Puppy snuggles meets yoga at a special event on Aug. 30, as Halifax Puppy Yoga teams up with FlyWithMe Animal Rescue to host two charity puppy yoga sessions aimed at helping rescue puppies find their forever homes.
The event, held at Halifax Puppy Yoga’s studio in Bayers Lake, will offer two sessions — one from 5 to 6 p.m., and a second from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. — where attendees can unwind with a gentle yoga class while surrounded by adoptable puppies.
“We’ve always believed puppy yoga can be more than just a feel-good experience. It can be a platform to help animals in need,” said co-founder Shipra Chaubey, who launched Halifax Puppy Yoga in March 2024 alongside business partner Jasvinder Singh. “This collaboration is something we’ve been hoping to do for a while, and it came together so organically once the rescue had puppies that needed socializing and homes.”
All net profits from the sessions will be donated directly to FlyWithMe Animal Rescue, a volunteer-run organization that rescues about 50 dogs a month from high-kill shelters — facilities that euthanize a large percentage of the animals they take in, often due to overcrowding or limited resources — many from Texas and other parts of Canada.
“These puppies lost their mother at just four days old,” said a FlyWithMe spokesperson. “Thanks to our foster network, they’ve been thriving — and now they’re ready to meet their potential new families.”
Participants can expect to interact with puppies aged six to 10 weeks old during the class. Between sessions, the puppies will be given time to rest in a quiet, supervised space with food, water, and playpens. Halifax Puppy Yoga follows a strict health and safety first policy, ensuring all puppies are examined by a licensed veterinarian, up to date on vaccinations, and cleared for socialization.
While most Halifax Puppy Yoga classes feature puppies from ethical breeders or accidental litters — as local shelters rarely have puppies available — Chaubey says they are always open to working with rescues when possible.
“We’ve had people ask why we don’t have more shelter dogs in our classes,” Chaubey explained. “We’ve reached out to multiple shelters, but puppies are rarely available, which is actually a good thing. When they are, they’re often already in foster care or it’s too stressful to transport them long distances.”
FlyWithMe Animal Rescue will be on-site during the event to answer questions and facilitate the adoption process. Interested participants can fill out an application, undergo an interview, and, if approved, be paired with a puppy.
Chaubey, who moved to Halifax in 2017 and has long been passionate about animals, said the vision for Halifax Puppy Yoga was born out of her desire to create a space where animals and people could benefit from each other’s company.
“I started with one event last March, and that was the beginning of the movement,” she said. “I have a dog myself, and this just felt like a natural fit.”
While this is the first formal collaboration with a rescue, Chaubey said she hopes it won’t be the last.
For more information about the event or to register, visit Halifax Puppy Yoga online or follow them on social media. Adoptable dogs from FlyWithMe Animal Rescue can also be viewed on their Facebook and Instagram pages.
“If other rescues are interested in bringing their adoptable puppies, we’d love to make this a recurring event — and we’ll continue to donate 100 per cent of the net profits to support their work.”
This article appears in Aug 1-31, 2025.