Participants in Brenda Bryan's doga class interact with their pets while striking a pose.

When we practice yoga at home, our cats think we’re on the floor to play, as they sprawl across our mat or rub wet noses against our arms when we’re in downward-facing dog pose. But it’s yoga classes specifically for pet owners and their dogs — called doga — that we’ve been hearing a lot about lately, from both proponents and critics. “I modify yoga poses to include our ‘dogis,’ ” says Brenda Bryan, author of Barking Buddha: Simple Soul Stretches for Yogi and Dogi (Skipstone Press, 2009), a guide to home doga. “It’s a fun and healthy activity for you and your dog.”

Suzi Teitelman, who now teaches yoga and doga in Jacksonville Beach, FL, first started doing doga at home and with private clients in 2001. When she put it on the schedule at Crunch in New York City, where she was the director of yoga, she says, “It was a huge success.” Teitelman says the dogs tend to obey their owners during class, and Bryan says the animals become more mellow once they’re in the studio. “I also provide a little play time before class, so the dogs and humans can hang out and get to know each other a little bit,” she says. While the yogis receive the stretching and strengthening benefits of a regular yoga class, the dogs “receive physical benefits from the massage and stretching like relaxation, stress release, improved circulation and range of motion,” Bryan says. In poses such as the Lucky Dog Lunge, owners massage the dog’s jaw, releasing tension “for the barkers and chewers” and producing a calming effect.

Though critics often say doga is another Westernized corruption of yoga or just plain silly, Teitelman says that many yoga poses are inspired by animals — downward-facing dog and upward-facing dog, for example. (In Barking Buddha, Bryan calls them Double Dog Downward Dog and Up Doggy.) Doga interpretations seem more literal — the person squats behind the dog and lifts the dog’s front legs in the air for up-dog and lift the back legs for down-dog, says Teitelman, who adds that she coaches students carefully to ensure there are no injuries to the pets or people. For those who may not have access to a local doga class, which typically lasts half an hour to an hour, check out Barking Buddha and keep an eye out for Teitelman’s doga DVD, scheduled for release in early 2010.

For tips on more conventional dog activities, check out “Dog Gone: Gear for the Active Canine” in our July/August issue. What’s your opinion of doga — a fun workout for you and your pet or an exercise in silliness?

Photo credit: Bev Sparks

Tags: Adho Mukha Svanasana, Alternative medicine, Bark, Bev Sparks, director of yoga, Doga, exercise, FL, Florida, health, Human behavior, Human Interest, Jacksonville Beach, Mind-body interventions, New York City, Suzi Teitelman, yoga, Yoga positions