We all know dogs use play bows to initiate play (see video example), but we also see bows sprinkled throughout a play episode. The question is, why? Ethologists tell us the initial bow is an invite to play (Bekoff, 1995) and signals the following act is not to be taken seriously (Bekoff, 1972).
So what is the purpose of additional play solicitations once play has begun? They must mean something. After all, a play bow is a signal and signals communicate a purposeful message. The sender, the signaler, is trying to change the behavior of the receiver, the recipient (Simpson, 1997). In this example the elicited change is play. If play bows during a play bout had no communicative affect on the recipient, why send a signal at all? Given this, it seems reasonable to hypothesize that play bows do not occur randomly. So what are dogs communicating when they play bow during social play?
Marc Bekoff (1995) studied this exact question. He noted that canid social play contains sequences of behavior normally performed in different contexts (i.e. predatory, sexual, or agonistic) that do not contain bows. For example, you'd never see a dog play bow to a squirrel just before pouncing and shaking it to death, but you will see bites (although inhibited) with or without rapid side-to-side shaking of the head during a play bout. Even though these bites are performed in the context of play, they could be misinterpreted by the bite recipient, resulting in a fight.
Since fights are no fun for anyone, Bekoff (1995) hypothesized that dogs send a signal to clarify potential agonistic behavior preventing an unwanted interaction. To know for sure he enumerated and noted the placement of 35 discrete behaviors observed in a play sequence. His results showed that, more often than not, canids use play bows to signal continuation of play. The bow tells the play partner receiving the bites that what they did or are about to do (less likely) is still play.
It works like this - the individual who performed the bite immediately precedes or follows up the questionable act with a play bow. This communicates to its partner that the act was done in play and not to be misread as aggression or predation (Bekoff, 1995).
Personally I think this is so cool. Dogs never cease to amaze me! They use the simple little play bow to clarify and maintain play!
Personal aside: While reading this paper I chuckled to myself as it reminded me of something my husband and I do to continue play. On occasion (okay - more often than not), our play/flirting turns to teasing and button pushing. It's all in good fun of course, but to make sure it stays that way, both of us will immediately follow up our snarky comment with a series of "just kiddings." The harder we push that button, the faster the words "just kidding" come out. We'll even truncate it to "JK" in order to spit it out faster. I guess dogs and humans aren't so different after all. ;)
References
Bekoff, M. (1972). The development of social interaction, play, and metacommunication in mammals: An ethological perspective. The Quarterly Review of Biology, 47(4), 412-434.
Bekoff, M. (1995). Play signals as punctuation: The structure of social play in canids. Behaviour, 132, 419-429.
Simpson, B. S. (1997). Canine communication. Veterinary Clinics of North America: Small Animal Practice, 27(3), 445-64.
Related Posts
How Dogs Initiate Play: Descriptions & Video Examples of Play Behaviors
When Play Goes Bad: Theories on How Play May Become a Fight
Video: Example of Appropriate Play Behavior in a Group of Dogs of Various Sizes
