SAN JOSE, Calif .-- Whoever said money can’t buy happiness hasn’t been to a puppy yoga class. Especially a corgi puppy yoga class.

Class at Puppy Paws Yoga was held on the second level of a strip mall on Redwood City, California’s Woodside Road, the white-walled, hardwood-floored studio lined with foam yoga mats. Attendees checked in and then took to the mats as yoga instructor Angela Descalso led them in a series of warm-up yoga poses.

“Welcome to the calm before the storm,” said Mr. Wrangler, as he insisted on being referred to, who, about 10 minutes into class, started bringing out armfuls of puppies, each the size of a large football, and releasing them to play in a room full of downward-facing-dog-posing new friends.

The puppies, who were between 8 and 9 weeks old, were all in the transition period between being spoken for by adoptive families and going to live with them.

Aaand, they were not yet housebroken. As the class progressed, the puppies took to relieving themselves without an ounce of shame. However, Mr. Wrangler was always close behind, scooping, wiping, sanitizing and steam-vacuuming up the waste. While a whiff of fresh doo was detectable a couple of times during the 45-minute class plus 30-minute play session, getting to socialize with such young, fluffy pups was well worth the (quite understandable) trade-off.

Puppy toys scattered throughout the room gave yogis an easy way to introduce themselves to the juvenile corgis, who took to playing tug-of-war or chasing after their fellow pups before collapsing to rest in happy “sploots” — or belly flops with the back legs splayed out, a position common among corgis — before jumping back up to chase after something else that caught their attention.

Through the happy chaos, the class progressed. Attendees posed in downward dog while the pups splooted and played with squeaky toys. By the final savasana, the pups still had plenty of energy, and so the typical farewell namaste instead turned into a nama-stay-and-play.

As they cuddled and played with the puppies, attendees shared the array of occasions that brought them to the class.

Couple Keyuree Satam and Dhruv Pillai were there to celebrate a surprise date for their first wedding anniversary. It was an especially apt one, since they’ve been thinking of getting a corgi.

Others were there for stress relief and fun. “I was looking for joy,” Lily Lau said.

Maria Mazzola had come to the class from Moraga with two kids and confirmed it was “worth it.” They’d also been to pig yoga before, as well as Corgi Con, so they were familiar with both corgis and doing yoga with animals.

Puppy yoga isn’t an entirely new concept — it’s been around in some forms since at least 2002, and some programs have been criticized for allegedly working with puppies that are too young or putting them into environments that are stressful or that keep them from getting much-needed sleep.

These pups appeared to be enjoying themselves, though, and Puppy Paws Yoga provides assurances that the puppies they work with have constant access to fresh water and follow their normal feeding schedule. They also say that the puppies’ routines aren’t disrupted, they get naps between classes and they go through veterinary checks before joining class. The classrooms are also thoroughly sanitized between and during classes.

Ultimately, by the time playtime ended, I felt well-stretched and nearly devoid of stress, instead filled with memories of spending time with snuggly little fluffballs.

“Everyone has so much fun and leaves with a smile on their face,” Descalso said.

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