The Dog Cafe LA
Have you heard of The Dog Café? In November 2016, Cat Alley Lady wrote a blog post about her trip to the Los Angeles Cat Café. Immediately I loved everything about the idea and wondered if there was a dog version. Cat Alley Lady let me know that Los Angeles has the 1st dog café as well. As you can imagine, I started planning my trip immediately. January 18, 2017 my dream became a reality.
At 12:45 pm I arrived in the area. I’m the 1st to admit I am a bit directionally impaired and WAZE (A MUST HAVE FREE APP) is my best traveling friend. However, even with WAZE, downtown Los Angeles, where N Virgil Avenue and Silver Lake Blvd meet is a very busy intersection and my early arrival time quickly decreased. I phoned The Dog Café and was nicely directed to their location. I had both Shasta and my luggage for a weekend in San Diego and was reassured to know they have a security guard on site with underground parking.
After ordering my beverage (complimentary with my $10 fee-I believe it is now $15 but whose counting as it helps the dogs) and receiving my session number/badge I was able to enter the second part of The Dog café where the interactive dog area is located.
The Dog Café opened in April 2016 and Kennedy (who has been there since May 2016) was happy to answer all of our questions. She came to LA for music but has always loved dogs. Her love for her work is obvious as she interacts with the furry members of our group.
The Dog Café takes in a lot of the “less adoptable dogs”. They work with special needs and assist with rehab for those that need it. A great example is Rocket.
Rocket
Rocket is originally from Korea. He lost one hind leg with a spinal cord injury and the other from an infection occurring in the leg since he was dragging it. He had a wheelchair donated but he doesn’t really like it and prefers to scoot. He also gets very anxious around other dogs. Shasta says he totally understands. His arthritis makes him worry other, more hyper dogs, might knock him down and that it should be obvious Rocket would feel the same way.
It is actually because of Shasta I probably fell in love with…well all of them, but especially Rocket and Mimi. My heart just broke when I heard her story. At 13 she is the eldest dog at The Dog Café. Her “forever” family, who she had lived with since the time she was a puppy, decided to surrender her after she started getting older. She has arthritis and nervously licks her paws. Actually, she is obsessed with 2 things, her paws and her ball.
Mimi
In fact, I connected with the dear, sweet Mimi that I sent her an extra special package. Our dear friend Elyse’s “Ditch the Itch” (see our review of her fabulous Natural Paws products) and our new favorite supplement TechyFlex (watch for a review in the very near future). Of course, Shasta is sure Mimi will be sharing her loot with the other Café fur family members. Thanks to the Café she will be able to live out the rest of her life, even if not adopted, at The Dog Café amongst people who love her.
Ellie was a neglect case and has been at The Dog Café for several months. She remains a bit nervous but is diligent in her job protecting us from the security guard. The staff is patiently working on redirecting her energy.
Ellie
Boo is working on re-socialization. She was abused, needs left knee surgery and is very wary of people. As she entered the group we were told to just ignore her. She picked a place on a black chair (notice she blends in) and totally relaxed.
Boo
December 2016 was a great rescue month for the Café. Nine dogs were adopted and that opens spots for nine new dogs to be brought in. Just the morning of the day we were there they had filled two of those spots.
If you are ever in LA I highly recommend you add The Dog Café to your agenda. It is a VERY special place with fur kids (and the staff who love them) you will never forget. You might just find your own furry soul mate while you are there!
Loved reading about the Dog Cafe’! How wonderful that there are caring people who rehabilitate precious pooches and find homes for them! <3
It truly is a special place. Our thoughts and prayers continue to be with your family after the loss of your precious fur kid!! ??
What a pawesome place! And that Rocket is such a cutie!! (Well, they all are, but I especially love him!)
The hubs and I are talking about going to LA for a little visit – I’ll have to remember to try to go to this place when we get our act together and go!
We are definitely had a PAWsome time! It’s such a fun place to visit!
