Written by Joseph Berridge, Founder / Lead Yoga Teacher at Joga Yoga Training
What Is Puppy Yoga?
Puppy yoga is a yoga class where puppies move freely around the room while participants hold simple poses. It is built around the puppies, not the practice, so Joga Yoga Training treats it as a playful animal encounter rather than a way to build an actual Hatha or Vinyasa yoga practice.
Most sessions run 45 to 75 minutes. A few puppies, usually a litter from the same shelter or breeder, are let loose in the room while an instructor leads a short, gentle sequence. Some puppies join the poses. Most just wander, nap, or climb on whoever is closest to the floor. The appeal is the mix of light movement and constant puppy contact, not a serious workout.
Why Do People Try Puppy Yoga?
People try puppy yoga mainly for the mood lift, not the exercise. A 2003 study in The Veterinary Journal measured hormone levels before and after short, friendly interactions between people and dogs and found a real physical effect, not just a feel-good story.
That drop in cortisol and rise in oxytocin is the actual mechanism behind the “puppy yoga makes you feel good” claim. It is the same reaction you get from petting any friendly dog. Puppy yoga just stretches that interaction out over a full class instead of a quick pat on the head.
How Does a Puppy Yoga Class Actually Work?
A puppy yoga class opens with a short check-in, then moves through a handful of beginner poses while the puppies are released into the room. Expect downward dog, child’s pose, and cat-cow, the same basic poses used in any beginner yoga sequence, held longer than usual so a puppy has time to climb onto your mat or curl up next to you.
The class ends with dedicated cuddle and photo time, usually 15 to 20 minutes, once the yoga portion wraps up. Instructors plan around the puppies, not the other way around, so expect the sequence to pause or shift if a puppy needs a break.
Is Puppy Yoga Really Yoga?
Puppy yoga is a wellness activity built around yoga poses, not a full yoga practice on its own. Joseph Berridge, Founder and Lead Yoga Teacher at Joga Yoga Training, has spent the past decade studying yoga, Chinese medicine, and music in India and Bali. Joga Yoga Training is a Yoga Alliance Registered Yoga School based in Canggu, Bali, and its teacher training goes into alignment, breathwork, and philosophy in a level of depth that a 45-minute puppy session was never built to cover.
That is not a knock on puppy yoga. It is just a different activity wearing yoga’s clothes. If you want the actual practice, alignment cues, breathwork, a sequence that builds over weeks, that is a separate thing from an hour with a litter of Labradors.
How Do Puppy Yoga Events Support Shelters and Adoption?
Many puppy yoga sessions are run as fundraisers, with ticket fees or donations going toward the cost of caring for shelter animals. Attendees also get to meet puppies in a relaxed setting, which regularly leads to adoptions that a shelter’s regular visiting hours don’t generate.
In Bali specifically, groups like Little Steps Matter, a registered nonprofit working to end animal suffering on the island, run rescue and adoption programs that depend on this kind of community support and visibility.
What Should You Check Before Attending a Puppy Yoga Class?
Before booking a puppy yoga session, check the puppies’ age and vaccination status, where they came from, and whether the operator gives them real breaks. A cute Instagram feed says nothing about how the puppies are actually treated between sessions.
- Age and vaccination: puppies under 8 weeks old are not fully vaccinated. A responsible operator will not put them in a room full of strangers before that. Some animal welfare groups have raised exactly this concern about parts of the puppy yoga industry, which remains largely unregulated.
- Where the puppies come from: some sessions use shelter puppies waiting for adoption. Others partner with breeders for early socialization, a practice the American Kennel Club has documented in North American classes. Neither is automatically wrong, but a reputable operator will tell you straight which one it is.
- Water and rest access: confirm the puppies have their own water and a space to retreat to during the session, not just the humans.
- A stated session limit: puppies tire fast. Look for an operator that caps how long each puppy works a room per day.
- Recent reviews: read for mentions of stressed or overworked puppies, not just how good the photos turned out.
What Are the Popular Variations of Animal Yoga?
Goat yoga, bunny yoga, and kitten yoga all work on the same principle as puppy yoga: a calm animal presence during a light yoga sequence to trigger the same stress-lowering response. Goat yoga tends to be the rowdiest of the group, since young goats climb onto backs and shoulders mid-pose. You can see how these animal formats sit alongside more established styles of yoga if you want the full picture of where the practice has stretched.
Is Puppy Yoga Right for You?
Puppy yoga is right for you if you want one fun, low-effort session with animals and don’t mind a loose, interrupted class structure. It is not the right choice if you want to build an actual yoga habit or need an uninterrupted practice.
| Dimension | Puppy Yoga | A Traditional Beginner Class |
|---|---|---|
| Focus | Puppy interaction and mood boost | Alignment, breath, building a practice |
| Pace | Slow, frequently interrupted | Steady, uninterrupted |
| Structure | A few poses repeated with breaks | A full sequence taught start to finish |
| Best for | A one-off fun outing | Anyone building a consistent habit |
If the puppies are what get you onto a mat in the first place, that is a fine place to start. Joga Yoga Training’s own daily classes in Canggu run in an open-air shala, a different setting entirely from the closed studio most puppy yoga sessions use, and a natural next step once you’re ready for a practice that sticks around after the puppies go home.
Ready to Build an Actual Yoga Practice in Bali?
Joga Yoga Training runs Yoga Alliance-certified 100, 200, and 300-hour Yoga Teacher Training in Canggu, Bali.
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