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Published: May 07 2012

Buzz Fleischman - Columnist Page. I've heard some interesting pet news from Japan, an Island nation about the size of Disney World and just as expensive.

They don't have a lot of room there, so things are done on a small scale. Think sushi. You can fit the living quarters of a typical Tokyo family into the space of a General Motors SUV. They tend to downsize things to fit their land limitations.

Up to this time, they haven't had many pets larger than an origami dragonfly. Where would they put them? There's no room to keep a dog, much less find a place to walk one. And you've heard the jokes about the lack of a cat population in Asian countries. Part of it is true. Just like chicken.

I think it started with the Tamagotchi, an electronic pet that doubles for a dog and does all the tricks except go on your rug, and there may be a chip for that. I guess they thought "why not build a dog that you could fit in a shoe box..... and leave it there".

They'd love to have pets but there's hardly any room for people. That's not stopping them. It seems they have a walking park for pet owners and it's so exclusive that they charge $12 an hour. That's on the cutting edge of pet ownership or in this case pet rental because if you don't have a dog, you can rent one. That's right, rent a dog. It's a social thing!

People could rent dogs as a way of making new friends. Once the relationship develops, the question of 'where's that cute little doggy' needs a really good response. "I lost it" just won't do.

And a rental pet knows its place.

A rental pet won't borrow the car and leave it on empty when they bring it back. A good dog will fill up the tank, but only if it can find a full service gas station. Those little paws aren't made to twist gas caps. A good pet won't stumble in at 4 in the morning after a night on the prowl and wake everyone in the house.

Come on Max, wouldn't you like to have a party right here in the house and invite all of your neighborhood friends who have dogs. If they don't, they can always rent.

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