Your dog performs this simple trick by lowering her front legs while her hind legs remain in a standing position. She probably does this every time she wakes up from a nap as she stretches.
You can call this a “bow” if your dog is male. My dogs are lovely ladies, so I call this their “curtsy.”
Table of Contents
Grab Your Bow-Worthy Training Treats
Teaching this trick, as with most tricks and behaviors, requires lots of small, tasty treats. Avoid crunchy treats that will take your dog a few moments to chew.
Using small treats that your dog can quickly snap up makes it easier for you to quickly reward behaviors accurately, at the very instant they occur. That’s the key to clear communication so your dog will know exactly what she has done right.
Capturing A Bow Or Curtsy
Since this is such a natural behavior, you can encourage your dog to do it more often by praising and treating her when you catch her doing it.
Watch your dog closely as she wakes up from a nap, and say “yes!” the moment her elbows touch the floor. You might not have a treat or clicker on-hand when you catch her curtsying. In that case, I might give my dog a bite of whatever dog-safe food is closest – a tiny bite of meat from my sandwich, or egg from breakfast.
At this point, your dog might already realize what she’s done right, and may offer another curtsy. If she does, continue to reward her for curtsying, then start adding the cue word and hand signal at the moment she’s lowering her elbows to the floor.
You can also help your dog into the bow or curtsy position so you will not have to wait until she stretches.
Getting Your Dog Into Position
It’s easier to teach your dog to bow or curtsy if they already know how to “lay down” and “stand.”
When your dog is standing, hold a small treat in your fingers and allow her to sniff it, but keep it covered with your fingers so she cannot eat it just yet. Then, lower the treat down and back so she will have to curtsy to reach it. The instant she’s in the correct position, allow her to nibble at the treat.
When Your Dog Keeps Laying Down
The first few times, your dog will probably lay down immediately, or may curtsy for just a moment before her hind end lowers to the floor.
When I first started teaching Matilda to curtsy, I stopped her from laying down by having my hand close to her belly, and gently lifting her back into position when she lowered herself.
Even this gentle hands-on guidance can be stressful for many dogs. The belly is a vulnerable spot, and your dog might not expect you to touch her there when she’s standing. Matilda found it stressful and walked away from the training session. That’s when I took a break and thought of ways to teach her to curtsy instead of laying down without any physical guidance.
When your dog lays down, do not give her a treat. Instead, cue or lure her to stand, then give her a treat to reward her for standing and try again.
“Resetting” your dog by having her stand while holding back the treat will be enough to communicate to her that she has not yet successfully performed her trick.
Adding The Cue And Hand Signal
After your dog has gotten the hang of being lured into a curtsy, usually about 5 times during your first training session, you can start saying “curtsy!” and showing her a hand signal – just once, not over and over- at the moment she goes into the correct position.
My chosen hand signal for “curtsy” is waving my pinky – the same way a high-society lady might raise her pinky while drinking her tea. At first, you will need to wave your pinky as you give your dog the treat, with your hand near the dog’s nose. Later on, you can start moving your hand further away, until you can show her the hand signal from your waist without luring her at all.
Perfecting The Curtsy
During your first training session, simply get your dog curtsying – don’t worry too much about getting it perfect. She might be staring at the treat as she does it, relying on your lure to get into position as you say a cue word and show her a hand signal.
Now, you can work on duration so your dog will not stand up from her curtsy until you release her. At the same time, you can teach her to look up at you while she curtsies for a really cute effect.
For Duration: Have your dog curtsy, and rapidly give her treats as she stays in position. At first, allow just a half-second between treats, then gradually wait just a beat longer before giving her another. Then, add a release word – you can just have her “stand,” or release her with an “okay.”
For Eye Contact: If your dog is staring at the treat, you may be relying too much on luring. Luring is great for teaching a trick, at first, but you need to fade it out as soon as possible so your dog learns the trick, instead of simply learning to always follow the treat. Once she gets the hang of curtsying by following a treat, stop holding a treat in your hand – just show her the hand signal instead. Then, deliver treats to her by raising them up to your eyes before bringing them to her mouth.
For Better Photos and Show-Off-Ability: At first, your dog will only curtsy when she is right in front of you. Teach her to curtsy while she is at your side too.
She also uses her pet copywriting business to make sure the best pet products and services get found online through catchy copy and fun, informative blog posts. She also provides product description writing services for ecommerce companies.
As a dog mom to Matilda and Cow, she spends most of her days taking long walks and practicing new tricks, and most nights trying to make the best of a very modest portion of her bed.
