I’ve never been a huge fan of dogs – not that I dislike them. Before all the dog lovers reading this start gasping in shock, they’re fine, and I’ll give a pat to a cute one if I see it, but I’m not their biggest admirer.
However, there is one exception to this rule: chihuahuas. I absolutely adore chihuahuas. I love their tiny little paws, their bulging eyes, their fluffy ears and even their high-pitched yapping.
This love is why, when I was scrolling through TikTok a few months ago and stumbled upon a video of a café in Edinburgh where you can spend time with a bunch of these adorable little dogs, I immediately booked a train.
I had an entire weekend in Edinburgh planned, but it was the café I was most looking forward to, so when we arrived bright and early on Saturday morning, I could hardly contain my excitement – although I tried, as I had read the dogs were more likely to approach you if you were calm, reports the Mirror.
I even managed to persuade my boyfriend to join me, even though his idea of fun might not involve a dozen tiny dogs clambering over him. Fortunately for me, he’s very patient, and I’m very persuasive.
We happened to book our visit to the café on the seventh anniversary of the cafe’s opening, so there were some delightful surprises in store.
We were ushered in along with other attendees and directed to select a sofa to sit on before the dogs were released. Once we were comfortably seated, the friendly staff gave us a briefing on how to handle the chihuahuas – more like cats than Labradors.
Essentially, they advised us to be serene, quiet and bear in mind that chihuahuas are tiny – so avoid getting too close to their faces as it might stress them out.
After our briefing, the nine chihuahuas were let loose. The café typically has seven dogs, but for this special occasion, two retired dogs had returned to the pack.
Adding an extra cute touch, all the dogs were dressed as anime characters, ranging from Pikachu to the Catbus from My Neighbour Totoro.
Instantly, the dogs jumped onto our laps and I was immediately moved to tears by their cuteness.
It felt like a dream come true to see these tiny creatures up close and be able to stroke them. They weren’t yappy at all, nor shaky or any of the other negative stereotypes often associated with this breed.
They were beautiful, calm, cuddly and I thoroughly enjoyed every moment of our 50-minute session.
We had some playtime on the floor with the dogs (although they seemed more interested in just cuddling) before they all posed perfectly for pictures on our lap.
As our session drew to a close, we returned to the sofa, each cradling a chihuahua as we sipped our coffees and engaged in hushed conversation. I was holding Faery, while my partner had Hepburn – both dogs were sound asleep on our laps within minutes.
Parting ways at the end of the session was a bit of a downer – but it left me with a renewed resolve to someday become the proud owner of one of these beautiful dogs.
If you fancy paying a visit to these pups, you can make a booking on their website here – but be quick about it as slots tend to get snapped up pretty fast.