1887
Volume 25, Issue 2
  • ISSN 1572-0373
  • E-ISSN: 1572-0381
USD
Buy:$35.00 + Taxes

Abstract

Dog play bows are recognized as indicating play motivation in dog-dog play, but have never been examined in dog-human play. Twenty-seven dogs and 26 humans engaged in interspecific interactions with familiar and unfamiliar cross-species partners to play; videotapes of the resulting 50 play interactions were examined for play bows. Fifty play bows were detected, enacted by 10 dogs playing with their owner, 6 of whom also enacted play bows with an unfamiliar player. Play bows occurred only infrequently before or after pauses (or non-play activities) by the dog or the human, or before escape during play. Play bows appeared to be integral to dogs’ play activities, usually when the dog was playing and , or the dog was reacting to the human engaging in frustration games like or . Play bows appear to be multi-purpose actions indicating play motivation within dog-human play.

Loading

Article metrics loading...

/content/journals/10.1075/is.24016.mit
2025-02-07
2026-05-17
Loading full text...

Full text loading...

References

  1. Bauer, E. B., & Smuts, B. B.
    (2007) Cooperation and competition during dyadic play in domestic dogs, Canis familiaris. Animal Behaviour, 73(3), 489–499. 10.1016/j.anbehav.2006.09.006
    https://doi.org/10.1016/j.anbehav.2006.09.006 [Google Scholar]
  2. Bekoff, M.
    (1972) The communication of play intention: Are play signals functional?Semiotica, 15(3), 231–239. 10.1515/semi.1975.15.3.231
    https://doi.org/10.1515/semi.1975.15.3.231 [Google Scholar]
  3. (1974) Social play in coyotes, wolves, and dogs. BioScience, 24(4), 225–230. 10.2307/1296803
    https://doi.org/10.2307/1296803 [Google Scholar]
  4. (1977) Social communication in canids: Evidence for the evolution of a stereotyped mammalian display. Science (New Series), 197(4308), 1097. https://www.jstor.org/stable/1744147
    [Google Scholar]
  5. (1995) Play signals as punctuation: The structure of social play in canids. Behaviour, 132(5/6), 419–429. https://www.jstor.org/stable/4535273
    [Google Scholar]
  6. Bekoff, M., & Allen, C.
    (2009) Intentional communication and social play: How and why animals negotiate and agree to play. InM. Bekoff & J. A. Byers (Eds.), Animal play: Evolutionary, comparative and ecological perspectives (pp.97–114). Cambridge University Press. 10.1017/CB09780511608575.006
    https://doi.org/10.1017/CB09780511608575.006 [Google Scholar]
  7. Byosiere, S.-E., Espinosa, J., & Smuts, B.
    (2016) Investigating the function of play bows in adult pet dogs (Canis lupus familiaris). Behavioural Processes, 1251, 106–113. 10.1016/j.beproc.2016.02.007
    https://doi.org/10.1016/j.beproc.2016.02.007 [Google Scholar]
  8. Byosiere, S.-E., Espinosa, J., Marshall-Pescini, S., Smuts, B., & Range, F.
    (2016) Investigating the function of play bows in dog and wolf puppies (Canis lupus familiaris, Canis lupus occidentalis). PLoS One, 11(12): e0168570. 10.1371/journal.pone.0168570
    https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0168570 [Google Scholar]
  9. Byosiere, S.-E., Espinosa, J., & Smith, B. P.
    (2018) The function of play bows in Canis lupus and its variants: A comparison of dingo (Canis lupus dingo), dog (Canis lupus familiaris) and wolf puppies (Canis lupus). Behaviour, 1551, 369–388. 10.1163/1568539X‑00003495
    https://doi.org/10.1163/1568539X-00003495 [Google Scholar]
  10. Dewsbury, D. A.
    (1981) Effects of novelty on copulatory behavior: The Coolidge effect and related phenomena. Psychological Bulletin, 89(3), 464–482. 10.1037/0033‑2909.89.3.464
    https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.89.3.464 [Google Scholar]
  11. Funny Videos
    Funny Videos (2017) Dog playing tug of war — Funny dogs compilation 2017. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LbPlzCqR3Mw
  12. Goode, D.
    (2007) Playing with my dog Katie: An ethnomethodological study of dog-human interaction. Purdue University Press.
    [Google Scholar]
  13. Handelman, B.
