The Bau House Cafe

Collie-Greyhound Mix
Originally uploaded by annamatic3000.

We went to a pet cafe last weekend. I've been a wannabe dog-owner all my life, so this was like heaven for me! At least 15 dogs of varying breeds, mixes, sizes and temperments, all roaming around the cafe. Most were owned by cafe employees, and were "regulars." But a few--mostly of the "accessory" variety-- were brought in by customers.

This place, located near the art school Hong-ik University, was called Bau House Cafe, a play on the name of the German school of architecture and design called Bauhaus. I think it would have been better if they spelled it Bowhaus, but that's just me.

Anyway, Gavin and I ordered two coffees and sipped them while observing the dogs' antics. Mostly, they were involved with doing doggy things like: sniffing each others butts, sleeping under tables, running around in circles... But sometimes they would break out of their dog day routines to take notice of the customers.

When a customer walks in, it's like everyone saying "Norm!" at Cheers: the dogs unanimously bark their greetings and run up to sniff the newcomer. Quickly the noise quiets down, but periodically some of the friendlier ones will come over to your seat and say hello. And if they're not too preoccupied with some type of all-important social interaction with a fellow canine, sometimes they'll let you pet them. Or maybe even submit to a tummy rub.

There were two of the largest dogs I'd ever seen, both very gentle and sweet creatures. One was a collie-greyhound mix that could look me in the eye when I was sitting down. He seemed to like us a lot, and settled into a nice warm spot next to Gavin for some ear-scratching and tummy-rubbing.

The other large dog must have been about 4 feet tall from his paws to the tips of his ears. He honestly looked to be part wolf, but his demeanor was one of the least aggressive of the group. I didn't get a picture of him.

A doe-eyed Cocker Spaniel parked herself under our table. The Golden Retrievers behaved like kindergarteners. There were only 2 of them, but it felt like there were ten. And of course there were a lot of yappy small things barking up a ruckus.

I wondered for a moment which one of them was the alpha dog. There was no fighting amongst the dogs, and they all seemed to get along equally well (although I think the beagle had a special crush on one of the cocker spaniels). My question was answered when I heard one of the cafe owners loudly bang a plastic bottle against the wall to discipline a particularly mischievous golden retriever for peeing on the floor instead of the newspapers in the corner. He then firmly grabbed the pup's snout and lightly struck it, and the retriever quickly took a submissive posture making "I'm sorry, please forgive me" eyes at his master.

So, order is kept very well here with a firm alpha-dog/cafe-owner. Here is the cafe's website.