In his seminal work Animal Play, Marc Bekoff argued that play bows (PBs from now on) are example of metacommunication, or communication about communication. His hypothesis that PBs signal playful intentions during a play bout was a good one. I summarized it in an earlier post by saying “Just as a football jersey means a tackle isn’t true aggression (okay, maybe American football is a bad example?!), play bows signal other dogs that any behavior to follow is meant as play.” (I also talked about PBs in a post in 2008 if you’d like to see more.)
But new research by Byosiere, Grossman and Smuts (in press, Beh’l Processes 2016) tested that and other theories and found some interesting results. Their paper is a lovely example of how science is designed to generate and test hypothesis. It’s also not available to the general public, so I’ve summarized it here. The authors gathered together the hypotheses that have been proposed, and, as all good research should do, generated predictions about what results would or would not support each one. Subsequently they gathered behavioral data on 414 play sessions which included PBs between dyads of 16 dogs. I’ve summarized the hypothesis, predictions and results below:
Re-initiation of play. If PBs function to keep play going, one should see more pauses and passive non-play behavior before PB than after. Results: Players did indeed pause more often before a play bow and were more active after one. Horowitz found a similar result, (2009) that PBs occurred more often after a pause in play than before. [Note this suggests that the hypothesis that Dr. Karen London and I have put forth–that play bows function themselves as pauses that mediate arousal levels, is thus not supported. This is the great part about science; you propose an explanation and year by year, the data begin to catch up and refine your thinking…. Love it!]
Metacommunication (Bekoff’s Hypothesis). If PBs are a way of saying “don’t take umbrage at my next move, just playing!”, then one should see more “offfensive” behavior after PBs than before (which Bekoff did in his research). Results: This hypothesis was not supported by the data in this study. “Bowers” performed no more or less “offensive” behavior after or before the PBs. The receivers, however, were more likely to mount, bite or chase than the bowers. Why the difference in study results? Bekoff’s (1995) hypothesis was developed after his studies of extremely young dogs, age 3 to 7 weeks. “Bite shakes” were so frequent after PBs in his study that you can see why he would hypothesize that the function of PBs was to avoid miscommunication. However, “bite-shake” is common in young puppies (shockingly so, they look like baby cage fighters on steroids with no referee) and never occurs in appropriate play between adults. It was never observed in this study.
Physical Advantage. Perhaps (it has been suggested by Pellis & Pellis, 1996) that a PB is not so much communication, but a position that allows the bower to better perform “offensive” or “escape” behavior. Bowers did indeed “escape” at higher frequencies after bowing (ie, running away, receiving a muzzle bite or mount), but the authors suggest it functioned more as a way of continuing play. That fits my observations–so often dogs initiate a new play sequence with “stop/start” or a simple dash away that elicits a chase game. Neither does it make sense to me that a play bow would indeed give a dog a physical advantage. I’m thinking of BCs working sheep and dogs running in agility, both with a need to make split-second actions, who virtually never use that posture in either endeavor. (Except my BC Pippy Tay, who would PB and wag her tail to sheep. But then, she wasn’t really herding, she was saying hello. Bless her.)
Synchronizing play behavior. Actions that synchronize behavior are common in social species, from birds who sign duets together, to competing male deer who synchronize their displays during mating season. If PBs function to achieve this, one should see more synchronous behavior after the PB than before. The results did support the prediction generated by this hypothesis–the dogs performed a higher percentage of synchronous behavior after a PB than before (16% versus 5%).
PBs as visual signals. This hypothesis is not exclusive of several of the others, and simply suggests that PB are indeed communicatory signals from one canid to another. Thus, they should be done only when the players are in view of each other, or right after an attention-getting behavior, like barking. The results confirm this hypothesis without a doubt: 409 of the 414 play bows recorded were done when the dogs could see one another. In 3 of the 5 cases “out of view” cases, the PB’er barked during the bow, and in one case the researchers couldn’t see if the dogs could see each other and so couldn’t count it. That left 1 out of 414 instances in which a dog PB’ed when the other dog wasn’t watching. Pretty compelling data, that!
