The yoga poses are modified both for the humans of different sizes and abilities and for the dogs. During class, Bryan reminds people not to push their canine partners to perform.
‘Honor where your dog is’
“Don’t be too ambitious,” she said. “Honor where your dog is and remember that dogs respond to our energy.”
Leilani, a toy poodle, is the star of the class, perhaps because the tiny 11-year-old is too timid to venture off the mat to play with the big dogs.
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Her owner, Suanne Nagata, said afterward that Leilani just loves being touched.
“I could just feel her relax,” she said.
The class was designed to offer a new way for humans to spend time with their pets.
“This is 80 percent fun,” said Eve Holt, director of community relations for the Seattle Humane Society.
Bryan calls it “partner yoga,” because the class encourages both the human and the dog to increase their awareness of each other.
“Magnet and I were just in this little bubble,” said Emily Keegans, referring to her black lab.
She said her dog really loves getting the one-on-one attention he receives in yoga class and she likes having another opportunity to both exercise and spend time with her dog.