After months of deliberation I have now created a new pet’s category covering dogs (and horses, see earlier post). Over the past year, whenever I explained what yours2share does, I reckon about a third of the people have asked whether this includes dogs.
I know that people frequently set up dog sharing on an informal basis. But given that my two dogs (Tilly and Gafas) are such a big part of my life, I didn’t want to be party to any process that might not be in the dog’s best interests. However after much thought, the only real disadvantages seemed to be pretty unlikely and the guidance covers the few areas where problems might occur.
Even though Tilly and Gafas are usually curled up in my office watching my every move until lunchtime when we go for our daily walk in the woods, I think they might enjoy being “shared” particularly if this meant even more walks.
The most important point is that unlike sharing many other assets, I don’t believe that the ownership of dogs should be shared. I think it must be absolutely clear who owns the dog and they must take responsibility at all times and be prepared to pay all the costs (although the two sharers may agree to share some costs, notably food). I also don’t think there needs to be any formal contract.
So I’ve spent some time writing the dog share guidance and hope that yours2share will enable people to find the right partners that they could only otherwise find in an ad-hoc manner, by asking everyone they know if anyone who would like to share a dog. I would welcome any comments.