Would you trust a stranger with your dog? The rise of the Sharing Economy and doggy day care

Fergus 'Boop' Burnett - Borrow My Doggy

Since the beginning of the Coronavirus pandemic, more than 3.2 million households in the UK have acquired a pet.

As if they weren’t already, these statistics confirmed dogs as the most popular pet in Britain, living as part of 12.2 million households in the UK.

However, a significant rise in dog ownership, combined with UK household’s return to work in the last year, has placed a strain on existing dog day care services.

An employee at Edinburgh’s CitiDogs Creche, operating in the city for nine years, said:

“We’ve definitely seen an increase in demand in the last year or so. We’re not accepting any new clients – there’s a waiting list”.

“Although there are a number of companies providing day care services in Edinburgh, we’re all feeling the demand”.

At Edinburgh’s CitiDogs, you can expect to pay £21 + vat a day for them to care for your pooch, but a doggy day care spot elsewhere in Edinburgh could end up costing you over £30 per day, particularly if you want to utilise a pickup and drop off service, or as Hound Around Day Care call it - ‘the woof wagon’.

Not only are spaces limited, but doggy day care is fast becoming a lucrative business.

Enter, the ‘Shared Economy’.

The Sharing Economy is an economic model based on the peer-to-peer exchange of goods and services, often facilitated by a community-based online platform. You might not know about it, but if you’ve ever slept in an Airbnb, ordered an Uber, or rode a Lime scooter, you’ve already used it.

BorrowMyDoggy, which connects dog owners with local people who love dogs, is a perfect example of the way in which a community-based platform can connect service users and providers. Not only that, but it’s an alternative to the expensive dog day care services that are already in high demand.

Haeley Burnett, a nurse who moved to Edinburgh in 2020, chose to use BorrowMyDoggy instead of an official day care service.

“When I was looking at day care and boarding, the cost was phenomenal. I noticed a lot of them had lengthy waitlists, and some even had pretty extensive interview periods… it seemed like a lot of faff to be honest”.

Through BorrowMyDoggy, Haeley found members of her local community, who share the care of her dog, Boop, while she works.

“For me, the financial aspects are a massive bonus – And I like knowing that Boop is with someone he knows and has an affection for. Having someone who looks after him, not because ‘it’s their job’, but because they genuinely love animals and want to spend time with them is a big thing”.

Launched in 2012, BorrowMyDoggy has over 1 million members, covering 99% of postcodes in the UK. It’s free to set up a profile, but to contact borrowers and arrange meets, members have to pay a subscription fee: £44.99 a year for dog owners, and £12.99 for borrowers.

The subscription fee includes third party insurance and access to a 24/7 vet line to keep borrowers and owners at ease. Considering the cost of dog care per day, in the long term, BorrowMyDoggy turns out enormously cheaper than traditional services.

Haeley said: “Despite not being in ‘daycare’, I think he gets a lot of opportunities for socialisation both with people and other dogs, which is important. I feel like borrowers look out for things that may go unnoticed in a bigger kennelling situation”.

Haeley Burnett and her dog, Fergus

A similar dog care service, Rover, offers long term dog boarding options, and counts over 300,000 service providers. Another illustration of the rise in the sharing economy.

CitiDogs Creche employee said: “normal people providing dog care is definitely growing in popularity, and I think the cost of living crisis could see a move to this”.

As the cost of living rises, and lockdown pets demand more attention, will shared economy services become the new alternative to doggy day care?