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Downward Facing Dog: Train Your Dog To Bow

4/4/2014

44 Comments

 
Typist: Bethany
Downward facing dog is such a wonderful shoulder, chest, back and leg stretch for dogs (and humans, for that matter) of all sizes and ages. T
raining your dog to do downward facing dog or bow is one of the easiest tricks to teach through shaping* because most dogs naturally do downward facing dog stretches several times a day. Dogs like to get in their daily doga! An observant trainer simply labels the stretch with a cue word such as "bow,"
marks the "bow," and gives the dog a reward upon seeing their dog in a downward facing dog position. All three of my dogs are quite good at a "bow" because I have been shaping it since they were puppies. One mistake I made, though, was that I used to call it "downward facing dog." I am a certified yoga instructor, after all.
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Huxley practices his "bow" with distractions.
Of course I want my dogi dogs doing proper doga! But I learned in a Freestyle workshop that my cue confused my already-wondering-if-I-wanted-him-to-"down"-or-"bow"-dog. That dog was Brychwyn and he still has the weakest bow of our trio. I did change my cue to "bow." The most creative cue I have heard for a downward facing dog position is "tah-dah."
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If you have a dog that doesn't consistently do a downward facing dog stretch on their own, you can use the lure method of training teach a "bow." We often lured dogs into a "bow" in my Dogalates classes.  With your dog in a standing position, hold a treat in front of their nose. Now move the treat slightly back and slowly down. You want to move the treat back and move slowly so the dogs head stays up and they don't confuse this lure for a lure into a down. Pay close attention because most dogs will lay down so before their rear end goes down, mark and reward the brief "bow." (You don't have to put a word to it yet, though.) If your dog tolerates being touched near the belly, you can place one hand under your dog, near the hind legs, and gently help your dog keep the rear end in the air while you lure the front end to the floor. Never push on your dogs shoulders to force a downward facing dog position; a "bow" is already stretching your dogs shoulders and pressing on them risks injury. Once your dog knows this trick, however, massaging your dog while they hold the stretch will likely make your dog very happy! Huxley loves me to massage the back of his legs while he is in a downward facing dog stretch. Brychwyn likes me to rub all around his shoulder blades. And Wilhelm likes a low back rub while in a "bow."
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"Stand"
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"Bow," "Stay"
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Even if your dog already does daily downward facing dogs, I highly recommend teaching your dog to do the stretch on cue. Tynan continued doing his downward facing dog stretches until his last days. I think he partly did them because I asked him to but once he was in the stretch it did feel good. A good yogi knows that their teacher will only ask them to do poses that they need and that will benefit them, even when the yogi is an amazingly fit dog.
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"Sit"
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"Stand"
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"Bow"
*The shaping method of training put simply is when a pet offers a desired behavior, the trainer marks, or clicks, and rewards, hence shaping the behavior wanted through positive reinforcement.This method allows pets to more completely learn a behavior because they learn it themselves through critical thinking as opposed to be shown how to do it.
Does your dog do downward facing dog?
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44 Comments
Rebekah link
4/3/2014 08:56:19 pm

Faolan does this, and play bows, frequently. I am going to start working on teaching him to do it on command now. Thank you!

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Bethany
4/11/2014 01:49:36 am

Huxley does a lot of play bows and he gets even more excited for fun when I tell him "good bow" each time he does one. It's great bonding (like any training) to go with the healthy stretch!

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Emma link
4/3/2014 09:57:26 pm

My sisters and I do lots of these when we are doing our own stretching or when we want to play, but not on cue. Maybe we will learn to do that.

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Bethany
4/11/2014 01:50:53 am

It's a fun trick to add to your repertoire, Emma. And some of Wilhelm's best modeling moments have been showing off his bow!

