Questions about owning dogs in Korea

[Vacilando]

I've grown up around dogs (adopted mix-breeds almost exclusively) and I miss having one dearly. I've been living in Seoul now for a couple years and I've always resisted the urge because I... well, there's a lot of reasons. Suffice it to say, I've been giving it some serious thought the past couple days (there are a couple on this site that have caught my eye) and I have a few questions I haven't been able to find answers to.

1) What do you do with your dogs when you travel? I'm out of town for a weekend at least once a month. Are there places to board animals for a few days? (I live in Gangnam) How about taking them with you for traveling within Korea by Express Bus?

2) Is it difficult finding English-speaking vets? I do speak some Korean, but not nearly enough to talk about medical stuff.

3) How do your dogs handle you being gone during the day? I've always owned dogs with my family, in a big house. Even if our dogs got bored because we all happened to be gone at the same time, they could entertain themselves without getting in too much trouble. But I'm wary considering I live in a studio apartment by myself.

4) Okay, that's all I can think of for right now. When more comes to mind, I'll post it.

I've also thought periodically about a small rabbit. It seems like they could handle me being gone during the day a lot better, as well as any travel that I might undertake (no specific plans to leave Korea soon, but it could happen, and I'd want to take any acquired pet with me.

I think a cat would be cool, but I'm allergic.

I guess I could always just provide foster care for dogs. In fact... that could be the best idea.

Thanks in advance.

[Karen]

Hi Vacilando! Thank you for the awesome questions. I'll try my best to answer based on my experience here... I've been in Korea for 7 years and have had a dog here for nearly 4 (my first dog ever). She's a 7.5 kilo black&silver mini-schnauzer named Sage (hey, that's her in my avatar). Well, my answers to your questions are based on her.

1a) Travelling in Korea
We take Sage pretty much everywhere we travel. We bought a car when we got her. Her crate cost 150,000won and our car cost 200,000! We take lots of trips because my husband is a rock-climber, and Sage can go everywhere except to National Parks. (They have cages just like in Emart at the ticket booth/ entry points. Provincial Parks, on the other hand, do allow dogs).

When she was a puppy we would take her in to restaurants, but now she is too big. She also stays in yeogwans/hotels with us, thought I don't know if a larger dog would be accepted. She also likes camping outside and going to temples, but we have definitely seen fewer museums and art galleries and taken fewer international trips since we got her.

I hear you can travel on the train and subway with a pet in a carrier, but on the intercity busses even crated pets are forced to go below with baggage (sounds cruel and traumatic to me, especially considering the driving! ). I think the smaller and quieter the pet, the easier it is to persuade the driver to allow them onboard the bus (I took a city bus with a Maltese in a soft case, driver said no problem.) I would never subject my dog to bus travel other than on my lap, and Sage is too vocal to ever be allowed in, so we've never tried. Taxis with dogs have never been a problem in my experience, though I always ask permission before we get in.

1b) Pet Hotels
I have never used a pet hotel because I haven't found one that walks the dogs, or where she could live like at home, walking freely about not confined to a cage. Instead, we've been lucky to have a friend stay at our place with her, or who will babysit her at their house when we go somewhere she can't. We can leave her alone for 4-6 hours at home of course. I'll elaborate on that below.

2) English Speaking Vets
In Daejeon it isn't so easy to find a vet who is confident speaking English, except for the medical terms. I get by with a mix of my basic Korean skills (I've studied one semester full time at a uni) and my vet's online dictionary. Plus I do a lot of research before I go in, and take printouts if necessary.

In Seoul, however, there are more vets who speak English. I'm not familiar with Seoul, but here is one good link to English speaking vet's English website, Chung Wha Animal Hospital: http://www.cwhospital.com/ If they are not close to you, maybe you could call them and ask them to recommend a closer clinic.

3) Dogs Home Alone

Luckily my husband and I had really nice schedules when we first got our dog, and they've only improved since then. We very rarely have to leave Sage alone for more than 4 or 5 hours, but usually she's only alone when we go out to eat. Some breeds can handle being alone more than others, but any dog will get used to your routine. Well, as long as, of course, you can exercise them enough that they will be sleeping while you're out anyway.

Our dog is a sleep-aholic. We have a big apartment, but when we go out we put her in one room with her open crate. We usually find her sleeping in it when we come back. Half the time she's sleeping in there when we're home, too! She's very lazy. My point, I suppose, is that you can choose a laid-back dog who is not a puppy anymore and leaving them home for a few hours shouldn't be a problem.

If you have a couple very long days in the week, you might want to consider bringing your dog to a friend's house or to a good pet hotel just for the afternoon on those days, so s/he doesn't get lonely. If most of the week you have long days, then a different type of pet may be a better choice.

Rabbits I hear are very social, too, so they're happier with a lot of attention, but I guess dogs are the most time-consuming. Fostering is a good option, too. Foster homes are always needed, but the issue of weekend trips and long hours away still needs to be considered because they is no guarantee how long it will take for a foster friend to find a permanent home.

4) Keep the questions coming!
Again, thanks for the questions. I hope you have some more!