Really???????

  Since I'm traveling right now and staying at a hotel, I got a chance to eat breakfast downstairs in the little breakfast room.  The TV was on one of those morning shows where they have information in 1 to 2 minute segments.  I don't get a TV signal and don't have cable or satellite TV so I find out what's on during my trips.

This morning several items caught my attention but I chose one that I found particularly intriguing. DOGA!  I had no idea anything like this existed. 

DOGA is the name for doggie yoga.  I had to do a bit more research after I saw the clip but it is for owners and their dogs to practice yoga while spending time together.  I discovered that the person does the actual pose and the dog is incorporated into various postures.

In addition, the creator of this form of partnership yoga incorporated a lot of petting, massaging your dog.  Some poses has you putting the dog in your lap, others have the dog on the floor under you or next to you but the bottom line is that it is quality time spent with your pet.

What is interesting is there is a debate over whether the dogs are actually doing yoga.  A trainer stated that the dogs are really not doing yoga, but just spending time with their owners and the togetherness could be accomplished by spending time in the park under a tree, or just sitting and petting the dog.

Others who practice Doga disagree completely. One person said the dogs are doing yoga and pointed out several poses the dogs are actually performing.  Another stated that its like bringing a child to class with you. They don't know what is going on but they do it anyway.

It kind of reminds me of other forms of exercise that incorporate toddlers such as the one where you have your child in a stroller and you run or jogging while pushing the stroller.  Or exercising using the child instead of weights to develop strength.  So this is the same type of exercise that allows quality time spent with a companion.

Speaking from the perspective of not owning any pets, it sounds weird and I'm not quite sure if the dog is actually doing yoga but I've recently discovered that there are yoga poses that do not require you to twist yourself into a pretzel or end up spending more time falling down than staying in position.  So I figure if the owners are happy spending the time with their animal while exercising, go for it.