If you’re looking for an impressive dog trick, don’t forget the recurve bow. This tip puts the natural behavior of a dog playing with a bow at the right time so you can ask your dog to bow anytime and anywhere. This fun position – elbows on the ground, butt in the air – 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 need:
- lots of little pieces of treats that get your dog excited.
- If you are 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 standing in front of you, get his attention with a treat.
2nd step: When you have your dog’s attention, use this treat to lure his head to the ground. As its head moves down and back, it will naturally lower the front of its body.
Step 3: When your dog’s elbows touch the ground and his back legs come up, click if you are clicker training or use a verbal marker like “yes,” then quickly treat your dog.
Dog trainer tip: If you notice that your dog is falling into a low position instead of staying in an arc, you can toss a treat instead. This will help us indicate that we want the bow position, not a prone position.
Step 4: Repeat several times, continuing to lure your dog into a bow position and praising and treating him when his elbows touch the ground and his butt comes up. When your dog consistently follows the lure, add a verbal cue of your choice like “bow” or “fancy.” Say your cue word when your dog’s elbows go down and his butt comes up.
Step 5: Fade the treat lure. Start by luring your dog into a bow position with an empty hand. Then, praise and treat your dog when he performs this position.
Step 6: After several repetitions of luring with an empty hand, begin to phase out the entire lure. Use your verbal signal with a smaller hand signal. Start adding the amount of time your dog holds the bow position longer before clicking, treating and releasing your dog.
Step 7: Once your dog is smoothly performing the bow behavior, continue to gradually eliminate the lure, so that eventually you only have a verbal cue or a small physical cue. Then, practice going around in different positions, like bowing or curtsying! Also start practicing archery in new and more distracting environments.