In addition to being a very cute exercise that improves the dog’s movement coordination, it can also be used as a particularly useful stretching exercise before and after sports to warm up your four-legged friend.
Task:
Hold a snack in your hand, sit on the floor and face your dog. Carefully move your hand down and slightly inward between the dog’s legs towards her chest. If she starts to lower her head a little, praise and reward. Gradually lower your hand and reward her when she leans forward. If she lies down in the meantime or backs away, bring her back to the starting position and start again. If she can already cleverly assume the desired position, attach the command, “bow”.
Tips:
Start the exercise on a comfortable surface.
👉 Don’t try to reach under her belly and hold her because it can be an unpleasant experience for your dog.
👉 Be patient, fine tune your hand movements, this is key in this case too.
👉 When teaching a puppy or elderly dog, pay attention to the gradual load, don’t exercise too often or for too long.
👉 It helps if you use a clicker to confirm even smaller steps quickly and accurately.
👉 Always say the command word in advance, gradually stop leading and reduce the hand and body signals, i.e. stand up.
👉 Increase the amount of time she has to stay in this position.
