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Sarah Chapman holds a puppy during a puppy yoga class at Inner Diva Studios on Sunday, March 8, 2026 in Austin. About 30 people signed up for a yoga class featuring loose puppies that can be adopted or fostered through the Forgotten Friends mixed breed rescue. Part of the class registration fees also went to the rescue.<\/p>\n
Aaron E. Martinez\/Austin American-Statesman<\/p>\n
One white, scraggly mutt named Lambchop won over the crowd at a Northwest Austin puppy yoga class \u2014 until he relieved himself on someone\u2019s sweater.<\/p>\n
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Across the room, another puppy named Winston repeatedly interrupted the instructor, prancing around the studio as attendees tried to focus on their butterfly pose.<\/p>\n
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Caroline Schaeffer holds a puppy during a puppy yoga class at Inner Diva Studios on Sunday, March 8, 2026 in Austin. About 30 people signed up for a yoga class featuring loose puppies that can be adopted or fostered through the Forgotten Friends mixed breed rescue. Part of the class registration fees also went to the rescue.<\/p>\n
Aaron E. Martinez\/Austin American-Statesman<\/p>\n
Monica Pellegrino, manager and instructor at Inner Diva Studios, brings a puppy in for a puppy yoga class at Inner Diva Studios on Sunday, March 8, 2026 in Austin. About 30 people signed up for a yoga class featuring loose puppies that can be adopted or fostered through the Forgotten Friends mixed breed rescue. Part of the class registration fees also went to the rescue.<\/p>\n
Aaron E. Martinez\/Austin American-Statesman<\/p>\n
Maria Freemyer, a volunteer and foster with Forgotten Friends, carries a puppy into a puppy yoga class at Inner Diva Studios on Sunday, March 8, 2026 in Austin. About 30 people signed up for a yoga class featuring loose puppies that can be adopted or fostered through the Forgotten Friends mixed breed rescue. Part of the class registration fees also went to the rescue.<\/p>\n
Aaron E. Martinez\/Austin American-Statesman<\/p>\n
Elif Yegenoglu hugs a puppy during a puppy yoga class at Inner Diva Studios on Sunday, March 8, 2026 in Austin. About 30 people signed up for a yoga class featuring loose puppies that can be adopted or fostered through the Forgotten Friends mixed breed rescue. Part of the class registration fees also went to the rescue.<\/p>\n
Aaron E. Martinez\/Austin American-Statesman<\/p>\n
Karina Vidal holds a puppy during a puppy yoga class at Inner Diva Studios on Sunday, March 8, 2026 in Austin. About 30 people signed up for a yoga class featuring loose puppies that can be adopted or fostered through the Forgotten Friends mixed breed rescue. Part of the class registration fees also went to the rescue.<\/p>\n
Aaron E. Martinez\/Austin American-Statesman<\/p>\n
Karina Vidal holds a puppy during a puppy yoga class at Inner Diva Studios on Sunday, March 8, 2026 in Austin. About 30 people signed up for a yoga class featuring loose puppies that can be adopted or fostered through the Forgotten Friends mixed breed rescue. Part of the class registration fees also went to the rescue.<\/p>\n
Aaron E. Martinez\/Austin American-Statesman<\/p>\n
Fable Avalon pets a puppy during a puppy yoga class at Inner Diva Studios on Sunday, March 8, 2026 in Austin. About 30 people signed up for a yoga class featuring loose puppies that can be adopted or fostered through the Forgotten Friends mixed breed rescue. Part of the class registration fees also went to the rescue.<\/p>\n
Aaron E. Martinez\/Austin American-Statesman<\/p>\n
Luis Abrego, left, and Fable Avalon, right, take a photo with a puppy during a puppy yoga class at Inner Diva Studios on Sunday, March 8, 2026 in Austin. About 30 people signed up for a yoga class featuring loose puppies that can be adopted or fostered through the Forgotten Friends mixed breed rescue. Part of the class registration fees also went to the rescue.<\/p>\n
Aaron E. Martinez\/Austin American-Statesman<\/p>\n
Puppies play during a puppy yoga class at Inner Diva Studios on Sunday, March 8, 2026 in Austin. About 30 people signed up for a yoga class featuring loose puppies that can be adopted or fostered through the Forgotten Friends mixed breed rescue. Part of the class registration fees also went to the rescue.<\/p>\n
Aaron E. Martinez\/Austin American-Statesman<\/p>\n
Puppies play during a puppy yoga class at Inner Diva Studios on Sunday, March 8, 2026 in Austin. About 30 people signed up for a yoga class featuring loose puppies that can be adopted or fostered through the Forgotten Friends mixed breed rescue. Part of the class registration fees also went to the rescue.<\/p>\n
Aaron E. Martinez\/Austin American-Statesman<\/p>\n
Karina Vidal pets puppies during a puppy yoga class at Inner Diva Studios on Sunday, March 8, 2026 in Austin. About 30 people signed up for a yoga class featuring loose puppies that can be adopted or fostered through the Forgotten Friends mixed breed rescue. Part of the class registration fees also went to the rescue.<\/p>\n
Aaron E. Martinez\/Austin American-Statesman<\/p>\n
Caroline Schaeffer holds a puppy during a puppy yoga class at Inner Diva Studios on Sunday, March 8, 2026 in Austin. About 30 people signed up for a yoga class featuring loose puppies that can be adopted or fostered through the Forgotten Friends mixed breed rescue. Part of the class registration fees also went to the rescue.<\/p>\n
Aaron E. Martinez\/Austin American-Statesman<\/p>\n
