I hosted puppy yoga and my house ended up stinking of poo

A mother has said that putting on a puppy yoga class at home was 'one of the worst things I ever did', amid increasing calls for them to be banned. 

Suzanne Baum, a lifestyle editor from London, described hosting a pet yoga class as 'cringeworthy' and said she was 'mortified' she ever took it up.

Instead of a calming ambience, the class turned into a 'complete shambles' and saw pets pooing on the yoga mats and stinking the room.

The mother-of-three, 51 told MailOnline: 'When I look back now it was literally one of the most cringeworthy days of my life.

'It was one of the worst things I ever did. Having two dogs of my own, I see now it was totally unethical.

Mother-of-three Suzanne Baum described hosting a puppy yoga class at her home as a 'complete shambles' and 'one of the most cringeworthy days in my life'

Puppy yoga or Doga involves pets roaming around the room during a regular class. The practice has faced criticism from animal rights groups over reports of pets being mistreated

Rather than providing a calming ambience for yoga poses, the dogs relieved themselves on the yoga mats and caused chaos

'When they did that big ITV documentary on puppy yoga it made me feel sick because everything they said was so true.'

Puppy yoga, sometimes known as 'Doga' involves a regular yoga class but with pets free to roam around the room and gained popularity through online influencers. Supporters say the presence of the dogs helps add to the calm of conventional yoga.

However criticism from animal rights groups has led to the practice being banned in some countries, most recently in Italy.

An ITV documentary shone a darker light on the practice when at one £43 class hosted by The Bully Barn Essex in Wickford, puppies were placed in a small, warm room for an hour-long class without any water. 

READ MORE: Could influencer-inspired puppy yoga be shut down in Britain? Animal campaigners call for action after Italy imposed ban over fears classes are 'physically and mentally stressful' for the dogs
Advertisement

Ms Baum, who has two dogs of her own, Coco, eight and Luna, one, decided to invite ten friends for a class in 2021 after being asked by a magazine to try pet yoga.

She said: 'I'd done it previously because when it first came out it was quite a cool thing to do at PR events.

'I always loved dogs and I always thought it was such a cute thing to do - i always thought puppy socialisation was a good thing to do.'

But the session quickly descended into chaos after the company turned up at her house with a van of seven or eight puppies which, having been cooped up for hours, promptly relieved themselves in the lounge.

Ms Baum said: 'What happened to me that day was absolutely appalling.

'The first thing i thought was that if the dogs have been in back of van for an hour, how long has it been since they've gone to the toilet?

'And as expected, as soon as they came in, the dogs just started pooing everywhere. 

'I was absolutely mortified because as my guests came in, my house stank of dog poo.

'It was really unclean and I was running around with sanitiser trying to tidy it up. These puppies were maybe 12 weeks old. They were really cute but they continued going to the toilet and the place stank.

'I was absolutely mortified. I had calming music on but it was absolute chaos once the dogs started pooing on the yoga mats. It was a complete shambles.

'I started to get really pissed off because these people from the company that I rented the dogs from had come to my house but hadn't bothered to even take the dogs to the relieve themselves first.

Ten friends attended the session, which descended into chaos after seven or eight dogs arrived in a van and relieved themselves in the house

Ms Baum says the experience 'mortified' her and now supports banning pet yoga, saying the concept was 'awful'

She said the class left the dogs scared and created an 'appalling' environment for them

 'I realized after that that you don't know where these puppies are from. The ones that I had were clearly not cared for because they had been locked in cages for an hour and not let out to go to the bathroom.

'I don't even know if these puppies had had their injections.

'We didn't even get to do yoga because the dogs were pooing everywhere. I felt guilty for the dogs and so mortified.'

Ms Baum has said she supports calls to ban the practice, having realised through her own experience how 'appalling' the sessions were for dogs. 

'I had done puppy yoga events and it had been relaxing but hosting my own class, i saw how absolutely appalling it was for the dogs', she said.

'They were scared as well, which is why I think they went to the toilet all around my house. 

'I think having two dogs of my own they just want to be cuddled and loved and nurtured. When they were puppies I was in and out of the garden once an hour to toilet train them.

'I think for influencers - for a photo influencer shot - its cute, but for a dog lover like me, i think puppy yoga is awful.'