In general, the authors conclude that PBs do not appear to communicate that subsequent behavior should be interpreted as play, versus being mis-interpreted as an aggressive action as has been believed for decades. Rather, the data support that PBs are a visual signal that serve to continue the play bout itself. As do all good researchers, the authors highlight several subsequent lines of inquiry that this research suggests, such as age-related differences and differences based on the familiarity of the dogs in question.
I’m especially interested in that issue–familiar versus unfamiliar. My observations suggest that dogs who are less familiar tend to play bow more to each than familiar dogs do. For example, Maggie and Willie simply never play bow to each other anymore. (Tootsie has never played with any dog, much less PB’ed. I suspect that has to do with her 7+ years in a cage in a puppy mill.)
What about your dogs? I’d love to hear from you about your observations. Of course, our experiences aren’t data, but still, it would be fascinating to hear what your experience has been with your own dogs.
[And don’t forget to send a photo of your dog(s) asleep–silly or charming, laugh out loud funny or oxytocin generating. Photos should probably come in before April 4th to be included. Thanks! I can’t wait to see them…]
MEANWHILE, back on the farm: Oh, the joys of decorating Easter eggs when one is starved for color after a black and white winter! Here’s the result of a morning with good friends D & J:
And my favorite part–The Annual Pouring of the Dye into The Sink Ritual:
After they left it was time to make an apple pie for Easter dinner with Jim’s mom. (Well, actually, the pie was for desert, but I’m thinking it just might be for my dinner tonight.) Jim helped cut up the apples, so it was a group effort. I concentrated on the crust. I think I’ve finally made enough pies now that I’ve perfected making my own pie crust. But of course, we all know that just by saying that I’ve doomed my next pie, which will be a disaster. [Note to my personal trainer: What do you mean I can’t lose weight and eat pie? I don’t understand what you are saying…]
4dogsandalittlelady.com says
Fantastic article! I’d be very interested to see a continuing line of researched that explored the level of PB’ing as familiarity changed between two dogs. I’m only going off of memory but when we introduced my second dog to my first(we have 4 now!) I remember her PB’ing constantly. Nowadays I never see it at all. Looking forward to seeing where this research takes us!
Kathleen Hartman says
Fascinating! We adopted a middle-aged English Mastiff last year and we’ve struggled to understand his communication methods. They are unlike any of our previous 3 mastiffs. This guy, Titus, often play bows — a big, deep one — to tell us he has to go out. If we don’t respond immediately, he gets frantic and runs up to us and barks (incredibly loudly) while staring us in the face. He’s had a number of homes, so we’re not sure where this behavior began. Was it copied? Adopted for lack of a better approach? An indication of a physical need? Interestingly, he’s super-social. All strangers are potential petters to him. Not the typical mastiff, for sure!
Barb Stanek says
So interesting! My two PWDs have a complex history which I not explain in this post! In any case, here are some of my observations.
Eight year old Trio — physically ill for the first three years of her life — fun police. Will separate dogs who are playing. Just in the last four months, this girl has started to try to play. She is awkward at it, and her play attemps last five seconds or less. But she’s trying. She does not play bow.
Five year old Sawyer — play bows to Trio. When he really wants to play with her, he will stay in the bow position and bark at her or shake a toy in his mouth. Sawyer also play bows to me. I will be paying more attention to when, and what I do afterward! His play bows to me are often accompanied with teeth clacking. The teeth clacking doesn’t happen with Trio.
Scott says
I have 5 male dogs, ages 6.5 years (Golden), 3 years (Pomsky), and three of them around 15 months old (a German Shepherd, a black lab mix, and a Yorkie mix. When one of them wants to play, he’ll make an “offering” bark and it gets the others’ attention.
