The ruff guide to yoga: Rescued cats and dogs pictured pulling the purrfect poses
By Daily Mail Reporter
PUBLISHED: 12:09 GMT, 24 May 2012 | UPDATED: 13:52 GMT, 24 May 2012
Meet the purrfect posers and clever canines who are proving popular thanks to their impressive ruff guide to yoga.
The contorted creatures, pictured mastering a series of tricky yoga positions, are the latest stars of a calendar created by photographer Dan Borris and his former yoga teacher wife Alejandra.
The pair, from San Antonio, Texas, put their talents to good use by rounding up rescue puppies and kittens from an animal shelter to help them create the unique tongue-in-cheek artwork.
Clever canines: The contorted creatures, pictured mastering a series of tricky yoga positions, are the latest stars of a calendar created by photographer Dan Borris and his former yoga teacher wife Alejandra
Tongue-in-cheek: The pair rounded up rescue puppies and cats from animal shelters to create the work
Clever: The duo spend hours in the studio with the adorable animals before using computer software trickery to make the difficult poses as close as possible to the real thing
The duo spend hours in the studio with the adorable animals before using computer software trickery to make the difficult poses as close as possible to the real thing.
Dan said the work required a great deal of patience but said they were inspired by their love of animals and enjoyed creating pictures that made people smile.
He said: 'The inspiration came from a writer friend of mine who practiced yoga.
'She was telling me about her dog licking her face in a headstand pose and generally getting overly involved in her yoga.
Hard work: Dan said the work required a great deal of patience but said they were inspired by their love of animals
Inspired: Dan said he was prompted to start the project because a writer friend of his practiced yoga
Cute: Dan said he was first taken with the idea of seeing dogs doing yoga, but then the theme of cats, kittens and puppies followed
'At that moment I thought wouldn't it be great to see dogs doing yoga. I love dogs and was doing a lot of yoga as well.
'Really I just was taken with the idea of seeing dogs do yoga, then the idea of cats, kittens and puppies followed.
'It was something so different from my usual work and I love making these photos in order to make people smile and learn about yoga at the same time.
'We find the animals every where. In the beginning we worked with our friend's dogs but of course the original pioneer Yoga Dog and Yoga Cat were our dog, Mela and our cat, Snoosh.
Friends: In the studio the couple work together to recreate a variety of tricky yoga positions such as the lotus and, of course, the downward dog
Team work: Dan photographs the animals while Alejandra helps the animals feel safe and comfortable
And stretch: The lifelike pictures have in fact been tinkered with by keen photographer Dan
'We were then very lucky and happy to work with to work with animals for adoption at The Animal Defence League shelter in the city.'
In the studio the couple work together to recreate a variety of tricky yoga positions such as the lotus and, of course, the downward dog.
Dan photographs the dogs and cats while Alejandra uses her experience and TTouch training - a specialist therapy for animals - to help the animals feel safe and comfortable.
He said: 'We have poses in mind and try to get them as close as possible but the final images are the product of many hours of very detailed work using photoshop.
Trance: These cute cats look like they are in a meditative state as they 'have their picture taken'
Showing off: These cheeky cats look like they were having the time of their lives as they posed
Chillax time: These pair stare into the lens as the stretch out
'There are of course some challenges working with animals but the most important aspect is to keep the dogs and cats feeling safe and actually having fun.
'Sometimes we don't really know where it's going to go but then the magic takes over and little by little it unfolds with a dog or cat doing yoga.'
'Patience is a key ingredient, since dogs and cats have their own ideas. All the poses are genuine yoga poses or variations which are used in yoga classes.
'This is the part that's really important because the humour comes from them seriously doing real yoga.
'Ale loves this step of the work because she's the one who gets to be with the animals and play with them while I take the photographs.
'I also love to work with the dogs and cats but then of course I really enjoy the creative process when we start to create an image.
'Sometimes we don't really know where it's going to go but then the magic takes over and little by little it unfolds with a dog or cat doing yoga.'
Important: Patience is a key ingredient since dogs and cats have their own ideas, the couple said
