Dog-sharing. Yep. Read it again. Dog-sharing. Services that allow pooch owners to connect with other pooch owners to help with everyday care, pupsit for holidays, do walks and so on. It's happening. Australian service Dogshare was initially launched for dog owners only, but it's now launched a pretty damn exciting feature — a 'borrowing' feature for dog loving people in the same neighbourhood.

Yep, now Dogshare allows dogless humans to 'borrow' a pup. You can provide walks or day/night dog-sitting for time-poor dog owners in your local area. There's no money involved, just love (and trust dammit, take care of those pooches). Similar Aussie service BorrowMyPooch works on the same principle but has a subscription fee for owners and borrowers, while Pawshake is free to sign up as a sitter, but owners pay to host their pups.

Dogshare founder Jessica Thomas, a busy working mum to two young children and Duke, an exuberant German Shorthaired Pointer, chose to add the free dog borrowing feature in response to a wave of emails she received from non-dog owners willing to offer non-reciprocal care at no charge. "I found that there are so many people out there who genuinely love dogs and have experience caring for them, but are unable to commit to owning one for a variety of reasons," says Thomas. "The borrower gets access to a dog and all the benefits that go with it, while the owner has someone to love and care for their pet when they can't."

So, how does it work? Like an online dating service, 'borrowers' create a profile on Dogshare's website, list their previous experience with dogs and flag any services they're keen to volunteer for — there's dog walking, park playdates, overnight stays, vacation stays, taking pups to the vet and other appointments or even the tiniest task of checking on the pup while their owners are at work. Borrowers can then connect with Dogshare's dog owners, who can arrange a local park meet-up and see whether you're not a total weirdo or not.

Want to give it a shot? Visit Dogshare's website to create a borrower profile and meet dem pups.

Image: Veronika Homchis.

Published on March 18, 2016 by Shannon Connellan