Yoga Exercises To Do With Your Dog

A few months ago, we talked about Pancino, a friendly Chihuahua famous for doing yoga together with his owner. This caught the attention of many readers. But it’s nothing new, since a few years ago the “doga” has been around, yoga with dogs.

These are exercises similar to what we do when practicing yoga, including breathing techniques and postures. However, these are a little simpler so that the dog is able to keep up with us at the pace.

Yoga has extensive benefits for pets too. It helps them relax and exercise discipline, making them more obedient and mentally agile animals, not to mention how much it will improve their flexibility.

On the other hand, the doga is a unique opportunity for those who don’t want to leave their dogs alone at home for anything in this world and, thus, you can spend more time with them.

How to do yoga with your dog

Source: http://news.urban360.com.mx

We cannot expect a dog to start doing yoga the same way we do. They need another kind of understanding and language. In addition, it is vital for yoga practice that the animal be very relaxed.

If we give him a relaxing walk before the yoga session, allowing him to run and release energy, he is more likely to be relaxed for the practice.

For starters, the first few sessions should not be exercise-laden, but focus on making the animal understand what we want it to do. One or two postures will suffice at first.

This will increase the dog’s comfort and also his confidence in us and the situation in general. Making your pet feel that way will help him want to come to other yoga sessions with us.

Not all postures are suitable for all dogs. We must understand that it is not the same to practice doga with a small dog and a large one. For example, a Chihuahua like Pancino could even stand on top of us, something we couldn’t do with a large furry.

Yoga Breathing Techniques for Dogs

Although you own your mat, if you decide to doga with your dog, you must share it with him. Being by your side will make the animal feel comfortable and safe.

We will sit on the mat and have the dog close to us, trying to relax him and make him feel our breath while we feel his. Then we’ll put our hands on his loins hard so he’s quiet. We can’t expect the dog to do a very long yoga session, so a few minutes will be enough to get started.

Postures for dogs, with massages!

In order for the dog to get used to yoga, you will need a lot of patience, perseverance and caring. It is very likely that, at first, the postures will not come out correctly, so we must keep trying.

It’s possible that if we try to wrap the animal around our legs, it will want to run away. Do this very gently and slowly so that he doesn’t shift when he feels your legs and doesn’t get nervous.

The best thing is that you sit down and start to wrap your legs very gently while massaging his head or ears, according to the region that your dog likes to receive the most caress.

When the dog is comfortable with this posture, you can then lie down on him, obviously very gently and without dropping all your weight on him. We’ll do this by stretching your front legs, which will help you relax and stretch your muscles.

As we’ve seen, it’s not that difficult, just follow our advice:

• Do not overload him with exercises for the first few sessions. One or two postures will be more than enough.
• Doga should be a rewarding experience for your pet, a time for him to relax.
• Remember that you will not be able to do all the postures you know with your dog.

• Aim to make your pet feel comfortable with you in this practice. This is achieved with gentleness, patience, affection and perseverance.