6 August 14 - 20, 2025 dallasobserver.com DALLAS OBSERVER Classified | MusiC | dish | Culture | unfair Park | Contents replaced equipment like the yoga mats “even though we had no indication of any cross- contamination to other puppies from the weekends before or after.” “This has been the only parvo-related in- cident we’ve encountered after hosting over 10,000 puppies from more than 1,500 breed- ers and rescues across 39 studio locations. Thankfully, no other cases have occurred before or since,” the statement said. “We re- main deeply committed to maintaining the highest standards of sanitation, biosecurity, and puppy welfare to ensure something like this remains an isolated incident that seems to be related to the breeders’ practices and high exposure to infections.” The Observer attempted to search through reviews left for other Puppies & Yoga locations to verify whether Lange and Ortega’s experience was a one-off, only to find that the company does not operate Google review listings. While a Google list- ing for the Dallas studio did exist at the start of this article’s reporting, it has since been removed, and Puppies & Yoga stated the page would have been set up by a third party and was not managed or operated by the company. The company relies on “direct feedback and our own channels for reviews and communication.” Puppies & Yoga also acknowledged that, in the wake of the Dalmatian’s illness, the company’s social media moderators deleted a number of negative social media com- ments. Those comments, the company said, were part of a targeted wave of harassment “stemming from false allegations by Ms. Lange.” Lange believes that blaming her business is another attempt by Puppies & Yoga to avoid accountability for what happened to her dogs. She said her grooming business uses a similar cleaning routine to Puppies & Yoga to fight infections and that none of the dogs she works with have fallen sick. “We also only take pets with their shots,” Lange added. “And we actually check the paperwork.” Canine Parvovirus T he first time Lange heard something was wrong was June 16. She received a call from Ortega, who warned her that Pogue, the dog who had been perfectly fine just three days be- fore, was in rough shape. She assured Ortega, and later her own veterinarian, that the trips to the studio had been the puppies’ first time leaving her home other than trips to the vet. The Thursday before Puppies & Yoga, the dogs had been given a “clean bill of health.” The American Kennel Club says dogs typically start showing symptoms within three to seven days of contracting parvovi- rus, but in some cases, it can be 14 days be- fore symptoms start. Veterinary records provided to the Observer show that eight days passed between the Dalmatians’ final Puppies & Yoga class and the time Pogue was hospitalized. Shortly after Ortega called Lange, an- other family contacted the breeder to say their puppy had fallen ill and that they were unable to foot the medical bills that treat- ment would incur. Lange took the dog back, and once a veterinarian confirmed that all six puppies within her care had tested posi- tive for the virus, Lange said she contacted the Dallas yoga studio. She said that at first, she wasn’t looking to cast blame. She was concerned about the litters of puppies attending future classes because parvovirus can live on floors and surfaces for months and requires a special solution and thorough cleaning method to be killed. “I let [the studio] know what the vets had said, and they actually said ‘Oh, well, we’ve never had an issue with parvo here,’ and to- tally denied it,” Lange said. “And they’ve had puppy classes every single weekend since.” The Puppies & Yoga website advertises a commitment to puppy wellbeing and states that the puppies that attend classes are be- tween 8 and 12 weeks old and vaccinated. But reporting shows that it isn’t likely that litters of puppies, especially those on the younger end of that range, are able to even be fully protected from the disease. According to the American Kennel Club, puppies need to receive three rounds of vac- cinations to be safe from parvo, and those shots are typically given at 6, 8 and 12 weeks. Dogs are vulnerable to the disease until they have received all three vaccinations, and an additional shot is recommended at 14 to 16 weeks. Lange’s puppies were born on April 18, which would have made the litter only 7 weeks old at the time of the yoga classes. They’d received one round of parvovirus im- munizations. “Our policy does allow puppies as young as 7 weeks, provided they have received their first vaccinations and passed a veteri- nary health check,” Puppies & Yoga said. “Having 7-week-old puppies in class