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Molly The Wally link
4/3/2014 10:10:58 pm

Cools moves guys and we sure are up for a bit of DOGA. Have a fabulous Friday.
Best wishes Molly

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Bethany
4/11/2014 01:51:46 am

We're always up for doga around here... as long as there is playtime before and after!

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Roxy the traveling dog link
4/4/2014 12:03:31 am

That's awesome. i will have to work on that with Torrey. She stretches like that all the time. especially when i am doing yoga too.

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Bethany
4/11/2014 01:54:57 am

It is so fun to do a downward facing dog on my yoga mat and have the dogs all join me! Wilhelm gets the most into doing his doga on the mat, but it is such fun to all stretch together.

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Erin @ The Five Dog Blog link
4/4/2014 12:47:36 am

Monday has bow on cue but none of the other dogs do, I should make an effort to do that this summer :). how fun that you are a certified yoga instructor, I LOVE yoga :)

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Bethany
4/11/2014 01:57:05 am

I don't teach yoga anymore since Pilates was always my true passion but I couldn't survive without my yoga practice! Sometimes teaching other dogs a trick that one already knows is easier- they learn from each other!

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Reilly & Denny
4/4/2014 02:08:49 am

Mr Reilly does the bow trick...Mr Denny can - but only when he wants too. It would be hard to tell on short leg dogs that they are actually down :) :)

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Bethany
4/11/2014 01:59:37 am

You are correct about how difficult it is to tell on the short legged dogs where their rump is... I think I have too often marked Brychwyn's "bow" when he was lower than he should be/on his way to a "down" so I have had trouble getting him to raise his rump back up!

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Piranha Banana
4/4/2014 02:24:30 am

I love your blog and have nominated you for the Sunshine award here: http://piranhabanana.blogspot.com/2014/04/cinnamon-brought-me-sunshine.html - read the reasons why on the list - Congratulations!

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Bethany
4/11/2014 02:00:46 am

Thank you Piranha. What an honor. We have added the award to the gallery slideshow on our sidebar and we have all taken a "bow!" :)

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Kari link
4/4/2014 03:12:29 am

I'm so bad at shaping, but I'd love it when my dogs do downward dog. Now that I've gotten my clickers out again, I should do this!

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Bethany
4/11/2014 02:04:37 am

Shaping is definitely a test for my (minimal amount of) patience. But this one is so easy because you aren't asking/waiting for the dog to do something unusual! Good luck with training and be sure to let me know how it goes.

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Lizz Casey link
4/4/2014 03:16:13 am

I sooo have to teach my dog to do that ;) Brilliant idea!! I'll let you know how it goes!!

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Bethany
4/11/2014 02:05:54 am

Thank you Lizz. I look forward to hearing about your progress.

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SlimDoggy link
4/4/2014 03:21:11 am

Great exercise and good description of how to get them there. Maggie does this stretch pretty regular, but Jack doesn't so this will be a challenge for him. Love that look on Wilhelm's face looking at the camera..."Like this mom"? Will you write a post about how you named your dogs...maybe you already have...they are so interesting.

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Bethany
4/11/2014 02:08:50 am

There's a little bit about the dogs names on our "about us" page but I could go on and o about it so a post might happen! Wilhelm takes all his training so seriously even when it a fun stretch! I hope you have some luck at getting SlimDoggy Jack into a bow- it would be so good for him! Let us know if you try it out.

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Me, You and Zu link
4/4/2014 04:51:36 am

ZuZu can do downward dog but sometimes she's just a pill and refuses to listen to me. And then by the time I move to get treats to "inspire" her to listen she has moved into the "treats? where?" pose. Maybe someday... :)

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Bethany
4/11/2014 02:10:42 am

I bet when your second dog comes, ZuZu will be more willing to work for attention and praise! I know that's why Wilhelm, Brychwyn and Huxley are constantly offering good behaviors- it's the only way to get attention in this zoo! :)

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Talent Hounds link
4/4/2014 06:08:30 am

Love this trick! So cute and playful!