There was talk of a dog brewery (showcasing adoptable dogs) here but I don’t know what came of it. I’d love to visit a dog cafe sometime though.
Ooh, a dog brewery would be VERY cool!
How cool! I’ve never heard of this place before. Is it run by another organization or are they on their own? How many dogs do they have? Mimi’s face is so ADORABLE!
P.S.: We are in NYC and just checked out Best Friends’ new adoption center here. Pretty cool.
I believe they are their own entity and working to grow. It’s so exciting you just got to see Best Friends NY! I’ll look forward to reading your post. ??
How wonderful! This sounds like such a fun place to visit. We’re so glad dogs are getting attention at cafes, too.
We were excited to see they had a dog cafe too. You kitties are much calmer so I’m sure it’s easier to have you all in a cafe. Sniles, Barks and Wagging Tails, ~Shasta and Denise
This is so awesome! I didn’t know there were dog cafes too! I absolutely love that they specialize in the “less-adoptables.” That is a cause that is very near and dear to my heart! Mimi’s story is absolutely heartbreaking 🙁 Thank you for sharing about your experience. I’ll be visiting my first cat cafe in a couple of weeks, so now I’m extra excited about it!
We do too. My dog mom doesn’t say it but I think I was a “less adoptable” too… Smiles, Barks and Wagging Tails, ~Shasta
I’d never heard of it, sounds amazing. I honestly don’t think I could have left there without Mimi, given my fondness for older dogs. Thanks for letting us know about this amazing place, and for spreading the word.
It was a PAWsome place! I agree it was difficult to leave them behind so I sent gifts… ??
I’ve never been to a dog cafe. I have visited a couple of CAT cafes, though (same principle). And when I used to go regularly to Colorado, one of my fav spots to hang out and have lunch was the DOG BAR, where you could sit outside and the neighborhood dogs came to cage French fries.
Ooh a Dog Bar that is PAWsome!!
That sounds like such an awesome place! I always wondered if a dog version of the cat cafe would pop up. So glad these special babies have a safe, loving place to hang out while they wait for their forever home and get their needs attended to. I’d love to visit someday!
When I 1st started searching I had trouble finding them. I’m really hoping to spread the word!!
It’s amazing how many creative, awesome ideas people can come up with in order to help animals. If I lived in the area, I’d definitely visit.
We love that there are cat and dog cafes. If I could I’d open one too. Such a PAWsome concept!
Oh my gosh. I sooo have wanted to go to a cat cafe. I would love a dog cafe! Of course I also would want to take them all home with me!
Me too!!
What a great idea! I didn’t know there were dog cafes, but do now! Really like their mission of rehab for those dogs in need of it. Thanks for sharing this special place!
I love the concept of cat and dog cafes. Especially how well they take care of those with special needs!
What a lovely report, and a magical trip. I’d take three dog home and I’m a cat person!
They melt the heart don’t they – and next time I vist the USA I HOPE to get to LA!!!!
I would feel the same in a cat cafe BOL & MOL
These dogs are so adorable! I’m glad that they ended up in a place where they are being well cared for. It is fun to see all of the pet cafes popping up around the world. It is a great way to show potential adopters who the pets really are inside.
We PAWsitively agree!
I was able to visit my first cat cafe in New York last fall. It was a wonderful, unique, heartwarming, and sad experience for me. The sadness came from realizing these wonderful animals didn’t have a forever home. Glad to hear you enjoyed your visit to the dog cafe.
It really is sad they don’t have forever homes. I was thankful to see everyone there treating therm like family… ??
Awww so lovely. I will definitely drop by some time with my puppies. They will love it.
Hello Cindy,you will have a great time! Just to be sure,it’s a cafe where they have rescue dogs needing forever homes instead of a cafe to bring our current furry family members. ????
This is the kind of therapy I need: to be surrounded by dogs in a cafe!
It is definitely terrific therapy!