That doesn't seem so great to me being a dog owner. Dogs are like children not objects. Imagine the uproar if you could rent a kid for an hour or a day. I think it's a horrible idea and that it could really destroy a dog.

what a hiliariously thinly disguised ad. Seriously, "puppy's dining"? Boo.

Let's consider the dogs' welfare here--are they screening the people they're being rented to and what about what these people plan on doing with them? Let's not forget that the dogs themselves will not benefit from having a stable, loving environment to grow up in. May I ask why someone would really, really need a dog?

How can a dog lover fall in love with this concept? Notice that dogs listed in the article that are available to rent are only pure breed dogs. I'm sure the puppy mills are loving this concept! I personally think this is absolutely awful. These poor dogs must be so confused. A pet is not a commodity to be rented like a car or a couch - a pet is a member of the family. What's next - rent a kid?

I'm surprised Treehugger.com actually likes this idea. This is horrible for dogs - as other posters have noted, dogs need stability, consistency and routine in their lives. Having different "owners" constantly is only going to create unstable, unhappy and probably ill-behaved doggies. This sucks.

I love April Fool's!

As a parent of a small child, I think extending this idea to kids would be marvelous. I know many couples who seem to have got pets when they weren't quite ready for children, as a sort of test run, but it's not the same. Really the only preparation for parenthood would be to rent or borrow a child for a while to see how you cope with it. There are enough parents in the world like me who would happily lend out our children in the interests of making sure that people thinking about parenthood really know what they're getting into.

... april fools?

Definitely not a good idea. As a dog lover and owner I think this encourages the idea that animals are ours to use as objects of desire. Their is no concern here in this idea as to how the dog will handle this emotionally. As mentioned is the comments above how does rent a kid sound too?
BOO to this idea.

April Fools, right? That or the Japanese people who cooked this up are some sick puppies. Heh heh.

While im not sure about the whole article, I can say that there are places in Japan where you can rent a dog. The Tokyo district of Odaiba is a very popular water front that has these shops.

Please say this is an April Fools joke. I love this blog and if you all really love the idea of a dog being rented out, I'd have to really consider coming back.

Although I'm praying that the Treehugger endorsement of this concept is a joke, the underlying concept is horribly real. The NYT ran an article on Flexpetz recently, a business which, disturbingly, seems to be doing well here in New York City.

The link to the American version is negative:

"I personally find the whole concept deplorable."

yet you seem very positive about the Japanese version:

"That is why we fell in love with the concept of Puppy the World"

Replace "puppy" with "human infant" - still just as adorable?