Dog Training - Take a Bow

Geller, Tamar, and Jonathan Grotenstein. 30 Days to a Well-Mannered Dog: the Loved Dog Method. Gallery Books, 2011.

12/29/17

"The great thing about 'taking a bow' is that you can teach it without any real effort, like when you're half awake in the morning, still too tired to get out of bed," Geller says, in her section of Cool Dog Tricks. Taking a bow is basically what your dog does when they stretch, and also where we get the yoga term "downward dog." I probably should have started with this trick, seeing that it was the easiest to achieve and took the shortest amount of time. But that does not mean there weren't any hiccups along the way.

I first had to condition her to bow on command, since she was so used to bowing as a stretch rather than a trick. In order to do this, I had treats ready and I would place the palm of my hand on the floor to guide her into the bowing position. "When he does, narrate the behavior by saying, 'bowwwww' in a drawn-out voice" (Geller 269). The first few times, she would just lie down, or she would sit. Every time she would do the wrong gesture, I would shake my head and say "no." I ended up demonstrating the bow for her, hoping she could mimic me. Finally, she got the idea after I had bowed a few times and she was shown a treat. Once she was in the right position, I said "bowwww" and rewarded her with a treat. This was how I would get her to associate her stretching form with the word bow, so she could perform it quicker and easier the next time around. 

In her section for common coaching mistakes, Geller advises, "Don't move on to the next step just because your dog has done something 'right' once or twice - make sure that he's really mastered that particular step before raising the bar" (Geller 268). I commanded her to bow 6 or 7 times and only counted it if she could perform it on the first try. A few times she would lie down, then quickly get up in the right position. I continued placing my hand on the floor and drawing out the word "bow" to keep consistency so she wouldn't get confused. Eventually, she was able to bow on command, it would just take her a few seconds. 


To raise the bar, I tried commanding her with only my voice and no gestures. At first, she stared blankly, so I had to go back to placing my hand on the floor, but eventually I took my hand away and since she was used to doing it over and over again, she performed with only the help of my voice. It wasn't always automatic, but she was doing it. Geller had said that this trick was a good icebreaker for kids who are wary of dogs. I will definitely try this at the next house party. 

In terms of tricks, how advanced is your dog?
Do you think this would be a good trick as an icebreaker for kids?
What other tricks do you think could match this level of ease and efficiency?