How Much Is That Doggy in the Window -- Per Day?

TOKYO, Dec. 5, 2007— -- As Ayako Suzuki stepped into Janet Village in Tokyo, she was greeted by the bowwows of more than 40 dogs. Ayako looked around the room with her husband, Manabu, she stopped, got on her knees and set her eyes on a 3-year-old Beagle named Corona.

"I want this one," said Ayako, with a big smile, not moving an inch from the dog. The husband nodded, and the couple told one of the store clerks, "We would like her for one hour."

The Suzuki's and other dog lovers in Tokyo flock to Janet Village, a dog rental store, to experience the joy of interacting with dogs without the responsibilities of ownership. "We both work full-time, and we are never home during the week," said Ayako, an office clerk. "We would love to have a dog, but I do not think the dog will be happy being left alone in the apartment all day every day."

Their solution is to rent a dog by the hour. The Suzuki's, who are using Janet Village for the first time, paid a total of $31 to rent Corona, which includes a onetime $18 membership fee and a $13 hourly fee.

"This is going to be so much fun," Ayako said as the clerk put Corona on a leash and handed the dog to her.

The Japanese passion, some even call it obsession, for pets shows no sign of abetting. The country's pet industry estimates the pet market has grown into a $9 billion industry, at least. Cats and dogs even outnumber kids here. There are roughly 24 million dogs and cats living in Japan -- more than the 17 million children under the age of 14.

Pet rental stores in and around Tokyo offer a wide range of critters from dogs to ferrets.

"Many people in Tokyo cannot have a pet for various reasons," said Manabu Araki, the store owner. "For instance, many apartment buildings do not allow pets, or city people are simply too busy working all day. But that does not keep them from wanting to have a pet."