If you’re looking for an awesome dog trick, don’t forget the recurve bow. This trick highlights the dog’s natural bow behavior so you can have your dog bow anytime, anywhere. This playful position – elbows on the floor, bottom up – is also a great stretch for your dog’s core and back. You don’t need a lot of space or supplies to get started.
To teach your dog to bow, you will need:
- lots of little treat pieces that will delight your dog.
- If you’re clicker training, use a clicker to mark when your dog is in the correct position.
- Or say “yes” as a verbal marker when your dog is in the correct position.
Sassafras Lowrey, CPDT-KA, shows us how teaching your dog to bow is an easy trick for most dogs to learn. ©Sassafras Lowrey
How to teach a dog to bow:
Step 1: Start in a quiet area of your home with minimal distractions. With your dog in front of you, grab his attention with a treat.
2nd step: When you have your dog’s attention, use this treat to lure his head down. As his head descends and recedes, it will naturally lower the front of his body.
Step 3: When your dog’s elbows touch the ground and his hind legs come up, click if you’re practicing clicker or use a verbal marker like “yes,” then quickly treat your dog.
Tip for dog trainer: If you find your dog falling into a prone position instead of staying in an arch, you can toss him a treat instead. This will help indicate that we want the bow position, not a bottom.
Step 4: Repeat several times, continuing to draw your dog into the bow position and praising and treating him as his elbows touch the ground and his buttocks come up. When your dog consistently follows the lure, add a verbal cue of your choice such as “bow” or “fancy”. Say your cue word when your dog’s elbows come down and his butt comes up.
Step 5: Turn off the treat lure. Begin by luring your dog into the bow position with an empty hand. Then praise and treat your dog when he gets into position.
Step 6: After several repetitions of luring with an empty hand, begin to gradually remove the full lure. Use your verbal signal with a small hand signal. Start adding time for your dog to hold the bow position longer before you click, treat, and release your dog.
Step 7: Once your dog is smoothly performing the bowing behavior on cue, continue to phase out the decoy, so that eventually you only have a verbal cue or a small physical cue. Then, practice doing the trick in different positions, like bowing or curtsying! Also start practicing the bow in new and more entertaining environments.
