My D*g Cafe
Posted by sharlenetai on March 11, 2008
Vinh and I brought Tazzie to the ‘My D*g’ Cafe at Port Melbourne (Station Pier) on Saturday (asterix to avoid google hits). I love this pic:
Although if you closely it looks like he has a bloody left eyes- it’s only ’cause it was quite teary (he cries a lot) and it was just the way the light bounced off it…somehow the tears on his brown skin below just looked really dark in the photo. And sometimes that eye just looks funny because it IS bigger than the other…like mine! A bit freaky here but I assure you in real life everything’s normal.
I have to say the cafe disappointed me a little. There were two guys working there who probably didn’t give two hoots about dogs (or people). It was just funny because they were walking around wearing ‘I love My D*g’ T-shirts but they didn’t even acknowledge the dogs that people brought in! It was like the cafe was opened up because the owner saw a niche in the market and not because they really love dogs. There was something about the place that just felt grubby and low-cost. It’s like the people running it weren’t being paid enough to care and it’s one of those self serve restaurants where you have to go in and order your own food and get your own water from the cooler. And tables were a bit dirty. Vinh and I have decided to list ‘dog cafe’ on our list of businesses to set up in the future…one made by dog lovers, run by dog lovers and for dog lovers! Something warm and friendly and one that has a much better menu. I guess because this place was working with the ‘My D*g’ brand they were limited. But at least they could have different sized dishes for different sized dogs? The doggy dishes servings were quite small- enough for Tazzie but the big dog nearby finished it in two gulps.
The location on the pier was lovely but the the pier itself wasn’t very toy-dog-friendly- the planks had such big gaps that Tazzie’s legs fell into it as he was walking!
Most dogs at least like the big bean bag sofa thing the dogs get to sit on beside the tables but Tazzie was more perplexed than anything else. Being a dog with strong male traits I don’t think he was too pleased that he could smell other dogs on the bag and being a timid dog he also didn’t like being put in a new environment. He couldn’t settle down and we had to keep comforting him.
He was also more interested in the gigantic bull mastiff a table down from us (who was happily sitting on his bean bag…and looking like he could bite Tazzie’s head off with one gulp…but apparently was very friendly…but not like I would still risk Taz going up to a dog 7 times his size).
But he really just is such a good boy and very non-demanding. If you call him he’ll just go up to you and sit right in front of you looking at you like he’s being called to attention. He never scoffs his food or grabs it from your hand and no matter how excited he gets to go for walks he’ll still sit down quietly and lift his paw so you can put his walking harness on. And he doesn’t bark. And he holds his pee and poop till we go for walks and can do it outdoors on the trees and grass…and has recently figured out that if he REALLY needs to go he has to do it on the balcony on his litterbox. Hehe…really is the perfect dog for me.