DOGS Pamper pooch? Cafe is doggone good location

Many people live in small areas and can't have lots of pets at one time.
SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE
SEOUL, South Korea -- At the Bau House Cafe, dogs show up on the couches, on the tables, on the windowsills -- but not on the menu.
Though dog still is a delicacy for some South Koreans, pets are pampered here in ways that top even the United States.
On a muggy day this summer, a black cocker spaniel, a border collie, an Irish setter and a schnauzer in a red dress were among two dozen dogs racing around the cafe. A trio of baby Chihuahuas emerged from a rolling pink carrier in pink and white cheerleading outfits.
The pets were living out every naughty-dog fantasy, lapping from bowls of shaved ice and barking nonstop. On a typical weekend, the cafe serves 50 to 60 tables of customers each day in this trendy university neighborhood. The humans sip pricey fruit shakes and slurp noodles while the dogs nibble on free treats handed out by cafe workers.
As South Koreans have become more affluent in the past decade, they have been able not only to afford pets but also to spoil them.
"In my parents' generation, all you had to do was feed a dog and give it a place to sleep. That's all they could do," said manager Lee Sung Jae, 27. "But for the younger generation, it's a 'forever pal.'"
He has one dog, a Welsh corgi, Hwarang, named after noblemen in Korea's Shilla Dynasty. He would like to get two more dogs, he said, but his home is too small.
Little green space
Seoul is a city of few parks and small apartments in huge high-rises -- limiting pet ownership and making Bau House an oasis for dogs and dog lovers. Located on the third floor of a commercial building, the cafe has white-painted brick walls and exposed green pipes across its ceiling. Its tables hug the wall, leaving room for the dogs to sniff each other, play-fight and wag their tails.
The floor is covered in vinyl, the walls in waterproof paint. A clutch of mops leans against the center post, and rolls of toilet paper hang on pegs.
"The most important thing is to make it sanitary. Dog pee on a carpet stinks," explained the spiky-haired Lee, who wore a green T-shirt with the gaping maw of the Jaws shark outlined in orange. "With tile, you get a lot of dirt."
Customers snap photos of one another's dogs with digital cameras, this tech-savvy country's ubiquitous fashion accessory. To make the dogs look up to the camera, roaming cafe workers hold up a stuffed duck or clap wooden sticks together. Employees cuddle even the big dogs, as if they are burping babies. One cradled a large borzoi that poked its pointy head over the man's shoulder while its legs gripped his waist.
The cafe even has a Web site: bau.cyworld.com. And in July, it hosted its first dog summer camp along the Hantang River, a two-day event featuring rafting, a pork barbeque and a campfire attended by 25 humans and even more dogs.