Tisha Shelley is the owner of Phnom Penh’s only canine cafe, Edgar Allan Paw. While she has only been in Phnom Penh for a year, the bespectacled mutt fanatic has already become an expert on the nascent dog scene here. Shelley sat down with Brent Crane this week to share her knowledge of the best hound havens in Phnom Penh.

Phnom Penh Animal Welfare Society (PPAWS)

Cambodia can be a difficult place to navigate when thinking about your pet’s health and well being. While Edgar Allan Paw likes to do things the natural way, we also understand there is a need for veterinary support to back up that healthy lifestyle. With over-medication and over-vaccination being an issue; it is good to work with a vet who can talk you through treatment options and allows you to play a part in your pet’s recovery. PPAWS works tirelessly with Phnom Penh’s pooches all the way through to provincial communities to vaccinate, spay and neuter, health check, and assist with exporting. (Dr Chamnan just recently returned from the UK after training there for this.) It’s also great to deal with a vet who spends a lot of her time working as a charity for the betterment of animal health and welfare in Cambodia. That way, you know every dollar you pay or donate is being used to support a fantastic local cause.

Pet Grooming Cambodia

We partner with the owner of Pet Grooming Cambodia, Donabelle. She does dog-spa days at a village in Tuol Kork. Once a month, she’ll put on a grooming day, everything from coconut-oil massages to de-ticking dogs. You can get a whole day’s worth of services from her. It’s a little on the pricey side, but she does everything: nail, teeth, ear cleaning, the whole nine yards. Her service list is quite substantial. Her clients include everything from huskies all the way through to Pomeranians. She has a lot of long-term expat clients. It’s easy too: drop em’ off, come back, pick em’ up. 

Animal Mama

Animal Mama – who offer a variety of dog services along with a lot of rehabilitation and rescuing – are fairly new, but super popular because they do pick up and drop off. They’re located in a big villa at Russian Market. A lot of their business supplements their rescue work. There are only a couple of day cares in town, and this is one. It has no cages; they have a swimming pool; it’s all supervised. Lots of playtime and exercise. She also does hydrotherapy (physical therapy for dogs but in water) snacks and food, nap time. It’s a very North American kitsch kind of day care. She runs it similarly to a kindergarten. You can find her through her Facebook page. 

Dog-friendly venues

Phnom Penh has a few dog-friendly bars and restaurants. There’s Che Culo. And the Bassac Lane bars are dog-friendly. There’s Feel Good Cafe. And at Farm to Table we have doggy days once a month. It’s super fun for me because the owner, Brittany, has the same mentality that I do in terms of healthy food and natural options. Eleven One restaurant – the prices are great and the food’s great. Randomly and weirdly, Grand River on Riverside, opposite the FCC, they’re dog-friendly. There’s a bunch of other ones, but there’s a difference between allowing dogs and being accommodating. Some will just let you in but make you sit off to the side, alienate you. And now with the crackdown on dogs at parks – we’re in a position now where City Hall has just pushed dogs from the parks to the street – they’ve brought the poop problem from the parks to people’s houses. 

Good Dog Dog Training

Will Barton, he’s an English guy. He’s actually got a qualification, animal science or something, and is really laid back. There are a lot of dogs here with behavioural issues – that have been locked in apartments, not socialised. He works really well with dogs with issues. He has a really big cross-section of dogs that he works with, everything from beagle puppies to massive Dalmatians and golden retrievers. There was a pet boarding and training business in Sihanoukville that damaged and killed a lot of dogs. Will did a lot of work in recovery and retraining those dogs and helping them come back. His website is gooddogkh.com.