MJ Cuevas, a fitness professional, leads a puppy yoga class at Inner Diva Studios on Sunday, March 8, 2026 in Austin. About 30 people signed up for a yoga class featuring loose puppies that can be adopted or fostered through the Forgotten Friends mixed breed rescue. Part of the class registration fees also went to the rescue.<\/p>\n
Aaron E. Martinez\/Austin American-Statesman<\/p>\n
\u201cDid you get the message about being zen and calm?\u201d the instructor asked the pooch, smiling.<\/p>\n
The chaos is part of the appeal.<\/p>\n
But behind Austin\u2019s booming puppy yoga trend, a debate is emerging over where the dogs come from, who profits from the classes and whether some events put animal welfare at risk.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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While the class hosting Lambchop and Winston partners with rescues and shelters, many for-profit puppy yoga companies popping up across Austin work primarily with breeders \u2014 a model rescue advocates say can pose health risks and divert support from shelters.<\/p>\n
Rescue-based classes say for-profit competition hurts adoptions<\/p>\n
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Caroline Schaeffer is licked by a puppy during a puppy yoga class at Inner Diva Studios on Sunday, March 8, 2026 in Austin. About 30 people signed up for a yoga class featuring loose puppies that can be adopted or fostered through the Forgotten Friends mixed breed rescue. Part of the class registration fees also went to the rescue.<\/p>\n
Aaron E. Martinez\/Austin American-Statesman<\/p>\n
At Inner Diva Studios in Northwest Austin, owner Stacey Scantlin and her team have hosted puppy yoga for years.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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Since 2017, Scantlin has partnered with rescues and shelters weekly to support adoption and foster programs, putting animals in Austin homes one class at a time. It\u2019s a socialization exercise for the dogs and an opportunity for community members to find a forever companion.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Scantlin said in the early days, the studio\u2019s weekend puppy yoga classes would sell out, with around 30% of puppies receiving adoption applications after a class. Inner Diva donates the majority of class profits to its partner rescues and shelters, and at its peak, would hand over close to $1,000 after a sold-out weekend.<\/p>\n
But Scantlin said the recent arrival of heavily marketed, for-profit puppy yoga companies has hurt her business, and in turn, hurt the rescues, shelters and puppies that the classes used to support.<\/p>\n
\u201cI want to say in June or July, last summer, we saw the first for-profit studio pop up,\u201d Scantlin said. \u201cWe immediately saw a decline in our attendance at puppy yoga at Inner Diva.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Unlike rescue-focused events, many for-profit classes feature purebred puppies that are already spoken for and generate revenue that stays with the business. Those companies typically charge around $69 per class and don\u2019t donate their proceeds. The American-Statesman reached out to multiple Austin-area shelters and rescues, and none said they had received donations or support from any for-profit puppy yoga company.<\/p>\n
Instead, they use their revenue to finance extensive advertising campaigns on social media featuring influencers, purebred puppies and smiling attendees.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Scantlin said Inner Diva struggles to compete with the advertising budgets of national companies. Inner Diva takes a small cut for credit card fees, instructor costs and a small studio space rental, but on average, for every $1,250 raised, $1,000 is donated.<\/p>\n
Donating so much leaves little money available for high-visibility marketing.<\/p>\n
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\u201cWe work with so many foster-based rescues, we worked with Austin Pets Alive, Austin Humane Society,\u201d Scantlin said. \u201cWe had so much exposure and didn\u2019t have to do a lot of advertising because it was a word-of-mouth thing. Now the amount of marketing that (for-profit studios) do has squashed us in the Google listings and on social media. That has translated to our classes.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rescue groups raise health concerns<\/p>\n
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Puppies roam the studio during a puppy yoga class at Inner Diva Studios on Sunday, March 8, 2026 in Austin. About 30 people signed up for a yoga class featuring loose puppies that can be adopted or fostered through the Forgotten Friends mixed breed rescue. Part of the class registration fees also went to the rescue.<\/p>\n
Aaron E. Martinez\/Austin American-Statesman<\/p>\n
The for-profit companies behind many puppy yoga classes popping up around town are transparent about their in-studio cleaning standards, but rarely offer insight into the practices of the breeders making it all possible.<\/p>\n
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Those unknowns pose a threat to the health of puppies and attendees alike, said Lindsay O\u2019Gan, instructional design manager at Austin Pets Alive and longtime veterinary professional.<\/p>\n
When APA previously participated in puppy yoga events, strict cleaning protocols were enforced from start to finish, O\u2019Gan said. Puppies were required to be at least 8 weeks old with up-to-date vaccinations, and even if those boxes were checked, the shelter wouldn\u2019t involve the puppies in a class unless they were strong enough for it.\u00a0<\/p>\n
