Yoga with Choya

I'm the last person to voluntarily sign up for yoga class (not my thing wat) or group activities, but I quickly signed up for a class of Puppy Yoga when I realized that such an option and venue exist, and there was a slot on the day/timing I wanted. That's totally because Choya is welcomed in this yoga class.

The 50-minute class consisted of 35 minutes of yoga and 15 minutes of playtime. The ‘playtime’ is subjective since not all dogs want to play with humans, or with one another. Unless they are puppies. Or dogs who really crave for pets and cuddles. And since this isn’t a pet cafe......

Read the FAQs thoroughly. I needed to know the requirements, and also what I would be in for, and if I was comfortable with them. There's a maximum ratio of 3:1 in a class, so that's ten humans to four dogs. If these four dogs are allowed to roam around, then I'm glad that they split the classes for small dogs and bigger ones. Size matters I suppose, when it comes to play. But I'm also mindful that Choya doesn't totally play, and if she does, it's the fang-to-fang sort and a chase. Choya does meet-and-greets, she doesn't bother to entertain anything further.

Finishing this yoga class wasn't a priority. Watching Choya's behavior was. I was quite prepared to leave the class at anytime if Choya was stressed out. Choya is very well-trained, and is fairly patient. She will obey my cues, but only if they're reasonable. That is also dependent on dog dynamics of any given class, and how trained the other dogs are, and how their owners react and define their dogs' boundaries. 

There were three dogs in class today — Choya, and two boys — maltipoo, and a Frenchie. (Not that breed matters. It's just an identifier.) She didn't want to play with either of them, deftly avoided them and found nice corners to chill out at. Oof. I support that. The organizers gave out some dog treats at the end of the class. But Choya isn’t food-motivated at all, so true to her nature, she wasn’t interested in being fed treats by humans. She was happy to wander around, sniff at stuff and humans and generally being chill. 

Puppy Yoga's owners are very entrepreneurial to do this. There's interest, but how it's sustained will be entirely up to the business development direction the organizers choose to take. The current price points make sense for everyone to check it out, especially if they deem their dogs suitable to hang out in such an environment.

Once my curiosity is satisfied about what goes on in a yoga class with dogs, I might not return if there isn't a value-add to future classes. Meanwhile, it's pretty well-organized and while the organizers aren't able to influence dog dynamics, they're vigilant and they keep the studio clean. The rest would have to be borne by dog owners who ought to understand responsibility and check all their furries' aggressive behavior. 

I didn't care much about the yoga. Heh. I had to chaturanga over Choya, who had decided to rest on my mat. She knew how to manage herself just fine, and met all my expectations for indoor behavior in an unfamiliar setting. She was allowed to play, to react, to be herself. She knew I was there, and I approved of all her behavior, so she wasn't stressed out. She trusts that I've got her back, and I'll be there for her no matter what. It was an experience for Choya, another deposit in her memory bank.