You'll also find her baking bread and making homemade pizza, laughing, painting and shopping.
Now this is CUTE. I can see a pup charming everyone with a trick like this 🙂 I can see it being a real hit with dog lovers.
I love your instructions! Is the ‘How To’ printable Lindsay? I can just see it stuck up on the fridge with a couple of magnets and pup owners going “OK what did she say?”
Dash Kitten Crew recently posted…#RememberMeThursday A WorldWide Event
I’d love to see a cat do it, I know they can be taught to sit and learn with a clicker! As for it being printable, maybe if I make it a PDF!
Lindsay Pevny recently posted…34 Places To List Your Local Pet Services For Free
Great step-by-step tips to help pet owners teach their dog to do these things… I love the printable idea too, Marjorie’s right about that, people will print it and stick on the fridge as a reference.
Pawesome Cats recently posted…Exotic Shorthair Cat Breed Profile
It’s a fun idea, isn’t it? I made it into a PDF with no background and put a link under the original, just in case anyone wants to print it.
Lindsay Pevny recently posted…34 Places To List Your Local Pet Services For Free
Great step by step tutorial!
Nichole recently posted…Merrick Grain Free is Perfect for Your #BestDogEver + GIVEAWAY
Thanks Nichole!
Great post and what a fun thing to teach your dog! And you’re right. Since this is a natural behavior (our dog does bow a lot), it would be easy to train them to do!
Great tutorial and I love the printable! Like you addressed in the post, I always struggle because Mauja and Atka just want to lay down. Just need to keep practicing 🙂
My girls still lay down sometimes, especially when they’re tired – I think it takes effort to keep the butt up in the air!
Lindsay Pevny recently posted…34 Places To List Your Local Pet Services For Free
I love how dogs learn these tricks, I have never tried with Layla but who knows maybe I will one of these days
I’m sure she’d love to learn!
Lindsay Pevny recently posted…34 Places To List Your Local Pet Services For Free
This is a really great tutorial. Great post.
I’m trying to remember how I taught this. I think I lured him because it was before I did a lot of shaping. It’s a cute trick!
I’m still trying to understand exactly what shaping is and how it’s done!
Lindsay Pevny recently posted…34 Places To List Your Local Pet Services For Free
This is really a cute trick. Rosa is not motivated by food at all so I have the hardest time training her to do things! Keira will do just about anything for a treat!
I just simply love trick training posts and this one is so easy to follow. Thank you for the share
This is very cute and we will definitely give it a try. I am also currently trying to teach my cat to sit, which is also going surprisingly well. LOL
The Daily Pip recently posted…Huey Shines On #RememberMeThursday
It took SO long for me to get my Husky to bow she just wouldn’t do it! Getting the angle right was tough. I like your suggestion of using the stand when your dog lies down.
Love & biscuits,
Dogs Luv Us and We Luv Them
They say you can’t teach an old dog new tricks…….let’s see!
Sadie recently posted…A COLLAR AND A DREAM: WHEN WE FOSTERED FURLEY
This is such a cute little trick! I love how Matilda smiles when she does it. 🙂 I think adding a hand cue is a great idea. Even for baby humans and toddlers, hand signals can be learned more easily than verbal cues. They process differently in the brain.
Robin recently posted…Funny Cat Picture: My Feathers
What an adorable trick! I love your choice of hand signal too. I think my hand signals are too similar for my dogs, I need to figure out better ones.
Beth Patterson recently posted…Engaging Tails: English Bulldogs Murph & Grace
I need to try this with my mom’s dog. I’ve taught him how to lay down, roll over, and dance.
Sweet Purrfections recently posted…Sunday Selfie
Great shots of the trick. 🙂 And teaching this behavior can be challenging for any dog, especially small dogs because it doesn’t take long to plop in the lay position.
As per my experience if you want to teach your dog “how to bow or curtsy properly”, then you have to give training “how to lay down or stand”, I am totally agree with the point “Getting Your Dog Into Position”
Terrye Flowers recently posted…Keeping your dogs teeth healthy
Very true, being able to get the dog to stand first makes it a lot easier!
Lindsay Pevny recently posted…34 Places To List Your Local Pet Services For Free
Oh I am SO going to try this!
Jenna Hughson recently posted…Flashback To Autumn Beauty
An informative guide. I will try this out
DogsToLove recently posted…Can my dog go vegan?
A very good trick for a party.
Will definitely try this out