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K9 Yoga at McKaynine
Yoga for dogs! What’s next...? Sounds crazy, but K9 Yoga classes are incredibly beneficial for your dog. These classes offer a fun, experienced, supportive and fully equipped setting to familiarise yourself with and improve your dog’s overall mental and physical health, while achieving a stronger positive attachment between you and your dog. Pet dogs and working dogs of all ages and fitness levels can benefit from K9 Yoga. K9 Yoga classes involve massaging your dog, training your dog to hold poses and repeat movements on special equipment, and stretching your dog. A combination of positive reinforcement luring and shaping is used to train these behaviours. The exercises may seem low key, but they have been carefully designed by an experienced animal physiotherapist, so a short K9 yoga session can leave your dog remarkably well exercised! Body Awareness K9 yoga will teach your dog to be more mindful of where their body is in space and how to move carefully and correctly. This will help them to play and enjoy sport more safely. You will also get to know your dog’s body better, helping you to detect potential health problems earlier. Injury Prevention Your dog has a poor sense of self preservation, especially when doing what they love and having fun! K9 Yoga improves muscular balance, strength and flexibility, making your dog more resistant to injury. Impulse Control At K9 Yoga, you’ll learn how to help your dog to become and remain calm and relaxed, allowing them to fit into your daily life more easily, helping them to better cope with stressful situations, improving their learning ability, and making them more attentive during dog sports. Mental Exercise Due to the focus required during the exercises, you’ll go home with a happy dog who is not only physically worked, but also mentally tired. This is useful for highly active dogs who can’t seem to get enough physical activity. It is also lovely for dogs who prefer less physical activity due to old age, disability, injury, etc, to still enjoy a fun and enriching outing with their human. Movement for Good Health Physical activity improves musculoskeletal health, helps to reduce the risk of noncommunicable diseases, and can be helpful to injured, elderly, obese and disabled dogs. Physical activities should be as varied as possible, and K9 Yoga will teach your dog unique movements that would not normally occur in daily life, thus adding years to life and life to years. Classes are held at our fully equipped floodlit Honeydew premises, on Tuesday evenings from 19h00 - 20h00 or 20h00 - 21h00. We also hold a Brain n Body class on most Saturdays from 10h00 - 11h00. Instructed by Leanne Williams under the tutelage of pet physiotherapist, Ansi van der Walt (MScPhysio, President of the International Association of Physical Therapists in Animal Practice, Senior Physiotherapist of AM van der Walt Physiotherapy and founder of PetFit Canine Fitness). Bookings are essential as class size is limited. Classes run on a month to month basis and are payable in advance. Admission requirements: Ø Class assessment (not applicable for current or recent McKaynine students) Ø Assessment of your dog by a pet physiotherapist (please contact us for details of recommended persons) You will need to bring: Ø A harness and leash for your dog Ø A large old towel or blanket to sit on Ø A clicker Ø Lots of treats Contact us at info@mckaynine.co.za to reserve your space
Take a look at the gallery to see more K9 yoga in action...
A massive thank you to Ansi Van Der Walt for the invaluable guidance in setting up these classes and bringing dog yoga to more people!