Doggy Yoga

For 20 minutes each day, Bruce Van Horn does yoga alongside his cat, Serafina, and his dog, Goodboy.

"The ancient yogis understood that there is a wisdom in nature, so they analyzed animals," says Van Horn.

Van Horn was a mild-mannered certified public accountant before yoga changed his life seven years ago. He has written a book and produced a video. And since the other men in his family went bald by age 30, he thinks standing on his head helped him keep his hair.

"So far, so good. Still there," says Van Horn with a laugh.

And Van Horn says his pets seem less inclined to go at it like cats and dogs.

"People would say, 'You have a Dalmatian … Dalmatians are so, you know, hyper. How come he's so calm?' And the only thing I could figure out was that it was the yoga," says Van Horn. "Because before he started doing yoga, he was destructive, like a typical Dalmatian."

Van Horn explains that he thinks a lot of animal behavior problems can be solved if we pay more attention to our pets with love and "some of that energy sharing."

He says his Dalmatian got involved in yoga when, one morning, he decided to go out to the beach, bring the dog, and he liked it so much that they decided to do it together on a regular basis.

"We just need to slow down and pay attention to them and by doing that, you're doing yoga," says Van Horn. "You don't even have to do the positions."

Peter Borchelt, an animal behaviorist, says petting, touching and massaging encourage the pet's attachment with us. He thinks there's a chance Van Horn might be on to something.

"It's not that I would say, 'Well, you should do yoga,'" says Borchelt. "That's simply one avenue of probably dozens. It relaxes us. It relaxes them. So anything that's hands-on between a pet and an owner, or maybe even paws on, from our point of view, is very positive for everybody."

Van Horn is bringing his techniques to the animal behavior center of New York. He hopes yoga will calm the animals in the shelter.

"If we could change the behavior of the animals, we can improve their chances of finding homes," says Van Horn.

Dina Spencer, a canine behavior counselor, says that perhaps the relaxing and calming effect of yoga carries over to the pets.

"Everybody has a right to be skeptical," says Van Horn. "I found that yoga, for me, is a liberating experience. It helped me make a life transformation."

Van Horn expects to do more scientific study in the near future.

"If we all do yoga together, maybe we have less animals in shelters and maybe we are kinder to each other and to the world," says Van Horn.