果酱视频

She Googled it and learned it鈥檚 a nonprofit in St. Peters that trains dogs to become service and therapy animals. Biss immediately wondered if there was room to do yoga in the retail space 鈥� with the dogs.

She works as a full-time paraprofessional in the Orchard Farm School District and part-time yoga instructor with her company, , organizing and teaching classes in various locations.

The popularity of incorporating adorable baby animals with gentle stretching and yoga sessions has spawned a number of fundraising opportunities for animal welfare groups. It鈥檚 also attracted commercial businesses working with puppy breeders with little transparency about their practices.

Biss focuses on working with nonprofits and rescue efforts. For the past three years, she had been teaching yoga classes at Cat Zen Cafe and Lounge on Main Street St. Charles, which features time with the kitties. Part of the proceeds go toward helping feed the cats, who are also available for adoption. She also teaches yoga classes involving baby goats.

鈥淎 lot of people are scared to do yoga,鈥� she says. The presence of cute furry animals makes it less intimidating.

鈥淵oga is about being present in the moment and enjoying the moment,鈥� she says. 鈥淲hen you are around animals, they are so good about keeping you in the moment.鈥�

One of her customers in her cat yoga class had been asking her to offer a class with puppies. Biss promised to look for an opportunity to make it happen.

After spotting the sign in the mall, she connected with Meribeth Broadway, founder of Dogs on Duty. Half of the proceeds from the classes could be used as a fundraiser for the nonprofit, she says. Even though the nonprofit eventually closed the retail space in the mall, Broadway wanted to find a way to make the partnership work. They found a space at Third Wheel Brewing in St. Peters and started offering puppy yoga classes a year ago.

Just like the goat and cat yoga classes, the puppy sessions sell out quickly. (Classes cost anywhere from $22 to $35, depending on the type, and reservations can be made through .)

Broadway warns participants at the beginning of the class that they won鈥檛 experience a traditional yoga class.

鈥淵ou will get interrupted quite a bit,鈥� she says. Puppies will likely run around, play, snuggle and nibble on people and their clothing, as puppies do. Biss advises participants to dress in comfy clothes. No need for fancy yoga outfits here.

The classes used to be offered monthly, but since Broadway鈥檚 nonprofit is run by volunteers, they鈥檝e dropped to once every three months to make scheduling easier. Initially, they scheduled two classes a day, but they quickly realized the puppies got pooped after the excitement in the first class.

鈥淭hey slept through the whole second class,鈥� Broadway says. They cut back to one class. The sessions allow her puppies and dogs in training to get critical socialization and become familiar with being around a variety of people. If Broadway doesn鈥檛 have enough pups in the right age group, between 3 to 6 months old, she will coordinate with rescue groups to ensure there are about six pups per class.

Other nonprofits have benefited from the trend of combining yoga with adoptable pets. The Animal Protective Association of Missouri advertised a yoga with kittens class, and Stray Rescue participates in one or two yoga-based fundraisers a year.

Stray Rescue provides anywhere from three to six puppies for the event, depending on availability. The group requires the puppies to be at least 10 weeks old and one week past their second round of vaccinations.

A marketing boon

Recently, a new commercial enterprise began advertising puppies and yoga classes.

Rebecca Rutherford, 44, of Chesterfield, sent her sister, Sarah Bauer, 35, of St. Charles, a screenshot of a social media ad for Puppies & Yoga and suggested they sign up. On a Saturday morning last month, Rutherford attended with her daughter and sister.

When four corgi and four goldendoodle puppies were let loose in an industrial space in Downtown West used for the class, Bauer squealed. She thought they had signed up for the class with beagles and Australian shepherds. Corgis are her favorite breed.

鈥淎 lot of high pitched noises came out of me,鈥� she admits.

The instructor guided those who could focus through gentle stretches, while many of the participants cooed and cuddled the rambunctious puppies. At one point, Bauer was lying on her back on the yoga mat, when a small group of puppies mauled her hair pulled back in a bun. The swarm of pups nipped and tugged at her hair while she laughed and tried to free herself.

鈥淚f this is how I鈥檓 going out, this is it,鈥� she says.

Her sister helpfully recorded the encounter on her phone. Photo shoots with the puppies were a big part of the session. After running wild for the first half hour of the class, several of the puppies collectively plopped on the ground and power napped to recharge.

The sisters ended up loving the experience.

鈥淚 come to yoga to feel refreshed and rejuvenated, and I do,鈥� Rutherford says.

The staff members said interested parties could sign up to receive information from the breeders who provided the puppies for the event. The owner of the company, identified on a business card as Henry Sagon, refused to say which breeders provided the puppies for the sessions in 果酱视频, replying to inquiries by texting, 鈥淲e just don鈥檛 do press.鈥�

The advertises classes in numerous American cities, and charges $69 for the 果酱视频 sessions. Participants are sent details about the location only after they pay online, and multiple classes are scheduled each weekend.

The owner, whose name appears as Henri Sagon in European publications, attracted considerable controversy from animal welfare organizations in European cities.

An Irish events and entertainment website, , highlighted the pushback to the Puppies & Yoga concept, launched in Paris in 2023 by Sagon, a French entrepreneur. He brought the event series to nine other European cities, according to the report. A petition was set up in the Netherlands to try and stop the puppy yoga sessions from taking place, gathering over 8,000 signatures, the report said. It included a Dutch news source, Radar, quoting yoga teacher Milou, who had given lessons at a Puppies & Yoga session in Amsterdam. The instructor shared concerns about the puppies’ wellbeing, even filing a police report after participating in the classes. Other groups raised concerns about the puppies’ ages and vaccination status.

Laura Keller, director of communications for Humane Society of Missouri, cautioned people to be wary of businesses who may be working with questionable breeders.

鈥淲e, of course, believe in the 鈥渁dopt, don鈥檛 shop鈥� concept of bringing a pet into a home, and have had to rescue thousands of puppies from substandard or unlicensed breeders in Missouri for years,鈥� Keller says.

Broadway, who runs Dogs on Duty, said they are upfront about where their dogs come from and how the yoga activity will help socialize them. They make sure the puppies are never overworked and are fully vaccinated.

鈥淭hey have to be a certain age before they can go to puppy yoga,鈥� she says.

Biss says she will soon be adding to her animal-themed yoga classes. She鈥檚 partnering on Aug. 23 with Dolly鈥檚 Dreamhouse, a rabbit rescue group in St. Charles.

Part of the proceeds from her bunnies and yoga class will go toward helping the rescued rabbits get foster care and vet treatments.

Her clients continue to request classes with different animals.

One customer asked for yoga with llamas.