What’s better than a café that offers your favourite treats? – A café that offers you and your dog your favourite treats. That’s right! Welcome to therPUP, Bengaluru’s first pet café – a one-stop destination for doggies, pet owners and dog lovers to have a pawesome time. Located in the heart of Whitefield amid a lush tree canopy and spacious ambience for you and your pet to play, therPUP packs a very special welcome with a shower of passionate, loving licks and fervent tail wags. therPUP’s resident puppies will readily leap and bound towards any visitor who enters through the wooden fence as if they knew you all their lives. So head over to therPUP and meet Charlie, Jojo, Tweety, Oreo, Lucky and Mojo because no other café will give you this kind of an entry.
And it’s not just all fun and games at therPUP. The Café’s menu has treats for the two-legged and the four-legged alike, though the doggie menu definitely looks yummier. While the humans can choose from an array of delicious starters, sandwiches, pasta, nachos and beverages, the doggies can opt for yummy dog food starters, treats and main courses.
While the Café officially kicked off on July 30, the place has already seen several hundreds of visitors of both species throng the space. Samantha Daniel, who’s brought her pup Cindy twice to therPUP already, says her pet doesn’t want to leave!
“It’s a fantastic place for doggies to have fun, make new friends and have a ball of a time! And for dog lovers like me, nothing can make us happier than being surrounded by these furry bundles of joy,” she affirms excitedly.
Founder Ankur Jain says the response over the first two weekends alone has been tremendous. “The place has been completely packed and even on weekdays we’ve got a load of dog lovers dropping in.”
Aparna Dinesh, a dog lover, who can’t invest time with a pet at home, says this is like a dream come true. “I can’t afford the joy of having a pet at home for logistical reasons. But at therPUP, I can finally spend quality time with my favourite animals and visit them at my own leisure. The resident pups are super adorable and just inseparable. I find it really hard to bring myself to leave every time I pay a visit. And the real treat is that it’s not just us dog lovers or pet owners having fun, this place really has dogs having a blast!”
The location is ideal for this set-up. Surrounded by trees with long-winding muddy pathways, Ankur says it’s perfect for walks with the dogs and you feel close to nature.
“It was my partner Suresh Rangarajan who showed me this place when I approached him with this idea. We modified the area and it’s now a pet-friendly zone.”
What inspired the idea? Ankur says he’s been a big dog lover since he can remember. “From my growing up years in my hometown in Chhatarpur, Madhya Pradesh, to my engineering days in Bhopal, I’ve always been surrounded by dogs. Once I moved to Bengaluru, I found that pets here didn’t have a lot of places for them to go and be themselves. Also a lot of dog lovers may not be able to have pets at home. There are a bunch of pet-friendly places but no place that provide pet-friendly food. So we set up this café for dogs with a special menu and have resident dogs as well, so everyone has a good time here.”
On future plans, Ankur says they plan to expand to have at least 10 dogs since there’s lot of place and manpower to take care of them. “A plan to start a cat café is also in the offing. But that is going to take some time and study since cats are not really people pets.
They like their own space. It will be another experience altogether. Word is also spreading and we plan to host team outings here soon so corporate companies and start-ups can come over and unwind with the puppies.”
The most important aspect of therPUP is to help pet owners to socialise their dogs, points out Ankur.
“Your pet will get to make new friends with other dogs and people too. For dog lovers, it’s a disconnect from the work life and you get to play with dogs and experience the unconditional love they provide. I want people and dogs to come and leave with happy faces and wagging tails.”
He adds that studies have proved innumerable times that being with dogs is therapeutic. “Hence the name therPUP, which stands for therapy and puppies.”
therPUP hopes to also aid the community. “Obviously, this is a move to help dogs. Very soon we will have adoption drives here. The main motive for us is to get our indie dogs adopted. We can contribute to rescue operations too. In the end, I’m not only doing it for money. It’s not a business with dogs; it’s a business for dogs. So a lot of collaborations will happen in the future.”
For the menu, therPUP tied up with Dogsee chew, an Indian dog food company. “Their dog food products are different from the usual kibbles. A lot of their products have yak milk and are healthy and tasty for dogs. We want to give our dog visitors something special in their platter from chicken mutt-balls and melon pup-sicles to veggie treats – dogs will love it,” affirms Ankur. “The only problem is my pups are there too, so they may want to have a share from the visitors!” he quips.
therPUP Café is located at Abhayadhama Road, White Rose Layout, Whitefield and is open from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. on all days except Tuesdays. Visit their Facebook page or call 9686520315 for details.