    (2008) Canine behavior: A photo illustrated handbook. Woof and Word Press.
    [Google Scholar]
  14. Horowitz, A.
    (2009) Attention to attention in domestic dog (Canis familiaris) dyadic play. Animal Cognition, 121, 107–118. 10.1007/s10071‑008‑0175‑y
    https://doi.org/10.1007/s10071-008-0175-y [Google Scholar]
  15. Maglieri, V., Zanoli, A., Mastrandrea, F., & Palagi, E.
    (2023) Don’t stop me now, I’m having such a good time! Czechoslovakian wolfdogs renovate the motivation to play with a bow. Current Zoology, 69(1), 50–58. 10.1093/cz/zoac013
    https://doi.org/10.1093/cz/zoac013 [Google Scholar]
  16. Mitchell, R. W.
    (2023) Dog talk: Dogs and humans barking and growling during interspecies play. Interaction Studies, 24(3), 485–515. 10.1075/is.00020.mit
    https://doi.org/10.1075/is.00020.mit [Google Scholar]
  17. Mitchell, R. W., Reed, E., & Alexander, L.
    (2018) Functions of pointing by humans, and dogs’ responses, during dog-human play between familiar and unfamiliar players. Animal Behavior and Cognition, 5(2), 181–200. 10.26451/abc.05.02.01.2018
    https://doi.org/10.26451/abc.05.02.01.2018 [Google Scholar]
  18. Mitchell, R. W., & Thompson, N. S.
    (1990) The effects of familiarity on dog-human play. Anthrozoös, 41, 24–43. 10.2752/089279391787057314
    https://doi.org/10.2752/089279391787057314 [Google Scholar]
  19. (1991) Projects, routines, and enticements in dog-human play. InP. P. G. Bateson & P. H. Klopfer (Eds.), Perspectives in ethology (Vol.91, pp.189–216). Plenum Press.
    [Google Scholar]
  20. Moreno, A. J. C.
    (2014) Introducing pragmatics to secondary school students. [Master’s thesis, Universitat Jaume I]. https://repositori.uji.es/xmlui/handle/10234/110539
    [Google Scholar]
  21. Pellis, S. M., & Pellis, V. C.
    (1996) On knowing it’s only play: The role of play signals in play fighting. Aggression and Violent Behavior, 1(3), 249–268. 10.1016/1359‑1789(95)00016‑X
    https://doi.org/10.1016/1359-1789(95)00016-X [Google Scholar]
  22. Rooney, N. J., Bradshaw, J. W. S., & Robinson, I. H.
    (2000) A comparison of dog-dog and dog-human play behaviour. Applied Animal Behaviour Science, 66(3), 235–248. 10.1016/S0168‑1591(99)00078‑7
    https://doi.org/10.1016/S0168-1591(99)00078-7 [Google Scholar]
  23. (2001) Do dogs respond to play signals given by humans?Animal Behaviour, 611, 715–722. 10.1006/anbe.2000.1661
    https://doi.org/10.1006/anbe.2000.1661 [Google Scholar]
  24. Viera, A. J., & Garrett, J. M.
    (2005) Understanding interobserver agreement: The kappa statistic. Family Medicine, 37(5), 360–363. https://www1.cs.columbia.edu/~julia/courses/CS6998/Interrater_agreement.Kappa_statistic.pdf
    [Google Scholar]
  25. Walsh, E. A., Meers, L. L., Samuels, W. E., Boonen, D., Claus, A., Duarte-Gan, C., … & Normando, S.
    (2024) Human-dog communication: How body language and non-verbal cues are key to clarity in dog directed play, petting and hugging behaviour by humans. Applied Animal Behaviour Science, 2721, 106206. 10.1016/j.applanim.2024.106206
    https://doi.org/10.1016/j.applanim.2024.106206 [Google Scholar]
  26. Ward, C., Bauer, E. B., & Smuts, B. B.
    (2008) Partner preferences and asymmetries in social play among domestic dog, Canis lupus familiaris, littermates. Animal Behaviour, 76(4), 1187–1199. 10.1016/j.anbehav.2008.06.004
    https://doi.org/10.1016/j.anbehav.2008.06.004 [Google Scholar]
  27. Wierzbicka, A.
    (1995) Kisses, handshakes, bows: The semantics of nonverbal communication. Semiotica, 103(3–4), 207–252. 10.1515/semi.1995.103.3‑4.207
    https://doi.org/10.1515/semi.1995.103.3-4.207 [Google Scholar]
/content/journals/10.1075/is.24016.mit
Loading
/content/journals/10.1075/is.24016.mit
Loading

Data & Media loading...

  • Article Type: Research Article
Keyword(s): canid play bows; dog-human play; familiarity; maintaining play; play bows
This is a required field
Please enter a valid email address
Approval was successful
Invalid data
An Error Occurred
Approval was partially successful, following selected items could not be processed due to error