We tried Puppy Yoga in Birmingham and everyone in the room was 'overjoyed'
"A lot of people say it's therapy for them and everybody goes away so happy. They say it's the best day of their life."
Britain is a nation of animal lovers, so it's no surprise that the search for wellness has coalesced with the animal world.
We see it in universities offering puppy welfare sessions to stressed students and cat cafes popping up on more and more high streets.
Now, one of the most exciting trends of all has come to Birmingham: puppy yoga. The puppies of course, are not the ones doing downward facing dog, but are introduced to the classes for a super charged burst of warmth and love.
Paws and Breathe offers the unique sessions every Saturday and Sunday at the CFC Studios in Birmingham, just outside of the city centre in Aston.
There are only one or two sessions a day and the puppies are rotated every week, as their welfare is just as much a priority as that of the participants.
As an avid animal lover myself, who will go on a walk and yelp excitedly at every single dog I see, I knew had to give this class a go. After all, when would I be surrounded by excitable puppies again?
Experiencing the class
My excitement was near fever pitch when I turned up to the class, eagerly scanning my surroundings on puppy alert.
Of course, when they all arrived, my insides melted. All of the puppies were excited and eager with play with us.
However, the session is split into approximately 25 minutes of yoga before the rest of the time is devoted to doggy cuddles. So after a brief fuss with the little darlings, we had to be patient.
We start the class with the puppies kept aside in a pen, to prevent total chaos throughout the session, and are guided through a gentle yoga class.
For someone who has only done a couple of hours of yoga in my entire life - and only then as a form of release during the pandemic - I found the class very relaxing, and a good balance of ease and challenge in the movement we were required to do.
However, the constant thought in my head was "where are the puppies?" You can hear their excited whines and the scuffle of energetic paws puncturing the quiet of the class, stoking up the excitement of everyone in the room.
And then, they release the hounds, and it's absolutely joyous. The puppies are released from their pen and come scrambling towards you, tripping over themselves with delight.
They gambol around with each other and climb onto people's laps, overflowing with curiosity about the world around them.
It's incredibly fun to watch them run around and play, but the greatest feeling of all is when one of them decides to plonk itself down on your lap and you feel like the chosen one.
Veins pulsing with serotonin, you cuddle the puppy until it decides it wants to take part in the action again, and runs off to play with the toys scattered around the room.
Lauren and Georgie, who run Paws and Breathe, also ensure everyone has the chance to have their photos taken with the puppies, to ensure the special memories are recorded forever.
What was particularly heartwarming to see was that not only was every person in the room overjoyed, but so were the puppies, and these classes play an important part in their development.
Socialising the puppies
Paws and Breathe is run by Georgie Bodle and Lauren Jones, both from Tamworth, as a wellness initiative for both humans and puppies.
29-year-old Georgie breeds dogs, with over 40 at home, and decided to launch the venture with 27-year-old Lauren after seeing the success of puppy yoga classes in London.
While it offers people the chance to have a special experience with the puppies, many of whom may rent or not be in a position to have a dog of their own, the classes are important for the puppies' development.
Georgie said: "From about six weeks once they've had their vet checks and vaccinations - the puppies come here and start their major socialising, which is a great tool for us because it gets them out and meeting people.
"The best part is a lot of them find their forever homes here as well - which is great because it means we get to meet the people beforehand, we get to have chats with them and see how the dogs interact with them.
"That's really important for me as a breeder, because I want to make sure that dog is happy with that person. If it were to show me a sign where it was a bit on edge, I'd think, that's not really the right dog for you."
Georgie has a decade of experience in breeding and has run a wellbeing service for the last two and a half years, caring for ill puppies and supporting other breeders when they need extra help.
"There are people out there that don't have a clue what they're doing. Accidents do happen," Georgie said.
"Sometimes the dogs may get pregnant and they freak out and say they don't know what to do - and that's where I step in.
"I also run the intensive care side so we deal with a lot of sick puppies that come to us - s either mum's rejected them because they know something's wrong, or they need tube feeding - something like that.
"So we've got a room that we dedicate just to poorly puppies and do the oxygen therapy and nurse them back to health."
In terms of the puppy yoga classes, Georgie is enthusiastic about how much the puppies' interactions with people ensure they are socialised and prepared for the world when they go to their new homes.
"We think it's an absolutely fantastic tool. It's very important for us in particular because we want to make sure they're not going to be afraid of different things," she said.
"So we do a lot of noise therapy at home, we play loud sounds to them - busy roads, traffic, fireworks - noises like that.
"I'm also making sure I'm picking them up, pulling their ears, so we make our puppies bomb-proof. It makes sure that when they do go to their homes, they've had all that initial training that they need to give them the best quality of life.
"So socialisation for us is so so important, and here they're getting to see different people - different skin colours, different hair types - we have people here who have disabilities that they need to be a bit more careful around. So it's a great thing for the puppies."
For more information and to book a class, go to facebook.com/pawsandbreatheuk/ or email info@pawsandbreatheuk.com.
