Puppy Love: The Adorable Yoga Craze Taking Australia by Storm

If you've ever struggled to find the motivation to drag yourself to a yoga class, imagine being told there would be a room full of adorable puppies waiting for you when you arrived.

Suddenly, squeezing yourself into a pair of leggings and attempting a downward dog doesn't seem quite so daunting, does it?

Welcome to the wonderfully chaotic world of Yoga Paws, where traditional yoga meets puppy playtime, and the biggest distraction isn't the person next to you breathing too loudly, but a tiny furball climbing onto your mat, chewing your shoelaces or deciding your lap looks like the perfect place for a nap.

And judging by its extraordinary popularity, Australians simply can't get enough.

What started as a small weekend venture in Brisbane just two years ago has grown into a thriving business operating across nine Australian cities, with expansion into New Zealand and Europe now underway.

Behind the concept are Harry McCann and Tea-Maria Constantin, a couple who combined their love of animals with their backgrounds in fitness and yoga to create something a little different.

The idea came together in September 2024, just ten days after the pair relocated from Sydney to Brisbane. Harry had a background in fitness, Tea-Maria practised yoga, and both had grown up around dogs. They had also recently welcomed a Dalmatian puppy named Shelly into their lives, who became something of an accidental founding member. Shelly joined the early sessions as an opportunity to socialise with new people, helping the couple realise that a relaxed yoga environment could offer something enjoyable for both humans and puppies.

Initially, the plan was simply to run a class every second weekend while continuing with their regular jobs. There were certainly no grand ambitions of building an international puppy yoga empire.

But the public had other ideas.

The first sessions proved so popular that Yoga Paws quickly expanded to the Sunshine Coast and Sydney, followed by the Gold Coast, Perth and Adelaide.

Today, the business operates weekly sessions across nine Australian cities, bringing together yoga enthusiasts, animal lovers and people who simply fancy spending an hour surrounded by puppies.

And really, who could blame them?

Each 60-minute session combines gentle, beginner-friendly yoga with plenty of opportunities to interact with the puppies, although anyone expecting a perfectly peaceful hour of stretching and meditation may be in for a surprise.

As the Yoga Paws team explains, the animals tend to have their own ideas about how a yoga class should unfold.

"A puppy doesn't care how flexible you are, which takes a lot of pressure out of the room," they explain.

"People can stretch, laugh and spend time with the animals without feeling they have to be good at yoga."

And yes, the puppies have been known to bring proceedings to a rather adorable standstill.

"If one settles on someone's mat or falls asleep beside them, the pose can become less urgent."

Which, frankly, sounds like my kind of exercise class.

Part of the appeal is that absolutely no yoga experience is necessary, and there's none of the intimidation that can sometimes come with walking into a fitness studio full of people who appear capable of folding themselves into shapes that defy basic human anatomy.

Instead, the atmosphere is relaxed, playful and wonderfully unpredictable.

Friends book sessions together, couples turn up for slightly unconventional dates, parents bring their teenagers, and some people come along on their own, simply because spending an hour with puppies sounds like a rather lovely way to spend an afternoon.

Interestingly, the animals also make excellent icebreakers. There's something about a puppy wandering onto a stranger's mat that makes starting a conversation considerably easier.

And in a world where so much of our social interaction happens through screens, perhaps that's another reason the concept has struck such a chord.

Of course, working with animals means things don't always go according to plan, and some of the team's favourite moments have involved their four-legged guests completely stealing the show.

At a kitten yoga session in Adelaide, one particularly energetic little character apparently decided relaxation was overrated and spent much of the class racing around the studio.

The rescue organisation involved, Lucky Little Paws, later described it as their best kitten yoga session yet.

Then there was the Canberra greyhound session where the organisers had to change the line-up because several of the dogs had already been adopted before the event took place.

Not exactly the sort of last-minute cancellation anyone was going to complain about.

While the puppies undoubtedly get most of the attention, there's also a more meaningful side to the business.

Yoga Paws works with local breeders and animal rescue organisations, with dedicated rescue sessions featuring kittens and retired greyhounds alongside its regular puppy classes.

Between July and August this year, ten rescue events held across five Australian cities raised $7,120 for five animal welfare organisations, including Paws For Change in Adelaide and Best Friends Felines in Brisbane. It's a lovely extension of the concept, giving people an opportunity to enjoy the company of animals while supporting organisations working to care for and rehome them.

Naturally, animal welfare is an important consideration when puppies are involved in an activity like this. According to Yoga Paws, the puppies attend with approved breeders or rescue organisations and are supervised throughout each session by two trained animal carers, separate from the yoga instructor.

The animals are free to explore, approach participants or retreat to a designated rest area whenever they need a break. Sessions are separated by an hour to allow for rest, and participants are given guidance on interacting safely with the puppies.

Many of the puppies are around eight or nine-weeks old and are introduced to the sessions as part of a carefully managed socialisation experience before heading to their new homes. The business says the animals are not sold during classes and return to their carers afterwards.

For Harry and Tea-Maria, the biggest surprise has been just how far their relatively simple idea has travelled.

What began as a fortnightly activity has grown into an operation involving local instructors, venues, animal carers and rescue organisations around the country, along with collaborations with brands including Porsche, LSKD, Mirvac and Cirque du Soleil.

And the expansion isn't stopping at Australia's shores. Yoga Paws is preparing to launch in Auckland, while its first European venture has already opened in Luxembourg, where Tea-Maria grew up.

The move has been particularly special for her, with family members helping establish the business in her home country.

The first Luxembourg pop-up was held in August, and the following six September sessions sold out before the weekend even began.

Not bad for an idea that was originally supposed to keep two animal lovers busy every second weekend.

As for whether puppy yoga will turn you into a more flexible, spiritually enlightened version of yourself, I wouldn't like to make any promises.

But if it gets you out of the house, introduces you to a few new people and leaves you smiling after an hour spent with some ridiculously cute puppies, I'd say that's a pretty good result.

And if your downward dog ends with an actual dog asleep on your yoga mat?

Well, that's probably the best excuse for skipping a pose I've ever heard.

Want to give it a go?

Yoga Paws operates across nine Australian cities, including Sydney, with sessions available in Bondi Junction and Annandale. Classes run for 60 minutes, cost $59 per person and are suitable for ages 12 and over. No previous yoga experience is required.

For session locations, upcoming dates and bookings, visit www.yoga-paws.com.