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Bethany
4/11/2014 02:22:17 am

Thank you! Plus it feels great to the dogs.

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Sand Spring Chesapeakes link
4/4/2014 07:10:08 am

Congrats on your cool fitdog friday award. Great lesson. My females will bow and we call it the three point, they do it on their own when chewing on a bone.

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Bethany
4/11/2014 02:25:41 am

Thank you and congratulations to you fit dogs too! I like your creative bow cue. I had totally forgotten how Tynan would chew in a bow position... must be CBR thing!

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Diane @ To Dog with Love link
4/4/2014 07:24:55 am

I love this trick and all your pups do this so well! I've worked on this one with Rocco since he was a young pup, but it still needs work. Happy FitDog Friday!
Diane and Rocco

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Bethany
4/11/2014 02:27:25 am

Thank you, Diane, but it is still a work in progress. Ideally I will get all three dogs to have a "bow, stay" together!!!

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Tenacious Little Terrier link
4/4/2014 08:17:30 am

Both the dogs do it whenever they get up from a nap. Which is often! I've taught Mr. N how to bow on cue though.

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Bethany
4/12/2014 04:35:10 pm

Wouldn't it be fun if we could get all four dogs to "bow" together?!?

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tara tyler link
4/4/2014 10:01:12 am

love your doggie tips! dogs are the best!

happy d day!

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Bethany
4/12/2014 04:36:02 pm

Thank you, Tara. I can't imagine life without them!

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kathy link
4/4/2014 10:26:51 am

For some reason this makes me think of when I had parakeets, and they would "wave" their wings at me whenever I walked past their cage. I would "wave" back by making my arms like wings and flapping! LOL! But I swear, we trained each other to do that. I'll work on DD with my Charlie :)

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Bethany
4/12/2014 04:34:17 pm

Our pets are very good at training us to do silly things... can't wait to hear about how training Charlie to do a downward facing dog goes!

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Cathy Bennett link
4/4/2014 12:28:14 pm

I'm laughing at myself as I read this post because both doodles do this all the time, but I never, ever thought to give it a command. Can't wait till tomorrow. Thanks!

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Bethany
4/12/2014 04:37:11 pm

Please let me know how it goes as the "bow" training with your dogs progresses, Cathy!

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PawsandPedals (Scooter & Kate) link
4/6/2014 08:55:05 pm

Scooter does this stretch as soon as I start to get the bike & the harness out. Didn't really realize what a great skill it is to have. Love the pics of all the downward dogs

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Bethany
4/12/2014 04:38:15 pm

Aw! A play bow from Scooter for the fun you're about to have! Love it! And he's getting a good warm-up stretch too.

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Anu link
4/8/2014 05:45:21 am

Great observation that "down" could be confusing for your dog! I want to teach my dog to something on a Tah-Dah command :) - Petnetio Anu

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Bethany
4/12/2014 04:40:16 pm

I have seen Heeling to Music/Freestyle people cue all sorts of fun stuff for their dogs on "Tah-Dah-" a bow, a leap, a spin... any sort of celebration type move. It's so creative!

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2 Brown Dawgs link
4/11/2014 10:24:39 am

I am catching up from last week's hop. :) My dogs do that stretch all of the time. I never thought to mark it. :)

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Bethany
4/12/2014 04:41:41 pm

I am so glad that Tynan knew this cue when he got older. I pretty much consider it an essential for active dogs. It;s just SO good for them to stretch!

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Tracy link
4/11/2014 08:33:24 pm

Great post, Bethany! When we noticed Tavish doing this on his own many years ago, we marked it with a "bow" and now he does it every morning on command for a treat. And he thinks he's being really clever getting "credit" for a trick he never really had to learn! :)

Reply
Bethany
4/12/2014 04:32:55 pm

Treats for something they'd just do anyways otherwise known as a "trick" are so fun for our dogs-they have us trained so well don't they?

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