Borrow My Doggy, if you aren’t familiar with it, is exactly as it sounds: people who don’t have dogs walk the dogs of people who have them but aren’t able to do it. A couple of our family members, who like dogs but don’t have their own at the moment, use the service to walk a cute little sausage dog named, erm, Rod Stewart. (And he only responds to his full name; none of this “abbreviating to save face” business.)
As is often the case when dog innovations come along, Cat Daddy and I got talking about whether or not this idea would work for cats.
Cat Daddy: “Is it even possible to borrow someone’s cat?”
Me: “Not really. Cats don’t do fun days out with strangers.”
Him: “So if a catless person wanted to spend time with a cat, what would they do?”
Me: “I don’t know. If they knew where it lived, I guess they’d just go to its house?”
Him: “So the owner would have to host random people who wanted to visit their cat? That’s just stupid. Who would do that?”
[Silence, tumbleweed, crickets]
Anyway, Borrow My Doggy appears to be a win-win for all. But what would happen if relations with your partner-dog were less than harmonious?
I imagine if there were an actual incident, you could just say to the owner, “I’m afraid your dog bit a small child / pulled so hard on the lead that he dislocated my shoulder / barked at an old lady and sent her into cardiac arrest” (or whatever it was) and the owner would take him back and say, “Oh dear, I’m sorry about that. No hard feelings. I hope the next dog works out better.” But what if you just DIDN’T LIKE THE DOG? Breaking up with an animal seems pretty low, and ignoring it and not returning its calls is even lower. And as for continuing to spend time with it because you’re too cowardly to do the honest thing and find a better animal … well …
Cat Daddy: “You get used to it. Trust me on this.”
Here is Rod Stewart (below) having a little rest after the excitement of a long walk with his chien-sitteurs. And Louis Catorze is available here for anyone who wishes to start a Borrow My Kitty group. I’ll take a seat in case I’m in for a long wait.
louiscatorze.com 
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