Dogshare Lets You Borrow People’s Dogs Without the Responsibility of Owning One

You know when you see a cute puppy in the elevator and you think to yourself how fun it would be to own a puppy? But then you realise that you live in a small apartment, or can’t afford to get a dog. Yeah, me too. While I love giving my neighbourhood dogs a friendly pat on the head, I know that I probably won’t be able to adopt my own little friend anytime soon.

If you’re looking for a way to enjoy the company of a canine without fully committing to having one live with you, Dogshare is a great place to start. It’s a dog sitting service that brings together dog owners and helpers without any monetary transaction. Just good, old fashioned helping each other out. If you live in Sydney or Melbourne, there is a registration fee of $20, and an upkeep fee of $5 per month, but if you reside anywhere else in Australia, you can sign up to Dogshare for free.

Once you’ve signed up as either a dog owner or helper, you’ll need to wait to be approved. Dogshare does checks to make sure that everyone involved stays safe. But after you’re approved, you can start using the website. Also, if you sign up to be a dog owner, you can switch over to helper and vice versa, so if you want to take your dog for a walk with your neighbour’s dog, you can.

Dogshare for pet owners

Dogshare was originally created with dog owners in mind. Maybe when you first got your dog, you had lots of time to take it on walks, but now your circumstances have changed and you can’t quite keep up with the needs of your furry pal. Whether you had a baby, switched jobs, or maybe had to pick up a new responsibility, Dogshare is a great way to connect with people who are willing to help you out with your dog.

You’ll start by uploading a picture of your dog and then filling out its profile with info like their name, age, breed and so on. Once you’ve done this, you’ll be able to see people in your neighbourhood who are willing to meet up and take your dog on walks, do some dog sitting, share their backyard, or even for an overnight stay if you’re on a holiday.

There’s an initial park meet-up to make sure that you and your dog are happy with the person you’ve matched with, and from here, you can continue to chat with the person you’ve been matched with to make arrangements for dog-related activities.

Dogshare for helpers

Maybe you don’t have a dog, but still want to spend time with one. Or maybe you do have a dog but you and your pup want to make a new friend. Helpers on Dogshare sign up to the website like dog owners and fill out their profile. From here, they’ll be able to see a map of their neighbourhood to be matched up with people who might want their dog walked, played with, or just to make another friend.

If the park meet-up is successful, you’ll be able to enjoy hanging out with your new furry friend whenever you and your neighbour agree on a time and place, which is a pretty good deal considering you get all the good parts of owning a dog without having to wash them, feed them or smell their farts.

Dogshare is encouraging people to get out there and meet their neighbours and lend a helping hand, which is a wholesome thing in a world where you need to pay for almost everything. It’s currently available all over Australia. You can find out more information about Dogshare here.

Image credit: iStock/gahsoon