DogShare

I _think_ this is sufficiently different from the Loaner Dog idea that has already been posted.

Lots of people would be responsible dog owners but feel they can't get a dog because they don't have a yard, work long hours, live alone, etc. Meanwhile, lots of great dogs languish away in animal shelters.

Why not a service to link up people who are compatible to provide a home for the dog in shifts? I.e. night-workers/day-workers. Or people who want a dog during week/on weekends. Like a time-share beach cottage.

People would have to commit for a set period of time, e.g. two years, so as to not cause too much disruption in the dog's life. Most dogs I know would be psyched to spend half their week in the country and half in the city, or similar arrangement, as long as the owners really acted like owners. Owners would agree to share a vet and costs of routine vet care, but would otherwise pay food and vet bills as they came up.

This makes it quite different from the Japanese rent-a-dog model, which is a short-term, hourly thing featuring bored, untrained dogs and customers just looking for a quick doggie fix. From what I hear. Not that (ahem) I have every paid for canine companionship, of course.

It would require a database that optimized for both the dog's best interest and geographical closeness of owners. Maybe you could factor the dog's preferences in, too. (Like the medical residency match system.) You would also need someone to mediate disputes, arrange swaps when people's jobs change or they move away from the area, etc. This would be the designated Regional DogShare Captain.