O’Gan said her primary concern is that attendees at breeder-supported events often don’t know how the dogs are being cared for, what health protocols they have undergone or what illnesses they may be carrying.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She said shelters closely manage vaccine schedules through veterinary teams and typically vaccinate animals as early as possible, while some breeders administer vaccines themselves, delay vaccinations until puppies are older or oppose vaccination altogether.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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For attendees with pets at home, O\u2019Gan said understanding where the animals come from and how they are cared for is especially important.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnimals might be sick anywhere,\u201d she said. \u201cI would encourage people to look at where those animals are coming from and make sure that they\u2019re ethically sourced animals, and ideally that they would come from someone with experience like an animal shelter, where you can look up their protocols and how they care for their animals.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dallas parvovirus outbreak highlights risks<\/p>\n
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Luis Abrego pets puppies during a puppy yoga class at Inner Diva Studios on Sunday, March 8, 2026 in Austin. About 30 people signed up for a yoga class featuring loose puppies that can be adopted or fostered through the Forgotten Friends mixed breed rescue. Part of the class registration fees also went to the rescue.<\/p>\n
Aaron E. Martinez\/Austin American-Statesman<\/p>\n
Puppies are more susceptible to disease than other age groups, especially to highly contagious diseases like parvovirus. If left untreated, parvo has a mortality rate of about 90%. It can survive on surfaces for months and requires a specialized cleaning regimen to entirely remove it from the environment.<\/p>\n
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In summer 2025, at least five Dalmatian puppies from a litter of nine died after a parvovirus-related incident connected to a Puppies & Yoga event in Dallas, according to reporting by the Dallas Observer.<\/a><\/p>\n At the time, the company said it maintained strict cleaning protocols and attributed the outbreak to health practices of a partner breeder. The breeder denied the company\u2019s characterization of events but told the Observer that she was not required to submit medical records to Puppies & Yoga before bringing her animals into the class.<\/p>\n \u201cThis has been the only parvo-related incident we\u2019ve encountered after hosting over 10,000 puppies from more than 1,500 breeders and rescues across 39 studio locations,\u201d the company said in a 2025 statement.<\/p>\n Puppies & Yoga, which charges $69 per class, did not respond to multiple requests for comment from the Statesman.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Companies find success in Austin<\/p>\n Puppies roam the studio during a puppy yoga class at Inner Diva Studios on Sunday, March 8, 2026 in Austin. About 30 people signed up for a yoga class featuring loose puppies that can be adopted or fostered through the Forgotten Friends mixed breed rescue. Part of the class registration fees also went to the rescue.<\/p>\n Aaron E. Martinez\/Austin American-Statesman<\/p>\n Puppies & Yoga entered the Austin market in February 2026, but has operated in Dallas since 2024. In just a few years, Puppies & Yoga has grown to almost 60 studios nationwide, offering multiple 45-minute yoga classes followed by 30 minutes of puppy playtime.<\/p>\n Puppies & Yoga Austin doesn\u2019t have a permanent studio. Instead, the company rents space from Creative Collective, a community hub at 2505 E. Sixth St., mirroring the pop-up model it uses in most cities.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n A local instructor affiliated with the company, who requested anonymity for fear of retaliation, said instructors are not involved in breeder-selection decisions and receive little information about partner breeders. Business cards are available at the front of each class with contact information for the partner breeder, and attendees are invited to do their own research.<\/p>\n Puppies & Yoga\u2019s website provides little information about its ownership or operations. No headquarters location is listed, and public records reviewed by the Statesman show few details about its U.S. leadership. The company was given a D+ rating and remains unaccredited by the Better Business Bureau<\/a> based on its \u201cfailure to respond\u201d to a complaint, the website shows.<\/p>\n Puppies & Yoga Austin has maintained a five-star Google rating based on more than 100 reviews at the time of publication. The company frequently responds to reviews with a $5 discount code.\u00a0<\/p>\n The company previously told the Dallas Observer that it deletes critical social media comments.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Puppy Yoga Club, another for-profit company offering puppy yoga in Austin, also has locations around the country.<\/p>\n Its Chicago location was subject to multiple citations by the city for operating without a business license, failing to display its license, lacking an animal care license and for advertising \u201cthe retail sale of animals,\u201d according to reporting by Block Club Chicago<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n