Hoppang's family on Hwangsan Island, Ganghwado, exercises in a custom playground made from recycled materials

On Hwangsan Island, a small island you can reach by crossing Choji Bridge, which connects Gimpo, Gyeonggi-do and Ganghwado Island, Incheon, there is a special space where an entire house has been decorated as a playground for pet dogs. According to the April 29, 2023 broadcast of 'Animal Theater: Best Friends' on KBS Animal TV : Animal for You animal4u, Han Dong-chul, who lives on Hwangsan Island, personally manufactured an agility playground for his pet dog Hoppang and her family.

A 'canine-engineered' custom playground made of waste tires and artificial turf

Located in the middle of Hwangsan Island village, this playground is filled with recycled materials containing the sincerity of the owner, Han Dong-chul, instead of flashy facilities. The playground in the video was made using discarded artificial turf and old waste tires. The artificial turf serves to protect the puppies' claws, and the obstacles made of oak are 'canine-engineered' to allow the dogs to pass through in a zigzag pattern to exercise their intestines. Han Dong-chul is repurposing surrounding objects for the pet dogs, such as modifying old shrimp containers to use as feed storage.

The playground facilities carefully consider the activities of the pet dogs. After completing training to pass through obstacles, they showed a high level of training achievement, such as the puppies all lying down simultaneously following the signal from mother Hoppang. Opposite the playground, a dedicated observatory for pet dogs is provided where they can view the sea, providing an environment where they can rest while enjoying the natural scenery of Hwangsan Island.

Characteristics of Hoppang's three siblings, distinguished by ear shape

The white puppy 'Hoppang', met at an oil market 5 years ago, is currently a mother dog with three puppies. Hoppang is known to be clever enough to have worked as a farming dog digging sweet potatoes in the past. The three siblings born 3 years ago, Sapang, Ilpang, and Opang, look very similar and are difficult to distinguish, but their individual characteristics are clear when looking at their ear shapes. While mother Hoppang has both ears half-folded, the eldest Sapang has both ears standing straight up, the second Ilpang has only one ear standing up, and the youngest Opang has both ears drooping.

Their names contain special meaning. Inspired by the fact that the date the three siblings were born was April 15, the local election day, they were named with numbers meaning '4-15'. Han Dong-chul pours affection into them, calling them 'precious children'. The house where the Hoppang family stays was designed with two entrance doors for the smooth movement of the pet dogs, and the doghouse is placed in the sunniest spot in the yard to provide a pleasant living environment.

Thorough health checks managed with a market scale

Han Dong-chul regularly measures the weight of the pet dogs to manage their health. After exercising at the playground, he places the pet dogs on a scale used in markets to weigh them. Following the hierarchy, he measured the weights starting from mother Hoppang (8.4kg), then eldest daughter Sapang (8.1kg), youngest Opang (7kg), and second Ilpang (9.1kg). In particular, the weight of the second Ilpang, which was 7.9kg last autumn, increased by 1.2kg in half a year, but it is said that this is not fat gain but muscle mass formed through exercise. Han Dong-chul has been settling on Hwangsan Island for 6 to 7 years, building a rural life to be with his pet dogs.

Han Dong-chul lives with the pet dogs in a rural house with a clean living room finished with hinoki cypress, with the mindset of preparing a house to live in for the rest of his life. Although he ended up forming a large family that was not planned, he expressed great satisfaction in spending a bustling daily life sharing snacks and training with the pet dogs.