So now after having visited Korean Cat Cafes on several occasions, I realized I was forgetting all about another popular pet cafe style here in Seoul~  Dog Cafes!!  Yes, that is right ♥ Just like with Cat Cafes, you can visit Dog Cafes here in Korea and play with puppies to your hearts content.

Seoul has several dog cafes at this time, but apparently a few are very loud and not a good experience at all, so I had been putting it off till I knew exactly which ones to visit vs avoid.  Thankfully I had a meeting with the designer/owner of the amazing dog brand Juny & Bell (who I will be featuring soon!) and she suggested we meet at “Cafe Pawz” in Gangnam because it was one of her favorite locations and very nice! She was right!

 

 For starters, this cafe is quite large~ I was a bit surprised, but I guess with dogs you really do need all that extra space! Plenty of seating and extra room to play with the animals ♥

If you are a pet owner they also have a very large wall of supplies for sale…..

and sometimes a few adorable puppies in the window if you are looking to purchase a new friend.

The puppies are all very young and you can not have the staff take them out unless you are actually interested in buying one of course.

I assumed since Korea loves little toy dogs this cafe would be mostly tiny little lap dogs to cuddle, but I was wrong~ most of the dogs are actually quite large!!!  I guess the reasoning is most Koreans have tiny dogs since space is so hard to come by here, so seeing a large Lab or Golden Retriever is a real treat and something rare!  They have quite a variety of breeds as well, just like the cat cafes ♥

Many people in Korea can not even have tiny pets due to the space or busy schedules though, so that is why these sorts of Pet Cafes remain popular with people of all ages.  Sometimes it is nice to enjoy the company of an animal~ I know I find it very relaxing personally.

When you enter you have to be mindful of the gate to make sure no dogs sneak out when you open, very much like the cat cafe~ they are sneaky!

Head over to the counter and place your drink or snack order which will cover your fee to relax at the cafe as long as you please. They also have a small selection of canned sodas, juice and a modest selection of bakery goods like cheesecake, bagels, and chocolate cake… which seems a little risky in a cafe full of dogs *_*; eheh

This visit I ordered a nice cold orange juice to sip on! ♥ It was just ok, but since it is a pet cafe I did not expect very much.  Next time I think I will order a chocolate shake!

My classmate had gone to a dog cafe in Korea before and told me it was a barking nightmare with pee everyplace….thankfully Cafe Paws was none of that.  Yes the dogs did pee every so often, but it was quickly moped up if an accident or marking occurred.  They did not bark very much at all overall either which I was grateful for (big dogs= lots of noise!!) just a bit of a commotion when someone new would step in or they started playing.  For the most part they relaxed, played with each other, or wanted to sit with people and just be a companion.

Just like at the Cat Cafe‘s here, if you see a dog with a collar on like this it means you can not give that dog any doggy treats if you buy them or the staff gives you some to hand out.  I asked once before and the reason is usually because the animal is on medicine or new to the cafe, so they restrict the snacks they can have to help with things.

Make sure you watch your table, sometimes the dogs will jump up on them! haha

The cafe had a few smaller dogs, but sadly they were very snippy and jumpy for the most part.  I suspect it is because they are small and handled a LOT buy people visiting, so they are on the defense when you first meet them and try to pet or move them in any way. Many people do not know how to properly handle smaller animals that come to these cafes since they are not usually pet owners themselves, so approach the smaller dogs slowly at first since they can be a little mean at first.

This little guy jumped in my lap and stayed so close to me while I was sketching, but would snip and bark if I tried to even pet him for the first 15 min!  If you take your time with these sorts of dogs they can come around and trust you though, which is exactly what he eventually did.  He just required a bit more patience and I had to approach him very slowly and let him smell my hand for a few minutes ♥

Once I won him over he would not leave my lap for over an hour and let me handle him and everything haha. I felt a bit of pity for him and the other little guys though, it must be hard getting picked up all day and running around with such big dogs! I was in the cafe enjoying myself for an hour alone to kill time, so he ended up being really nice company and just stayed quietly on my lap licking my hand while I petted him. I was sad to leave him when I had to go for dinner T_T  Bye little friend~

The big dogs where hilarious to watch ♥ This guy jumped on the chair and pushed it all around the cafe haha

Such pretty eyes!

Apparently some dog cafes (including this one) allow you to bring in your own dog as well.  This really interesting guy with pink hair came in with his equally awesome doggy friend….

He was really protective and growled every time I tried to get close to snap a photo aw man. His haircut is adorable!! ♥

She looks like a Polar Bear! ♥

I was so excited that they had an Old English Sheep Dog at this cafe! God I LOVE those dogs, they are so sweet, fluffy, and scamper around like a huge furry hairball!  I tried so hard to get him to come hang out with me, but he preferred playing with the other dogs instead. booooo~!

Aside from being a pet-friendly cafe, Cafe Pawz offers a range of other services at the Gangnam location! 

Day care, overnight care, boarding, grooming, and puppy school are just a few of the services they also offer at the shop! If you need a nice clean place in Gangnam to board your dog for a few days this seems to be a very nice choice and feels like loving and clean space. The boarding rooms for dogs are in another large back room (separate from the cafe of course) that I happened to see when a staff member exited with some dogs to take outside for a potty walk.

So how was my experience overall? Even though I am a cat person, I really do love dogs so I enjoyed it! It is not quite as relaxing as a Cat Cafe since they do play around, bark, plus pee on the floor every so often~ but I stayed in the cafe for almost 2 hours and had a nice time sitting with the dogs that would sit with me or throwing the ball with the bigger ones.  All the dogs seemed very well taken care of at this cafe and enjoyed playing with each other. I never felt uneasy around the larger dogs, and while the very tiny dogs seemed to be a bit tense they did warm right up to me after a little bit!

Directions to Cafe Pawz Gangnam Dog Cafe

카페 포우즈 Cafe Pawz

서울특별시 강남구 역삼동 834-8 MS빌딩 1층

Hours: 11am-1am

Price: cost of drink or snack purchase per person (6,000-9,000 won)

Cafe Pawz Blog

If you are coming from the Seoul Metro you are going to want to head on over to Gangnam Station on the Green Line #2 OR you can also take the Red Shin Bundang Line ( aka “DX Line” not pictured on the map above) to Gangnam which will put you in the same station essentially since the two are connected underground.

Since the Seoul Metro Green Line and the Red DX Line share a station you are going to want to stay underground use exit #4 on the Red DX Line (follow all the “Shin Bundang Line” signs to find your way to the connected station).  If you get confused you can also use the Green Line #2 exit, but the walk will be a bit longer and going underground through the station is a bit faster VS the sidewalk and crowds.

 After exiting you are going to walk straight down the road for quite a ways till eventually you hit the large intersection pictured above (click for larger view) and you are going to want to walk across and go Left.  This secound stretch is a bit longer than I anticipated based on the map, so just keep walking and looking for it on your Right because you will hit it.  You will pass two larger intersections and another cafe called “Cup Dog’s Coffee” and just keep on walking! Eventually you will see the outside of Cafe Pawz which is almost at the end of the street and will have the signs in English + a patio area so it is hard to miss once you pass it!

Have you been to this cafe? Checked it out after reading this post? Got another Dog Cafe in Korea you love? If you do not live in Korea, would you go to a Dog Cafe? Comment below!!