was within our allowed age range and in line with the terms [Lange] agreed to.” Most veterinary behavioral specialists advise that puppies should not be separated from their mothers for long periods of time prior to turning 8 weeks old, and according to the Cornell University College of Veteri- nary Medicine, that window can really be pushed as far as 12 weeks of age. At the classes — which spanned five hours on Fri- day and seven hours on Saturday and Sun- day, according to a contract shared with the Observer — the Dalmatian litters’ father, Flick, was present, but their mother, Jewels, was not. Ethical Issues S helby Bobosky, executive director of the Texas Humane Legislation Net- work and a leader in Dallas’ animal ad- vocacy scene, first noticed the puppy yoga phenomenon taking flight through social me- dia videos, which have played a crucial role in fueling the puppy yoga wellness trend. Instagram pictures show beaming young women in bright-colored workout sets sit- ting squish-faced with the droopy-eyed dogs. One Instagram reel, posted by an On- tario-based puppy yoga studio, zooms in on a pup snoozing on top of a giggling yogi, and has 56.6 million views. “I think we just found the most whole- some activity in Dallas,” a local influencer posted after attending a Puppies & Yoga class last year. The reel garnered 313,000 views. Nonprofits have attempted to jump on the animal workout class trend. Bobosky at- tended a fundraiser yoga class hosted by the local rescue The Love Pitt. The experience left her pleasantly surprised, but what reas- sured her about the class stood in stark con- trast to the experiences she sees advertised online by for-profit, “pay to play” puppy yoga companies. At The Love Pitt’s event, the dogs were older, and each was up for adoption. The event was a one-off, and only one class, unlike the marathon she imagines a weekend of back-to-back classes would be for a young pup. “I have serious concerns based on the ages [of the dogs], and putting such young susceptible puppies into this environment,” Bobosky said. “Because it can have such a detrimental effect on their welfare. … I just don’t think responsible breeders put pup- pies into yoga classes. There are other ways to socialize their puppies.” While Dallas made strides in animal wel- fare in 2022 by outlawing the selling of dogs and cats in pet stores, Bobosky worries that some puppy yoga classes, whether inadver- tently or intentionally, encourage the pur- chase of designer dogs without care for where those animals came from. She be- lieves that while Dallas has outlawed retail pet sales, the yoga studio is circumventing the city ordinance by acting as a third-party vendor that connects interested buyers with breeders who may have dogs for sale. In an interview last year with the Irish outlet The Limerick Live, Puppies & Yoga owner Henri Sagon stated that the classes are “not a commercial thing,” and that the classes are not meant to be used as a place to advertise dogs for sale. The company web- site, too, emphasizes that “our events are not made to help breeders sell puppies or en- courage impulsive adoption.” But Bobosky’s concerns aren’t un- founded. In April of this year, an unlicensed breeder from California was fined $15,400 by authorities for offering puppies for sale at a Las Vegas Puppies & Yoga event, The Ne- vada Current reported. Ortega said she agreed to purchase Pogue in the Puppies & Yoga studio when, after her class ended, she noticed Lange sitting at a side table and overheard a woman asking if any of the dogs were available. “Look at all of the regulations that our Dallas animal shelter and other rescues have to adhere to, and there is no adherence by these fly-by-night companies,” Bobosky said. “I think that these companies are just as bad as those people who sell puppies on the side of the road … because quite frankly, they’re here today, gone tomorrow.” A look at the Puppies & Yoga website re- veals little information about the company. There is no headquarters listed, no leader- ship team or CEO named; Sagon is quoted in a handful of articles about studios opening across Europe, but is unlisted on the U.S. website. There is no phone number to call, and the yoga studios themselves operate as different businesses during the week, when classes aren’t held. The only way to contact the company is through the website’s contact form, which lists “customer support” and “private events” as the reasons for contact. This communication wall felt especially frustrating to Lange, who attempted to “go up the ladder” after feeling that the Hailey Lange The Dalmatian Flick and his puppies, who may have caught parvovirus at the yoga studio. Unfair Park from p4 >> p8
