Common Space Brewery Blends Puppy Yoga and Dog Adoption at Namastray Event

Common Space Brewery and Pups Without Borders ran their second Namastray collaboration on March 29, condensing what was a three-hour August 2024 session into a focused 60-minute yoga flow at 3411 W El Segundo Blvd in Hawthorne. That compression is the clearest sign yet that this partnership is being calibrated, not just repeated. The original August 18 event ran noon to 3 p.m. and included a "Dog Rescue" canned beer release under Common Space's "Great Beer Gives Back" charitable program, with proceeds flowing directly to the rescue. The March session ran 12:30 to 1:30 p.m. and kept the core proposition intact: beginner-friendly flow, adoptable dogs from a vetted nonprofit, and a built-in post-class meet-and-greet window for anyone who needed more convincing.

For Eve Bañuelos, founder and president of Pups Without Borders, a taproom yoga class is a fundamentally different adoption pipeline than a shelter open house. Bañuelos began fostering dogs as a child, lost her career as a professional musician and music teacher during COVID-19, and pivoted the disruption into building a full-time rescue operation. The 501(c)(3) she launched in March 2020 from Van Nuys has since helped more than 4,000 dogs find homes. In 2024 alone, Pups Without Borders took in 496 animals, including 245 strays, 204 shelter transfers, 24 owner surrenders, and 23 born in its care, and adopted out 518 while transferring 18 to partner rescues. The organization holds a 3/4-star Charity Navigator rating, a verified Best Friends Animal Society partnership, and a $45,000 grant from the Schlinger Chrisman Foundation. Its Instagram following of more than 54,000 reflects the audience Common Space is unlocking: people already primed to share a photo of a puppy mid-downward dog, which means adoption leads can travel from a yoga mat to a Petfinder application form in the same afternoon.

Common Space has operated since 2018 and earned a spot on Yelp's list of LA's most dog-friendly venues as early as 2019. Its FAQ explicitly welcomes well-behaved dogs on leash, and its calendar, which runs from Trivia nights and Comedy Shows to Vegan Fests and Dodgers watch parties, positions the taproom as a year-round community anchor. The Namastray series fits that identity and then some: the "Great Beer Gives Back" program turns a charitable donation into part of the taproom experience, giving ticket holders a reason to stay for a pint after class and giving the brewery a story to tell. With a new Highland Park location slated to open in 2026, building community identity through high-visibility partnerships like this one is not incidental to Common Space's growth strategy.

The operational model powering Namastray is what separates it from the commercial puppy yoga events drawing regulatory fire. Pups Without Borders specializes in pregnant dogs, nursing litters, and sick or injured puppies, exactly the population that strains municipal shelters and produces the sociable young animals that hold a yoga class together. The rescue's trained volunteers handle every dog on the floor, working rotation schedules and quiet rest areas to manage animal stress throughout the session. That structure mirrors what's proven to work at comparable brewery-rescue hybrids nationally: Community Beer Co. in Dallas with Dallas Pet's Alive!, Denver Beer Company's Rescue Puppy Yoga series, and Swamp Head Brewery in Gainesville, where a March 2026 session drew approximately 115 participants. Every dog at Common Space came through Pups Without Borders' intake and vetting process, which matters in a city where some commercial puppy yoga operators have been flagged for sourcing animals from breeders in potential violation of LA ordinances restricting retail sales of breeder-sourced pets.

That sourcing distinction is also at the center of a wider debate the Namastray series cannot avoid entirely. The RSPCA, British Veterinary Association, and The Kennel Club have all called for restrictions on puppy yoga, arguing that repeated exposure to high-stimulation class environments risks long-term anxiety in young dogs. Italy became the first country to act in 2024, banning the practice outright and restricting animal-assisted wellness to adult dogs only. A separate petition calling for similar restrictions had cleared 1,400 signatures. Critics of the brewery format add a second layer: an attendee who commits to adoption during a yoga session at a taproom where alcohol is being served may approach that decision with a different clarity than someone who visits a shelter on a Tuesday afternoon. Pups Without Borders addresses the post-event piece through its own structured adoption follow-up, handled by rescue staff independent of the venue, but the question of whether an alcohol-serving business is the right setting for an adoption commitment is one the industry hasn't settled.

What two Namastray events have demonstrated is that placing adoptable dogs in a space where people are already relaxed and inclined to linger moves adoption leads that a shelter visit never reaches. Pups Without Borders is now expanding into Northern California, widening the network of dogs who need exactly this kind of exposure.