We had been to a cat cafe and decided we ought to try a dog one as well. I was slightly more concerned about how the logistics of a dog cafe would work: they typically go to the bathroom outside, need walks, have lots of energy, bark when someone enters a room, etc. Researching it a little, I found other people reported that at many of these cafes they mostly just encountered a lot of pee, poo, and dogs fighting. I read that the Puppy Spoon Dog Cafe was nice though so we decided to try it out.
Trekking to the Puppy Spoon Dog Cafe
After the zoo closed we left and headed over to Gangnam Station. We were pretty hungry and on the look out for food. We saw a vendor that was selling grilled cheese for a good price – which should have been a bad sign, because cheese is expensive here. Kyle got a meat cheese sandwich and I got a cheese sandwich and they seemed okay but I felt a little ill half way through afterwards.
Gangnam Style!
Originally we had wanted to go to Samsung D’light but it closed at 7pm so it was getting a little late and we did not get there and find it in time to spend more than about 10 or 15 minutes so decided to try it another time. On our way to the dog cafe we passed some people protesting poor working conditions for Samsung Factories. We also had to stop here of course:
The map for the Puppy Spoon was pretty good and got us there, plus there was a helpful sign (since the puppy spoon is located upstairs).
Entering Puppy Spoon
We headed in and were greeted. The employee at the door did not know any english though and went to get the owner who spoke it fluently. He talked to us for a little bit, asked us how we found the place, and told us how things worked there. He seemed pretty business oriented I thought.
The Puppy Spoon is a rather unique dog cafe in that all of the dogs can do tricks. They can skateboard, dance, and more (click on the red text for the videos we took). According to the website, it is the only dog cafe in the world in which the dogs perform. Allegedly, some of them appear on a Korean television show sometimes.
Like at the cat cafe, you buy a drink and then go and sit down and enjoy petting and or interacting with the animals. The cost was more than the cat cafe even for the lowest priced drink but here are the reasons I surmise:
- Location: The same thing in Gangnam is probably more expensive than what it would be in Pyeongtaek.
- The animal: Dogs take a bit more to maintain.
- The dogs are trained to do tricks. We both got a lemonade because it was in the cheapest category. If we wanted a shake it would have been more. The drinks tasted fine, we were there more for the experience anyway.
A “Dog Menu” to Learn the Names
One of the employees gave us a “dog menu” which showed us all of the dogs that are there and their names. I thought this was a nice touch.
We could look around for certain dogs and use their name when talking to them. I believe we saw every dog at some point. For some of the time certain dogs would be in another room. I am not sure if they were on timeout, that certain dogs don’t interact well together, or that they needed to get groomed or use the bathroom or something else.
Puppies and Adult Dogs Live Here
There was also a special puppy pen where a few puppies would stay together. There were Pomeranians, a dachshund, and I think something else. If you wanted to play with the puppies you could go over into the puppy pen which we each did for a little bit. The puppies were the only ones we saw fighting.
The baby Poms seemed like little devils to me. It is too bad because they seem so cute and nice when full-grown. The little dachshund kept jumping over the fence onto our table and we would have to put it back. In regards to accidents, the puppies had a few and the big dogs a couple but workers went behind them quickly to clean it up.
They Have a fun Show Too!
After we had been sitting there for a little bit, getting to know some of the dogs, the show started. The owner and workers had the dogs perform individually and together. There was a dog that rode a rocking horse and a dog playing fetch. My personal favorite was a poodle that just loved to dance (or liked treats a lot and knew dancing would get them treats). It gave my a high five at one point.
We watched the dogs skateboard and there was a border collie which listened to various commands. We could not understand as they were in Korean but got the gist of it through the dog performance. I sort of wish we knew more Korean though because the rest of the people there (all Koreans) were laughing a lot and we weren’t always sure at what.
The dogs were a little harder to photograph since many of them don’t exactly sit still very long but we got a couple on our laps.
I would also make sure that when visiting you don’t have any food or food wrappers on you; some of the dogs were pretty interested in our backpack.
Headed Home
Overall, we had a good time, but my preferences haven’t changed.
After the show (which was actually quite long) was finished, we headed back to the station. I was beginning to feel a little sicker. We hopped on a very crowded train which only made it worse. I think I lasted around 6 or 7 stations before I had to get off. I was getting very overheated, and though the temperature was around freezing, had stripped down to a short sleeve shirt and was still sweating and felt like I was going to throw up. We sat on a bench for a little bit before I had to go to the bathroom where I threw up off and on for the next half hour.
I am fairly sure it was from the grilled cheese. I asked reddit about it and people attributed it to many possible things:
- Unsanitary conditions
- Expired cheese
- Becoming lactose intolerant from having so little dairy here. I don’t know but I would just simply not recommend the place at Gangnam Station that sells grilled cheese sandwiches. Honestly, I am not sure I would recommend anywhere in Korea that sells grilled cheese sandwiches period.
~B~