The Large Dog Café

A few weeks ago I went to a large dog café not far from NEO. While it is called a ‘café, it does not serve any food or drinks. It is a place where you can spend an hour with some friendly large-sized dogs. It is called ‘Mofuchiru’ (or in its full Japanese name 大型犬ふれあいカフェもふちる). Japan is a country of mostly small sized dogs, but I have always preferred bigger dogs. I grew up with golden retrievers and think they are much cuter than most smaller dogs. So, I was curious what the dogs at this café would be like. I had a bad experience with a cat café many years ago. All the cats were unfriendly and slept in high spots the entire time. It was a waste of money. Luckily this dog café had many friendly dogs, and it was fun to spend time with them.

We arrived late on a Monday afternoon. I think the dogs were a little tired and hungry at the time. When we arrived, we were hit by an immediate strong dog smell. We were worried about how friendly the dogs would be but one patiently came over to us straight away. Throughout the next hour we got to spend time with many different breeds of large dogs with varying personalities. Some had a lot of energy while some were more relaxed and patient. Every once and awhile one of them would think dinner time was coming and would get everyone a bit too excited. It was funny to see their reactions, but also their reactions when they got told off for being too noisy.

They had many different breeds there. Most of them were very young. It is surprising how big some of them get at such a young age. The St. Bernard they had was only a one-year-old and yet was already very large. They had various mixed breeds too, including mixed retrievers. I talked with one of the staff members about a border collie they had. I was confused because my mother has two border collies, but their one had very different ears and body shape. The staff did agree that it is probably mixed with something and that the store they picked it up from was incorrect about its breed.

It was cute to see many kinds of dogs play with each other. By the end, most were sleeping. I think they had a long day. If you are interested, it is a fun way to spend an hour. I have heard they plan to open a dog salon upstairs in the building too. But if you are keen, maybe go in the early afternoon when the dogs are still full of energy.