Dog-friendly hotels/motels in Korea

[GregD]

Hey guys, does anyone know of any places we can stay and take our dog? We hate having to put her into a pet hotel here...Jinju was traumatized during our very short excursion to Jeju (2 days) and we would lke to spend a little time traveling.

Thanks in advance...

Greg

[Karen]

Hi Greg,

Whenever we travel with Sage we bring her into the hotel with us. We usually stay in average yeogwans, once in a minbak and once in a more "upscale" pension. We ask at the front desk and show them how small and "good" she is (many treats required because she actually gets quite squirmy around new people). She's a 7.5kg mini Schnauzer, so not actually that "small" for Korea.

We show them our crate, too, and assure them she won't be left in the room alone, or if she is she'd be crated. We've only been turned down once or twice and there was always a nearby hotel that would let her in anyway, so we could just choose another place. Some people ask that she not be allowed on the bed, but Schnauzers don't shed and I bring her blanket, so she doesn't leave hair behind anyway.

Actually it's been pretty easy. How big is your dog? Is your dog very barky? Those things would make a big difference.

[annie]

Hi Greg,
I personally don't know of any pet hotel. However, another option might be to find a pet sitter. If you go to the Animal Lovers in Korea Yahoo Group, you will find a list of pet sitters in the Files section!

Good luck!

Annie

[GregD]

Jinju is an average Cocker Spaniel...she is about 9-10 kgs. She's not really that barky and she would never be left alone in the room anyway.

I will be honest about pet sitters...if I know a person I am fine. But I am not a very trusting person and I would probably spend most of my time hoping that everything is OK. I am all for the service, for those who want it, but it just doesn't work for me. Jinju is very demanding and needs to be walked 3 or 4 times a day...and I mean good time outside.

We have a great vet who also allows pets to stay at his place. But we went to Jeju for a couple of days and when we got back, Jinju was a bit traumatized. She still is, actually, because she goes outside to pee and poop but they just kept her in a cage and she was forced to go there. We think she held it for a long time because she now does a lot of phantom peeing. She looks like she is peeing, but she isn't, and she will do it repeatedly every few minutes. She was doing the same for pooping, but after a day she stopped. Great vets do not necessarily make great pet sitters. So I can't see myself doing that again!

Thanks for the info! We are going to travel a bit during the summer months (I have 2 months vacation!!!) so I think we will try the yeogwan route!!! Thanks everyone!

[Karen]

Yeah, I agree. My vet is great but I wouldn't use the pet hotel service because of exactly what you described. There's no one there to walk the dogs and Sage would try to hold it. She holds it for the 12 hour flight to Toronto, too, believe it or not!

Anyway, you might have to "persuade" the yeogwan people by explaining that Jinju is quiet and well-behaved, so my only tip would be to make sure she gets a lot of exercise and is calm before you try. The last time we stayed in a yeogwan with Sage it was on rainy Buddha's birthday and she looked a bit like a swamp monster. Luckily it was already 8pm and obviously a slow day so they let us in, but the woman was really hesitant. Sage looked better all dried off the next morning!

I'm not sure what you're planning for your summer vacation, but we did a 5 day driving trip of the south a couple years ago, Yeosu-Namhae-Geojaedo. We found some cute cabins to stay in in one of the coastal towns, there was a resident dog there that Sage could play with. It was really fun, and the beaches were quiet and nice. Sage had her first ocean swim somewhere down there. I recommend going south :)

[GregD]

Hi Karen,

We are planning to go south, I scuba dive and I really want to get into the water soon! Do you remember where you found those cabins? That would be sooooo cool!

I've heard that Yeosu is really a nice area.

G

[Karen]

I checked and I don't have the name of the cabins written down :( but I have this "report" I wrote for my mom with pictures! The cabins were on Namhae-do and the "pension" was on Geojae-do in (or maybe near) a provincial park, both with ocean views. Let me check a map and see if my husband can remember the spots. And if you want to see the pictures I can email you the "report" (they're stuck in a word document so I can't just post them).

[GregD]

I'd love any info you have! Patti and I are thinking of going to Goje, we were there before, but it was during the vacation week last year. I used to work for DSME so we stayed at the Admiral Hotel on a staff rate! Was the pension expensive?