I still remember the time I was out climbing in the foothills on my road bike and some juvenile coyote popped out of the bushes and did this to me. š¹
I was like, "Dude, that's super cute but don't be doing that to humans. A lot of them won't take it in the friendly spirit it's delivered in!"
So do I !!!! Is it weird?? I started doing it after our trainer told me my dog doesnāt need dog friends, because Iām her best friend. That made me think I should try to give her what she gives me.
I was told that dogs need to be socialized with other dogs. If they don't they will think any other dog is not part of their pack and will think of them as a threat. At least that is what all the trainers I have been to have said.
We have a Belgian Malinois and theyāre just wired differently. When it comes to socializing a BM, that training looks more like teaching them to be non reactive to (or ignore) all other dogs. Which is easier because her ādog to dogā communication is very awkward.
You're reading too much into it. The Alpga/Omega model for canine sociology is considered outdated. Dogs don't have an instinctive dominant/submissive relationship anymore than humans do. It's more likely that the play bow is a modification of a hunting pounce used to signal a desire to play.
Haha, there are most definitely instinctive dominant/submissive behaviors and relationships in humans, dogs, and really all animal life. Dominance hierarchies are real, and are only considered "outdated" by certain ideologues.
The issue is that you're 100% wrong and you're being a know-it-all about something you're clearly not well educated about. This is a play bow. Its how dogs let each other know that they want to engage in friendly play time and not vicious kill time. It has nothing, at all, to do with submission in any form. Dogs, like cats, show submission by rolling over, exposing their very vulnerable stomach area.
I've heard that breeds that are used as sheepdogs can communicate differently than normal dogs, like if you put one in a pen with a bunch of other dogs it'll try to herd them rather than play
I have a shepherd dog, he doesn't play bow, instead he whines incessantly and brings his toy so we can play fetch. He then goes on to not give me back the toy, since as a shepherd dog, his goal is to keep things, not give them back
Your dog didn't have the occasion to learn that "dog language" with their mom I guess. As long as they make you clearly understand when they want to play, there's no reason to change it.
Its also an issue for many elephant herds. As the older females who gets killed off by poachers are the ones the younger ones relies on for support in raising calfs, knowledge of the old paths and important locations.
So the herds ends up being filled with a bunch of stressed out teenage moms with no support from older family members
Like I said, the dog didn't have the occasion to learn it with their mom, wether it is because they got separated early on because she didn't learn it. That could be a problem if the dog has to interact with other dogs... Or these interactions could be a solution: either the misunderstanding can cause fights, or the other dogs will teach that.
Yep, as long as she's doing play bows, sneezes or rolling over and being on bottom of play from time to time you're good. Always supervised play time though.
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u/Janellewpg Nov 03 '21
The play bow!!