives, but instead of teaching his daughter that it's OK for a puppy to be for an afternoon, I think it would be better to get her a pet of her own that she can care for at home under parental supervision - a hamster, a couple of white mice, a gerbil, a bird. And if at all possible, save up for that house in the suburbs.

I have no doubts that Ms Tsuchiya loves her dogs, but the problem with her business is that if it becomes successful, other unscrupulous people will enter the market just for the money and the competion will result in lower prices, meaning worse conditions and many dogs being treated inhumanely. I can already visualize some 'dog zoo' owners having no qualms about gassing all the dogs and dumping them in a river (while smoking a cigarette) once they decide their business is no longer profitable.

I think it's more humane to outlaw all of these types of businesses rather than accept any abuse. I'm sure Rino-chan will understand. And maybe Rino-chan's father will have to rent a slightly bigger apartment to make his daughter happy with her own dog... it's all about setting priorities 1. No cruelty 2. Children's happiness 3. Father's spending money

M3M3M3: I can already visualize some 'dog zoo' owners having no qualms about gassing all the dogs and dumping them in a river

Maybe the answer is to offer a pet exchange service, charging both dog walkers and the owners of dogs to be walked, for hooking them up and holding the dogs for dropoff / pickup.

@turbotsat

Sounds like an interesting idea. Sort of like an Uber for dog walking? People could rate the dogs and the dogs (or the owners pretending to be the dogs) could rate the walkers? I guess the problem might be getting enough owners to hand over their pets to a stranger.

I just think because dogs live in small social groups, they all find it quite stressful to be in the company of strangers, even if the stress of some dogs is more visually obvious than others.

Yubaru, yes, and in my ignorance I see in the photos that all the dogs are pedigree and not rescued dogs who are are trained as comfort dogs who need just as much loving as the humans that they comfort. Which in my ignorance leads me to wonder what happens to these pooches if the business goes bad? These pure breds were more than likely bought. and not rescued from the shelter. Tsuchiy says that she allows the dogs to be picked up? Dogs are not like cats and if dropped can be injured, this statement alone tells me that she needs to be trained and not the dogs. Unsupervised dog walks for money? Not my dogs, no way. How about people going to the shelters instead and donating time if they really want to be with the animals? The whole idea of using these animals as commodity items is what disturbs me.

Why not orphans so people can enjoy pretending to be parents but can return the kids when they start to cry or get annoying?

As a behavioral dog trainer for many years, it's a dumb selfish idea - dogs are habitual SINGLE pack animals. Constantly taking them to different territories and making them meet strangers or other pack members on an irregular basis will certainly confuse, and therefore cause stress for them. Renting dogs is just a selfish money making business - They are an smart animal - not a robot, and should not be just for entertainment. I may also add, the my obseravtions of the 5 years I've lived here, most people have not got a clue how to bond or look after dogs, e.g - heavily patting a dog on the head!

Agree with Ed High - most people here have absolutely no idea about dealing with dogs.

For instance, it is almost unnecessary to say anything to a dog, as lots of dog communication is visual and also olfactory. Just looking is often sufficient.

Some breeds are better tempered to changing social surroundings, and the local shiba-ken is not one of them I would say.

Renting dogs - a good human business but the business of being rented out like a Tsuchiya DVD wears thin for a more animate commodity, like a dog.

All that being said, they say that the best children are usually someone else's, and usually before you need to clean up after them or put up with their tanty. Perhaps also the best dogs are someone else's - after all, cleaning up after a dog, especially without a scoop, is not everyone's cup of tea.

Just look at the stressed out and dismal faces of commuters on subways in Tokyo and we see what high daily interaction with strangers does to human animals. Why should it be different for dogs and other animals?

I remember a dismal rainy commute out of London one evening after a particularly crappy day. There was a woman on the train with a dog and I asked if I could pet it. 30 minutes later I emerged from the train feeling completely different. Pet therapy works. But the key difference is, one owner who had full control of her dog at all times and was able to watch him with me. I understand the sentiment of this service, but I would also be concerned about the impact on the dogs by its execution.

Best would be to equip the facility with a doggy break room - locked, accessible only by doggy door, warm and equipped with food, water, soft places and toys. When the pups enter that room, they are considered on break time; if they emerge, they are in the mood for interaction.

My wife teaches English from our house, and as much as my whippet loves people, he appreciates the second floor, which is his own domain during the day.