Get your puppy cuddling zen on with this Charlotte dog rescue’s yoga class
There’s nothing quite like watching a puppy dog wiggle around on a yoga mat beneath you while you’re in a down dog position.
Or seeing a fuzzy little bundle of energy race circles around another yogi’s mat while they’re pretzeled in a pigeon pose.
But truly, one of the greatest feelings I have ever experienced in my life came during savasana of the Pits & Giggles puppy yoga class I attended in late June, when a dozy guy named Elmer Fudd conked out on my chest. I was splayed out on my back, relaxing in what’s also known as corpse pose at the end of the yoga class, and little Elmer couldn’t keep his eyes open after what had been, for him, an hour of play. So I just let him nuzzle in.
But for that and what happened next, I feel like I need to offer my apologies to the woman whose mat was positioned next to mine.
Because I was still in a puppy-cuddling-bliss haze, but feeling a bit guilty that I had monopolized one little guy for so long when I handed furry Elmer off to the person next to me … completely forgetting what happens immediately after a tiny puppy wakes up.
You see, when a puppy first wakes up from a long sleep or even a small nap, there is almost always a dire and urgent need for them to relieve themselves.
Which Elmer promptly did on the yoga studio floor next to the person who might not be my closest friend anymore.
It’s one of the very, very, very few dangers of puppy yoga.
20 yogis and 7 puppies
Pits & Giggles, a rescue organization that helps pregnant pit bull-mix mama dogs, began experimenting with the classes earlier this year. They think they’ve settled on a surefire new fundraising effort, and plan to start regular classes in September or October. The idea is to have classes every couple months, whenever there’s a new litter of puppies.
“It’s just been a really great way for us to get our name out there, to get our babies out there, to get our mission out there,” said Amanda Forsythe, the group’s president and founder.
“I was really nervous at first, but the puppies have done phenomenally. We’ve only had very few incidents of random projectile explosions. Because puppies are puppies. You know, they do puppy things. You can’t not puppy.”
The organization has held two rounds of puppy yoga classes at the Cornwell Center in Myers Park Baptist Church since May, each capped at 20 students — and seven puppies — per class. Each class cost $30 per person.
“Any more than that and I don’t think everybody would get a chance to touch a puppy,” Forsythe said.
Which, of course, is the whole point of doing puppy yoga.
30 minutes of intense play
Pits & Giggles is uniquely positioned to have a never ending supply of puppies for yoga classes for a simple reason: The group focuses on rescuing pregnant pit bulls or pit bull-mix dogs, giving the moms a quiet and safe place to birth and nurse puppies, and then making sure all are spayed and neutered before they’re adopted out.
“We can take that whole litter of siblings when they are small enough to be cute but big enough to be out in public safely and do something like puppy yoga,” Forsythe said.
They’ve found that sweet spot to be when the puppies are 7 weeks old.
“They’re still young enough to be like, ‘Oh my God, that was 30 minutes of intense play. I really need a nap,’” Forsythe said, “which is fun because teething puppies chewing on you for an entire hour doesn’t sound super exciting.
“So our babies are still young enough that they need a nap halfway through, which is super, super cute.”
Tell me about it.
Pits & Giggles puppy yoga
For more information:
