Korean Job Discussion Forums

[ElaineVBarrett]

I will be moving to Nowon-gu Seoul in mid September and will be adopting a border collie in October. I have some questions about dogs in Seoul.

1. Border collies are not little dogs you can carry around in a small carrier and fit under your seat. What are procedures for subway, buses, and trains?

2. I REALLY don't want to leave my boy home all day while I'm working. Are there doggy day cares in Seoul? Specifically in the Nowon-gu area? If so can someone provide me with addresses and contact info considering I don't speak Korean (yet).

3. Are there any agility training schools/courses in Seoul where I could take my dog to learn/practice agility?

4. What sort of dog parks can be found in Seoul - specifically Nowon-gu?

5. Are there any border collie clubs and such in Seoul?

6. Obedience training - can it be found in English? Anyone in Nowon-gu know any trainers in the area? How much might costs be?

7. What is the status of pet food and pet supplies stores in Seoul? What are the best food brands available to buy? What are the costs of dog supplies?

8. Vets? How widespread are English-speaking vets? What are the average monthly vet costs? Is Pet health insurance available? What about microchipping and tattooing?

9. Dog venus like cafes, etc? Where might these be in Seoul?

That's all I can think of right now but it's a good start. I'm trying to plan ahead as much as possible.

[Forward Observer]

There are some border collie groups in Korea, but they're all Koreans that own them. I've met a couple because I've had aussies back home and aussies are similar to border collies.

Where are you adopting a border collie? They got any more that need adoption??

Can't answer any of your other questions, except to say that most vets speak English to a certain degree.

[ElaineVBarrett]

The current owner can no longer take care of his boyo and so we worked out through email that I'll take him once I get over to Korea. He doesn't have a second one.

[pullmydaisy]

Actually I would be interested in knowing more, too. This is my second year here, but I just got a toy poodle, and I'd like him to have the opportunity to socialize with other dogs, have playdates, etc.

So yeah, basically contributing nothing here, but seconding the interest.

[ElaineVBarrett]

Another idea is getting a list of those of us who speak English in Korea, where we are each located, and what sort of dogs we each have. There's no reason we can't form a doggy play group for our dogs just like people do with their kids. It also might provide contacts in case one of us needed a dog sitter during a weekend or someone to help out in an emergency. We can be a safety/friend/support network for one another.

[pullmydaisy]

that's a good idea. one problem i come across is....where to have the playdates. greenspace in seoul isn't non-existant, but in some areas, it is extremely sparse. i live in yeongdeungpo, and there are ZERO parks here, small patches of grass at best. going to yeouido requires the subway. we'd have to scout for parks that are located within/between our districts.

[ElaineVBarrett]

Well I will be in Nowon-gu and I know it's near parks and hiking trails and such. I'd certainly be willing to scout out more and host get togethers and such once I get my boyo and get all settled. I am just really really trying my very best to get all the info I can beforehand so everything is set when I get home.

Here's my info
Name: Elaine Barrett
Dog: Male Border Collie - 1 year old
Location: Sanggye Nowon-gu, Seoul
Availability: After Oct 1st 2009
email: [email protected]
AIM: Varalis
Yahoo: xneyanax
Skype: Elainevbarrett

I'm very open to meeting and getting to know others in Seoul and Korea in general who have dogs and would like to do doggy playdates, sitting, outtings, etc.

[Forward Observer]

I would be willing to help you out anytime with pet sitting. I don't ever respond to other people's requests on this site for dog sitting or adoption because I am an aussie/border collie lover, and I would never consider another dog. I live right next to a forest park reserve in Seoul, and a couple of universities that have tons of acreage as well.

Hit me up if you ever need a hand. I'll be here for another couple of years, have an F5 visa (permanent resident) and my wife is back in the states. No one but me, so I have lots of free time on my hands.

I also have a lot of BOUNCY BALLS and FRISBEES to play with...

Remember meeeee......

[mlh]

I don't know about Seoul but having a larger dog can be difficult to do in Korea.

I have a jindo mix and he's about 50lbs and you can forget about taking him on the bus. I live in the sticks way south of Seoul and there isn't much available as far as boarding (there is a vet an hour and a half away that could prolly take him but he'd be in a cage all day so that wont happen) therefore I don't travel much.

You can however take your dog in taxis (as long as the driver is cool with it) and on ktx as long as its kenneled. You can take your dog on buses but the driver will most likely require you to put your dog in the cargo part which is not air conditioned or ventilated so not really an option.

But I do believe there are some good English speaking vets in Seoul. You should really check out www.animalrescuekorea.org it has all kinds of info about vets and supplies, etc.

As for dog food I feed my dog Candidae which is pretty good dog food. I get it from Gmarket and its about 45,000 won for a 15lb bag

[ElaineVBarrett]

Hmmmm... So taxi and KTX kenneled but not the buses. And I imagine the subway is also a no go.

Any advice for a first time border collie owner? I'm really hoping to get involved in agility as well as frisbee with my boyo.

[Forward Observer]

I don't know how you're going to get the dog to places where he/she can run if you don't have a car, or a kennel cage, but boyos are not that big, so maybe a taxi will eventually stop for you. When I met the girls that had boyos and their friends in that dog club, we met at the Seoul World cup stadium where there is a lot of acreage to run and play. We did this after 8pm, when there weren't too many people out. That's on subway line number 6.


These are two of my dog's favorite foods:

Liver and kidneys


I brown the sliced liver in a little butter on both sides, then cut it into small pieces.

For the kidneys, I put them in a colendar in the sink and pour a pot of boiling water over them,. I then put the rinsed kidneys back into the pot, cover with cold water, bring to a boil, then cover and turn off the heat. When cool enough to handle, I cut it into bite sized pieces.


If you're ever interested in RAW food diet for dogs, check out:

http://www.angelfire.com/mi/romyldale/nutrition.html

[ElaineVBarrett]

You know how to do the raw diet in Korea? My hero! I'm reading Work Wonders: Feed Your Dog Raw Meaty Bones right now and am wondering what sort of raw meats and such will be the most available in Seoul and where to go! I would LOVE to put my boyo on that type of diet. It would be absolutely ideal!

[Forward Observer]

This guy speaks some English, he might be able to help you with finding agility clubs and whatnot. My wife is in the states right now, so I can't do searches too well on Naver.com in Korean.


http://redbeans.egloos.com/1808887


Here's a funny one...Divine church of the Border Collie!

http://blog.naver.com/reginekm?Redirect=Log&logNo=10001632372

[ElaineVBarrett]

Okay that church site was an absolute riot!

[mlh]

The Raw Diet has interested me too but I can't figure out about meat and stuff here. Although I do make homemade meals for my dog's dinners. I have wanted to get some liver for my dog but I don't even know how to ask for it. How do you say liver in korean?

Dogster.com is a great resource for RAW and homecooked meals. It also is a good resource for behavior training stuff.

I don't know much about boarder collies but I have heard they can be a bit of a handful but are very intelligent so easy to train.

I rescued my dog here and he's older (around 6 years old). Training him initially was a bit difficult but I got this book: "When Pigs Fly Training Impossible Dogs" and I started behavior shaping with a clicker and I have seen amazing results and my dog absolutely loves it!

Like I said I live in the sticks so pet supply stores are in short supply in my area but I could not find a clicker here so I just had my mom mail me one, but I highly recommend clicker training. Its really easy for the dog to pick up on as a marker for good behavior and makes training 10 times easier.

Also finding a leash thats more than 3ft long has been next to impossible so you might want to consider brining a longer one from home.