There should be a dog rental service! :)

[okpondlady]

Originally Posted by Mercury Cougar

Well, I have bacon in my pockets and I'm not afraid to use it.

My dogs would love you....

[misfitz]

I second (or fifth!) the suggestion to find a rescue group. There are several rescues in my town that often have dogs in boarding, because they don't have enough foster homes. Volunteers can foster these dogs short-term, which gets them out of boarding for a while and saves the rescue some money. The dogs get needed socialization, and if you're so inclined, some training. An added bonus is that the dogs get seen by the public, which helps them find homes. Some rescues will have the dogs wear vests or scarves that say "adopt me."

I've done short-term fostering, and it's very rewarding. I couldn't foster during the week because of work, but the rescue was more than happy to let me take a dog over the weekend. We were also able to take the boarded dogs for a walk or hike and bring them back the same day. There's some paperwork and time involved for volunteer orientation, etc., but well worth it IMO.

Shelters are generally more strict about letting the dogs off the property, so if you're wanting to jog, hike, etc., I would say look for a rescue group.

[groar]

Originally Posted by brokencrayola

There are certain breed dogs I have had an interest in and read about them and have had some concerns. I have thought it would be nice if I could "borrow" one and see what they are like. I have been interested in English Bulldogs, French Bulldogs, and Maltese.

it sounds like fostering would be perfect for you; you should see if there are rescues for those breeds in your area. although honestly just because you foster and really like one dog of a certain breed, it doesn't mean you'll like another dog of that breed. dogs are individuals, and their temperaments can vary greatly within breeds. i'd think of it as "auditioning" specific dogs, not a whole breed.

to the op, i'll echo the recommendation of volunteering at a shelter. i haven't found that shelters in my area are strict about taking the dogs off the property - in 2 out of 3 major ones, you kind of have to take them off the property to walk them, because they don't have grounds! of course they all have volunteer training programs that you have to complete before you start walking dogs. a friend of mine is a regular volunteer at a local shelter and before he got a dog of his own they used to let him take dogs on day trips of several hours, overnight, etc. it depends on the shelter and their policies, but often very trusted volunteers are allowed to do things like that. of course it takes a lot of time to get to that point at most places.

i can understand the desire for dog rentals, i used to wish we could rent a dog to take with us on camping trips before we got a dog of our own. but the reality of it doesn't sound very nice for the dogs. it's basically very similar to shelter life, which is not ideal for any animal.