Pet-friendly Restaurants

Pet-friendly restaurants have evolved from being places where owners could eat with their fur kids to "pet-friendly" restaurants, where the focus of the restaurant is on the "pet", with the fur kids as the starting point in terms of both food and space. Pet-friendly restaurants are not only new places for owners to meet their fur kids, but some restaurants are also intermediary shelters, allowing people who want to meet fur kids for the first time, or those who cannot keep fur kids, to come to the restaurants and get to know them better, and promoting the concept of adoption instead of purchase, so that the cycle of goodness can continue to grow. Chiao-wen Chu, Director of PAT'S KITCHEN, pointed out that the two-story space is more than 1,652 square meters, with a large swimming pool and outdoor recreation area, as well as pet grooming services on the first floor in addition to the pet-friendly restaurant, and a pet hotel with separate areas for dogs and cats as well as a dog kindergarten on the second floor. Considering the spending potential of Taichung's top customer segment, the company invested more than 10 million NTD and cooperated with Guan Zhong Management Consulting Co., Ltd. to create the most spacious and innovative pet-friendly space with the most detailed services. Most of the dogs living in the urban areas of Taiwan may not be able to live a truly "happy" life, even if the breeders give them more physical and mental care, as there is still a lack of completely comfortable space for their activities in the external environment.

Interviewer: San-Yu Elementary School Team

Interviewee: The Owner of P.S. BUBU-Miss Lee

[Interview contents]

Question 1: Why do you want to run a pet restaurant?

Answer:Because I have pets myself, and I love pets, so I hope that the customers who come to the restaurant are people who love pets as much as I do, and that they bring their own fur kids, and that they are happy to eat here.

Question 2: Is there a place for pets to exercise?

Answer:Actually, Tianmu is an area with a lot of parks, and there are many green areas for pets to run.

Question 3: What kind of pet equipment does the restaurant provide?

Answer:If a dog comes in, we give it a bowl of water to drink, so there is a water bowl, a plate and a spoon for the dog to eat. And we separate the dog utensils from the human’s.

Question 4: Is there a toilet for pets? Can the owner follow the dog into the toilet?

Answer:We don't have a special toilet for pets, but they can go to our bathroom, and some owners are kind enough to bring their own diaper pads, and they will pee on the pads. Or when they come in, I will suggest that they take the dogs for a walk around the patio, as maybe they want to go to the bathroom and they will want to pee, and then they will come back in after they pee.

Question 5: Do you separate the older pets from the younger ones? Do you separate different kinds of pets?

Answer:We will separate the big pets from the small pets because sometimes the small ones, such as the small Poodle, or Maltese dog, will be nervous when they see the big dogs and will keep barking, which will make the big dogs seem very unsafe. So, we would recommend they sit in a slightly separate place to be safer.

Question 6: What are the rules of the pet restaurant? How many pets can each person bring in? What should I do if my pet is running around and barking?

Answer:There are no rules. And we will ask the owner to take his pet out to calm down in that case.

Question 7: Will pets and owners be in the same area or will they be separated when eating?

Answer:They will be in the same area.

Question 8: What should I do if my pet steals food from another pet? Have there been any incidents of pets fighting or biting guests? How would you handle it? For example, do you have a first aid kit?

Answer:Yes! Sometimes dogs from different tables will growl at each other, but before they get into a real fight, I would tell the owner that you need to control your dog because it's eating other dogs' food. But in fact, our dog Aloha, once was bitten by a Husky brought by a customer, this is the part that the pet restaurant needs to pay attention to. We first separate them to sit a little farther to the right and left, so that they will not have the opportunity to fight again. After all, we value our guests.

Question 9: Have you ever had a pet run into the kitchen?

Answer:Very often, because dogs have very good noses, and they know where the food is. When the owner can't find the dog, it's often in the kitchen, but our chef will ask it to come out. After all, the kitchen is the place where the food is made, and we are afraid of hygiene problems brought by dogs coming in here.

Question 10: Have you ever encountered pets urinating or defecating anywhere?

Answer:Often. So, we tell the owners to keep an eye on their dogs. Before they enter the store, they say their dogs will pee and poop indoors. But they may forget that this is an outdoor area for their pets, so we often have to clean or disinfect with alcohol.

Question 11: Have you ever had a customer's pet run away?

Answer:Yes, we do! Even our own dog once accidentally opened the door and ran away. Because our door cannot be closed quickly, the dog may run out. Then the owners should take care of their own dogs, and they should not just bring the dogs to the restaurant and chat with friends, and forget about their own dogs.

Question 12: Is there any customer who intentionally left his pet in the store? (Similar to abandonment)

Answer:Not yet. We actually often meet very cute dogs, we would ask them if you want to keep your dog here as our own dog. But we find that every customer loves dogs so much that they all remember to take their dogs with them.

Question 13: Are there any stray animals that want to come in because they see other animals in the restaurant?

Answer:Yes, there was a stray dog wandering in front of the door and we would give the animal a little food and water if it was willing to eat or drink.

Question 14: Have you ever met any animals of special species?

Answer:I have met turtles, rabbits, macaws, Cole's ducks, black and white hedgehogs, and tortoises.

Question 15: What should I do if I encounter an aggressive pet like a Pit Bull?

Answer:Since we can't have Pit Bulls nowadays, we have only met dogs that look like Pit Bulls, but they are quite tame.

Question 16: What do you do if you don't have a meal for a special pet that the customer brings in?

Answer:No, we don't have such meal. The customers have to bring their own.