Barefoot Yoga — Local services in London

I attended a Puppy Yoga class last week and came away with mixed feelings. I want to share my honest feedback in the hope that it helps improve the experience for others.

On the positive side, the puppies were adorable—playful, friendly, and fun to interact with. However, the session itself felt disorganised and lacked the structure I expected.

The class began with very little instruction and seemed to continue without a clear plan. The teacher/owner didn’t appear to engage with the group as a whole and instead focused mostly on one couple with two kids, who spent most of the session sitting in the middle of puppies corner and drew much of her attention throughout the session. Maybe she was having an off day—it's hard to say—but the imbalance was noticeable.

While the teacher mentioned that yoga was optional and we could just focus on the puppies, that decision wasn’t really communicated or agreed upon with the group. It’s understandable that the emphasis is on spending time with the puppies, but even that part felt a bit chaotic. The puppies were brought around briefly at one point, but many of them naturally returned to the corner where they would lie and sleep and where the same couple and their kids were sitting, making it harder for others to interact with them.

That couple sat in the middle of the space without much regard for others, leaving little room for the rest of us. I had to actively step in to bring puppies back over to my wife and kids so they could also have a turn. Other participants began doing the same. I noticed one mother and her young daughter sitting quietly for most of the session without much puppy interaction—possibly too shy or unsure about how to get involved in such a crowded and unstructured space.

The teacher/owner’s lack of group engagement stood out. When I left at the end, it took three attempts to get a simple "goodbye," which came without eye contact. That small moment said a lot about the general lack of connection during the session.

One final point: the yoga mat I was assigned smelled strongly, which was unpleasant. I imagine that’s something you get used to when working with dogs, but as a participant, it was off-putting.

Overall, while it was lovely to spend time with puppies, the experience felt disjointed and could benefit from more structure, clearer communication, and more inclusive engagement from the teacher. With a few improvements, it could be a much more enjoyable and welcoming experience for everyone.

UPDATE: in reply to the response below. "Throughout the whole experience, you, Asha, and your son were laughing."

To clarify, we were four people, including both my son and my daughter. I believe this actually reinforces my point — there wasn’t much connection during the session.

Also, I mentioned in my review that I appreciated the time spent with the puppies, so there's no need to remind me of that. As for the yoga part, it was relatively short and, in my opinion, nothing special. I would also have chosen a different type of music during the session. That said, to be fair, I didn’t expect much from the yoga element in a puppy yoga session — so in that regard, it was on par.

Please allow me to decide for myself when I’ve had a “great time.” I make a point of writing honest and genuine reviews, sharing both the positives and the aspects I feel could...

Edit: I have removed the photo as you requested. However I would disagree that Google reviews are simply for reviews of the class, but the business as a whole, including communication. this review is factual and all opinion is clearly labelled as such.

I’m currently sat with my partner in Kingston A&E, where he’s waiting to see a doctor after having an abscess drained at an emergency dentist this morning. Apparently this isn’t a good enough reason to show some goodwill for a late cancellation!

We first booked for puppy yoga on 24/01/25. He’d bought the tickets as a Christmas present for me. We travelled to London especially the day before. Helen sent an email at 9:30 the day before saying the class the next day “might” be cancelled. She finally cancelled (due to low numbers apparently) at 9:30 the day of the session. We weren’t happy but decided to extend some goodwill as being self employed ourselves were aware of the pressure on small businesses. We rebooked for a date in March.

When my partner fell ill Friday this week, we were still hopeful he’d be able to attend. However by Saturday night it was clear he was too unwell to make the session on Sunday, so we emailed Helen at c. 22:00 asking not for a refund, but to rebook.

I drafted an email for him (as he was too unwell to do so himself) expecting Helen to show the same goodwill we’d shown her, however none was received. Every email reply simply stated that she cannot refund due to illness. I pointed out that the first time we’d tried to book she cancelled the class with less than 12 hours notice, however she conveniently left any response to this out of her replies.

Instead I received patronising comments about not being able to refund for illness, and how nobody else had a problem with it (She claimed she was not being patronising, however it was my opinion she was). All communication until this point had been polite, courteous and understanding on our part but I’ll admit on this last one I’d slightly lost my cool at her complete lack of empathy in suggesting we simply buy another voucher.

Bottom line: -If you book the class it may be cancelled with a warning the day before and confirmation the morning of. -If for any reason however you’re unable to attend do not expect any leniency on the cancellation policy.

Other observations from the booking process: -3-word replies to emails with multiple questions, displaying a lack of professionalism (in my opinion), along with emails containing ...

BUYERS BEWARE

I am writing this review in warning to anyone else, so they don’t have to go through what we went through. My friend and I went to a puppy yoga class with NO puppies and were then promised a refund but never got one. The owner (Helen) looked us straight in the eye and said you’ll be getting a refund and if we wanted to, we can stay and hang out with her own two dogs, which she brought because she did not have the puppies.

Once we arrived home (in the USA) and inquired about the refund, she made up all these excuses about why she was not going to refund our money! We were originally scheduled for a Saturday class, but we requested to reschedule for a Sunday class instead because we had some scheduling conflicts. Helen then canceled the Sunday class (bc of no puppies!) SHE suggested we attend her Wednesday class instead. When we arrived, she had NO PUPPIES. As I previously mentioned , she had her own 2 dogs there.

She claimed that she would not refund us because we rescheduled our first class. What?! She said it’s her “policy“ but we have yet to see where that policy is stated. She also said we were late anyway so she wasn’t going to refund us. Us being late has nothing to do with it. If she had provided puppies we would not be requesting a refund (That she stated we were getting the min we waked in the door). Her trying to stand behind ridiculous things (to try to avoid a refund) such as we rescheduled or were late as reasons to not issue a refund is rubbish. How about issuing a refund for a service you are well aware you were not able to provide?! So simple. It’s honestly about the integrity and Helen has none.

Not to mention, the class cost us $100 USD for two people and we paid $100 USD in transportation, so it would have been nice to know the class was being cancelled ahead of time as I am sure she was aware much earlier she would not have puppies that day. We also cancelled other plans to be there and this was our last night in London so it was quite disappointing. At least my credit card already...