I grew up with dogs, but in my adult life I always had cats, since that is more doable if you tend to travel a lot. My last cat died a couple of months ago and for the first time in my adult life I am ‘petless’. Although they have always given me so much love and joy, it will stay this way for now, since I lead too much of a nomad life to have pets really.
You may be aware of an upcoming trend in many cities all over the world: animal cafes!
Now there are two categories in them. There are for example dog cafes as in dog-friendly cafes. They encourage people to come there for food and drinks and bring their dogs along. These cafes are prepared and equipped for customers with pets. The sort of animal cafes that I am talking about however, are those who have pets as residents and offer people to come in for a drink while they interact with the pets that live there.
The most common types are dog cafes and cat cafes. I read about bird cafes, and in Seoul they even have a sheep cafe!
I decided it was time for my very first pet cafe visit and chose the Bau House Dog Cafe in Seoul for that.
It was not quite what I expected.
Let me first explain what it is and how it works.
In this cafe around a dozen or more dogs are living, taken care of by a wonderful, devoted staff.
In a huge space seats are placed along the walls, leaving a big open space in the middle.
Customers have to buy themselves at least one drink (which serves as a sort of entrance fee; very reasonable) and are given the possibility to buy treats for the dogs (which I did).
A staff member then brings you to your seat where your cappuccino is brought to you.
The dogs are roaming around freely and are literally all over the place: on the seats and benches, on the tables, under the tables….everywhere!
People can bring along their own dog. Others bring their children for some doggie-quality-time.
|
| Guest puppy, belonging to a customer. |
There was clearly a surplus of young female customers, all in search for some animal love and cute overload.
|
| The rules. It’s obvious that a place like this needs clear rules in order to manage it and to keep the dogs happy. |
As I said: it was not quite what I expected. Let me explain why.
- It does not feel like a cafe to me. It felt more like an arena with seats around it. Not cosy at all.
- It smells like ‘many dogs meets disinfectant’.
- Most of the dogs are not interested in the visitors, only in their treats.
- Many are not even that interested in each other, while others are almost harassing each other.
- From time to time there is a lot of barking and yelping going around, making it sound and feel very chaotic.
- There will always be a dog peeing or pooping somewhere.
|
| Sitting on my table. |
|
| Looking at his ass now;-). |
|
| Another one on my table. |
|
| There are dogs from all sizes, breeds and ages. |
|
| That little black and white dog is one big rascal and a handful!;-) |
|
| Do I smell treats there? |
|
| Yep, she has treats! |
|
| Wolf-type dog. |
|
| He is huge! |
|
| I think one of the retrievers was a guest (belonging to a customer). |
|
| So you has snacks, right? RIGHT??? |
- I mean, the staff clearly works very hard and they seem to really love the dogs.
- Since there is always some peeing or pooping going on, staff members have to run here and there and everywhere with cleaning stuff and disinfectant all the time. They do that swiftly and without complaining. Hats of to you, dear Bau House Staff. You are doing a great job!
- The dogs seem happy and I am glad they have a warm and loving home.
- Most customers seem very content. Just read all the raving reviews and stories on the internet.
Hi Anja - nice blog post. From my experience most cat and dog cafes are exactly like you described it. Lovely owners and pets, but the animals are too lazy to interact with customers and are just waiting for their treats. They get too much attention and as a result don’t really display their typical behaviour. I felt it was a nice experience once but I won’t got back again - see my blog post here http://bluebalu.wordpress.com/2012/11/25/tokyo-cat-cafe-calico/ . Bye, Ruth
What a relief to hear the same experience from you, Ruth. I was beginning to think that I was the only one who was not smitten by places like that, seen all the 100% enthusiastic reviews on the web.
By chance I went to the cat cafe yesterday and I love that so much more! Post will follow within the next weeks somewhere. Gonna check out your post now;-).
Wow that is really different. I think this is geared towards countries where more people aren’t able to keep pets but still want to have a chance to see some and interact with some. Here I don’t think it would work well at all. We go to dog parks, where all of the dogs get to roam free and interact with other dogs, but you must have your own dog.
Honestly I couldn’t live without a pet. I find that they make a house worth coming home to.
bisous
Suzanne
Yes, you are right, Suzanne. Many people here may have no other chance then this to interact with pets.
Dog parks are fun!
I know what you mean about living with a pet. I agree with you, but it’s one of the prices to pay for a nomad life:-(.
Another amazing thing. A dog café… Who would think this up? Read it with great interest. Also very interested in the cats café.
Greetje
I liked the cat cafe much more. Post will appear probably next week or the week after;-).