Yoga with pups at Bideawee brings rescue dogs to Manhattan class

Bideawee’s Chelsea Flagship Adoption Center turned its outdoor space at 152 West 24th Street into a one-hour yoga class with rescue dogs on July 18, giving Manhattan participants a rare chance to stretch beside adoptable pups instead of a studio mascot. The session, listed as Yoga with Pups @ Bideawee, was set for 11 a.m. to noon and tied the familiar dog-yoga format directly to an active adoption center.

Bideawee said the class, billed on its own page as “Downward Dog – Yoga with Pups!,” was limited to 25 attendees and carried a $25 donation per person. The donation was non-refundable and non-transferable. Adults and children ages 8 and up could attend, but each person, including children, had to register separately.

The dogs on site came exclusively from Bideawee, and the organization asked participants not to bring their own pets. That setup made the class feel less like a generic wellness event and more like a walk-through of the shelter environment itself, with adoptable dogs present throughout the practice. Bideawee also said the class was led by Karma Kids Yoga founder and creator Shari Vilchez-Blatt, giving the event a known instructor with a family-friendly yoga background.

Furvisor’s July listing placed Yoga with Pups @ Bideawee on Saturday, July 18 at 11 a.m. at Bideawee Manhattan, underscoring the event’s straightforward appeal: a weekend class, a recognized rescue setting and dogs in the room. Bideawee’s own event page also listed a second class for Aug. 8, suggesting the nonprofit planned more than one run of the format this month.

The Manhattan session fit squarely with Bideawee’s long animal-welfare identity. The organization says it was founded in 1903 by Flora D’Auby Jenkins Kibbe after she saw the Barrone d’Herpents Dog Refuge in Paris and brought the shelter idea back to New York City. Bideawee also says its name means “stay a while” in Scottish, a fitting description for a class built around lingering in the presence of dogs that may soon be looking for homes.