Port Moody puppy yoga raises funds for Snow Dog Society

Port Moody got a puppy-yoga fundraiser that kept the formula simple and effective: gentle yoga, adoptable puppies, and a clear beneficiary. Downwards for the Dogs Puppy Yoga ran Saturday, April 25, from 4:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. at RVN Wellness, with ages 13 and up welcome and a $35 donation that made the entry point easy to understand.

Snow Dog Society was the rescue partner, and RVN Wellness said 100 percent of proceeds went directly to the organization to help provide care, advocacy and forever homes. The class moved through gentle poses while rescue puppies tumbled, snuggled and played around participants’ mats, then wrapped with a meet-and-greet for extra puppy cuddles after the flow. That combination made the event feel less like a gimmick and more like a straightforward fundraiser with a built-in payoff for anyone who wanted time with the dogs.

The setup also fit the way RVN Wellness has positioned itself in the Tri-Cities. The studio says it serves Port Moody, Coquitlam and the wider Tri-Cities community, and says it was created to go beyond a standard yoga experience by building community and connection through movement. Its yoga programming is grounded in ahimsa, or non-violence, which gives the puppy-yoga format a clear philosophical frame instead of just a novelty hook.

This was not a one-off experiment. RVN Wellness had already listed earlier puppy-yoga sessions on Sunday, October 26, 2025 and Saturday, January 17, 2026 at the same Port Moody studio, and RVN Wellness and Snow Dog Society also held a separate adoption event on Saturday, April 4. That pattern makes the partnership look like an ongoing community event, not a single pop-up.

The broader puppy-yoga world still draws scrutiny, and that context matters. The BC SPCA says it is dedicated to promoting the health and welfare of dogs and values their role in companionship and recreation, while animal-welfare advocates in the UK have campaigned against puppy-yoga events over concerns about young puppies. In Port Moody, the local version stood out because the rescue link was explicit, the price was modest, and the class was built around care as much as cuddles.