Once every hour at Escondido’s CuppaPug cafe, the door from the backyard swings open and a dozen very enthusiastic pug dogs race into the main room to greet their latest visitors to the tune of the rewritten novelty song “Who Let the Pugs Out.”

The all-pink experiential coffee shop — which opened Sept. 20 in the former Family Dollar store building on Ninth Avenue — is the world’s first CuppaPug shop outside of England, where the company was founded 21/2 years ago.

Similar to cat cafes, where visitors can sip a coffee while communing with adoptable cats, CuppaPug is a place where people who love pugs can visit and play with the shop’s grumble (the word for a herd of pugs), bring in their own pug in for some canine socialization or learn more about pug ownership.

The only difference is that all of the pugs at CuppaPug in Escondido are owned by the shop’s operations manager, Cheryl Lambert. They ride to “work” with her each day from their home in Hemet.

Though cats can be aloof or even aggressive with strangers, pugs are highly social, gentle and affectionate animals that delight in human company. It’s common for the grumble to swarm the shop’s customers with kisses — especially if the visitors buy the shop’s preapproved treats to share, like strawberries and mini-sausages.

Lambert said pugs are temperamentally suited for the cafe experience.

“Pugs are little clowns. They make me laugh,” Lambert said. “They’re one of the only dogs that weren’t bred to have a job. They were bred to be companions, to sit on the lap of the Chinese emperor and keep him company.”

A good example is Melanoi (nicknamed “Mel”), a black female pug who loves perching on people’s laps to survey the room. Or there’s Circe, who loves back and belly scratches. Pickle, one of the younger pugs, is very playful. And Hera, the oldest of the grumble at age 9, is calm and gentle.

CuppaPug got its start in March 2022, when Englishmen Aaron Carty and Matthew Pieterse decided to open a pet-themed cafe in London that allowed them to spend more time with their seven pugs: Gaston, Bruce, Bowzer, Gizmo, Beau, Bloo and Gunn. Once videos of visitor interactions at CuppaPug started circulating online, the shop went viral with more than 10 million views.

In March of this year, Carty and Pieterse opened their second shop in the Northern England city of Manchester. Over the past two years, Carty and Pieterse have been bombarded by people from around the world seeking to open their own CuppaPug stores, but the partners have held off until recently.

Carty and Pieterse liked the idea of opening their first international store in New York City, but when Lambert reached out to them last year about opening a store in Southern California, they knew they’d found someone as passionate about pugs as they are.

Lambert and her husband, Rick, purchased their first pug in 2013 as a companion for their son Cody, who is on the autism spectrum.

“Cody would have anxiety and meltdowns, but when we got him a pug, it changed his life,” Lambert said.

Today, the Lamberts have 20 pet pugs rambling around their home. Some are more social than others, so Lambert said she picks the ones best suited to meeting visitors at CuppaPug, and she often shuffles the mix at the shop from day to day to keep the dogs from getting bored.

Though none of her own pugs are up for adoption, Lambert works with Pug Rescue of San Diego to share information on adoptable pug puppies and adults. A dollar from every visitor’s session goes to the rescue group, along with 100% of sales of a pug-themed book at the shop.

She’s also organizing special adoption event days with the rescue group, where all the pugs in the shop wearing pink bandannas that day are available for adoption.

Tickets are $30 for a 50-minute session (the dogs get a 10-minute backyard break each hour). Tickets are $20 for children 16 and under and half off for military, students and pug owners who bring in their own dog for socialization.

Lambert said one of her most important jobs at CuppaPug is education. The shop allows people who are considering pug ownership a chance to spend time with and learn more about the breed, which may not be for everyone.

“We want people to know what they’re in for if they get a pug,” she said. “Pugs will shed. They need their noses and ears cleaned and can have respiratory problems. They are house dogs, not outdoor dogs. And they can be stubborn.”

The shop’s visitors range from former pug owners who miss the pug experience to families considering pug ownership. There are also adults and children who visit the shop’s gentle pugs to help overcome their fear of dogs.

CuppaPug at 607 W. Ninth Ave. is still in the soft opening phase while it awaits its city permit to sell coffee and other food items.