Yesterday, I went to a dog café. Yep, that's right, a dog café. As weird/cool as it may sound- it's definitely not the strangest themed café in Seoul. In fact, dog cafes are quite common now, and are followed by cat cafes, farm animal cafes, and even raccoon cafes!
I visited the Bau House Dog Café in Mapo-Gu, Seoul, conveniently located only a minute away from Hapjeong Station. Bau House is one of the largest, oldest, and most well-known dog cafés in Seoul, visited by dog-lovers from all over, though attracting more tourists than natives.
Bau House Dog Café
Bau House is one of many cafés allow you to bring your dog as well- and I debated on bringing Sparky for a while. However, I decided against it at the last minute, and I'm kind of glad I did. Sparky, being the little chicken he is, would not have taken the situation well. Whenever people brought their own dog into the room, the Bau House dogs went crazy! They would bark and whine and chase the person with the dog, sniffing and pawing at the newcomer. This would go on for about five minutes, or at least until they lost interest and decided that the new guy wasn't a potential harm to the pack.
As soon as you enter, you're prompted to choose whether to sit in the small dog room or big dog room (you can switch later). I headed to the big dog room. I was given a menu and a paper with all the dogs' names and photos soon after, and I browsed the extensive (and expensive) menu. The drinks start at 6,500 won (~$6.50 USD) and go up to 10,000 won (~$10.00 USD). You can choose from coffee drinks, teas, soda, or even beer, though the order didn't seem to really matter to most people- they're here for the dogs.
I chose the iced peach tea. Honestly, I really didn't like it. Instead of a brisk, slightly bitter peach tea, I received what I made out to be a bag of sugar dissolved in water, with a strong flavor of artificial peach and a ton of ice. Which kind of makes sense, as I noticed that most people just left their drinks unattended for long periods of time while playing with the dogs; my theory is that Bau House expects the ice to melt a bit and make the drink palatable for the people who get back from playing with the dogs.
The big dogs honestly didn't seem very interested in humans until they brought out treats. They would rather want to sleep, wrestle, and climb on top of the banisters. You can buy treats for 3,000 won (~$3 USD), in which case, all the dogs will suddenly grow interested in you and crowd around until you feed them.
Look at that little Schnauzer in the front!
There were so many huge dogs! I especially loved the Alaskan Malamute ( his ear was as big as my hand!), and the Schnauzer mix. The Schnauzer mix really tugged at my heart- he came over and began head-butting me and pawing my leg, just as Twinky had used to. There was a regular there, who supposedly had been coming to Bau House for years (and the dogs all loved him. Like, seriously loved him. As soon as he came in, all the dogs rushed over to him to lay in his lap and table). He watched, amazed, before telling me that he had never seen that dog be so friendly to a new customer before. I was so happy, knowing that the dog somehow knew that I miss my little Schnauzer.
The smaller dog room had a completely different aura than the big dog room. It was so much quieter, and I noticed that each person had at least one dog in their lap, snoozing away as their lap owners pet the heck out of them. As soon as I entered, a couple dogs ran over to me, hoping I would offer my lap or at least some pats. I gave both, of course. :)
There were Pomeranians, Chihuahuas, Mini Poodles, mixes, and tiny puppies. They were all so cute!
This little Pom was so cute!
I went in at 3:30pm and left two hours later. I had not expected to stay that long, but man, time goes fast when you're playing with cute doggies!
Is this someplace I enjoyed? Of course!
Is it somewhere I would go again? Probably not, unless my dog-aficionado friend Emma comes to town. In that case, yes, definitely!
I definitely want to try other dog and animal cafes, though. I think it would be very interesting to see how a smaller/family owned dog café would differ from a large one like Bau House. There is a particular one that's a bit far from my house, that I've wanted to go to even before I came to Korea. Maybe my next Dog Café post will be about them!
Directions:
Leave Hapjeong Station through Exit 3. Turn, walk behind the exit and turn into the first street on your left. Look to your right, and you should see "Bau House" on the windows. Keep following those until you see the entrance to the building!
Bau House Dog Café
Jeil Bldg. 1F, 394-44 Seogyo-dong, Mapo-gu, Seoul
82-2334-5152
https://www.facebook.com/bau5152
바우하우스
마포구 서교동 394-44 제일빌딩 1층
82-2334-5152
https://www.facebook.com/bau5152