Bear (Yorkie mix and the smallest) PBs most often. The GSD hasn’t play bowed prior to any of the scrums I’ve observed, nor have the Pomsky or the Golden Retriever, but the black lab (the youngest) does on occasion. The PBs offere4d are in one-on-one interactions, not to the group.
Carol says
I would like a clear definition of what a puppy “bite-shake” is. I think my 7 year old BC is still doing it. Thank you.
Kim L says
My girl (Welsh Springer) is one of the most social dogs I have ever had. She simply wants to go greet every person and is also very sociable to most dogs, unless they get in her face & loom over her. She play bows a lot, but this is also something I taught her to do instead of jumping on people. Her default behavior, instead of sitting, is always a play bow. Fits her personality and attitude beautifully. She will also use the play bow to elicit behavior and has been known to start with playbowing and then wriggling on her back on the ground & pushing herself under the other dog’s front feet, I guess to fully show her good will and good feeling toward the other (sometimes nervous) dog.
Bruce says
I can think of one other hypothesis that the researchers did not test: Perhaps PBs are used more frequently by less-confident/lower status/younger/smaller dogs to request play from more-confident/higher status/older/bigger dogs. If this hypothesis is correct, it would explain how PBs can be meta-communication without necessarily leading to “offensive” behavior. I see younger dogs often using PBs to request play from older dogs, as if the PB is a question: “Let’s play nice, OK, huh?”
Sandy the nervous Sammy prefers to play with very mild-mannered, non-threatening dogs. On the (unfortunately rare) occasions when she meets a suitable playing partner Sandy unleashes an elaborate, frolicking play-bow display that is an absolute delight to watch.
Re-initiation of play: It makes sense that a signal that means “Let’s play!” would also mean “Let’s play some more!” I do think that the research missed asking the primary question – does a PB mean “Let’s play!” rather than “Please forgive my transgressions in advance!”
Synchronizing play behavior: Freezing seems more common than PBs before dogs erupt into a chase game or wrestling match. Freezing seems to be a more common during-play signal, whereas the PB seems to be more common during initial negotiation of “shall-we-or shan’t-we-play?” Interesting that a freeze can mean “Let’s play!” or “I may hurt you” depending on the accompanying body language signals.
Familiar vs unfamiliar: I see play bows more frequently between unfamiliar dogs. Familiar playing partners seem to skip the play bow and launch into playing with nothing more than a quick glance or bouncy approach.
Other play signals: Red Dog does not PB very often, but invites play with other signals. Her favorite approach is to bound towards the other dog and then – depending on the response – freeze, nose bonk, or keep running and veer off at the last minute.
Although normally quiet, Red Dog also invites dogs to play with a particularly annoying bark. My interpretation: “I will keep barking in your ear until you stop what you are doing and play with me.” Sigh.
Erin James says
My two Russell Terriers play frequently, one is almost two years old and the other is five. The younger one was a singleton pup, I add that for interest only. The other night I was watching them play while I was at my desk and they were running trough the house and coming in to play behind my chair. I stopped what I was doing to watch for a bit. There was a pause, the older one barked and play bowed, the younger one was standing in a play stance but I noticed he turned his head away and licked his lips. The older one barked again and went into a down posture and the younger one did the lip lick and head turn again. Since the play ended shortly after that I wondered if the lip licking was a signal that he was done with playing, or since he was a singleton pup does he not have any reference point to understand that play bow. I’d never paid that much attention previous to this incident. We’ve had the younger one since he was 10 week old and the older one for over four years.
Joan Krochko says
I wanted to recount an occasion of a play-bow between my Border Collie and my older JRT, who at the time was suffering from canine cognitive dysfunction (and having afternoon periods of aggression and lack of comprehension). The border collie had jumped on the bed and startled the JRT, who then grabbed the border collie by the jowls. The border collie – startled – lifted the JRT right off the bed. The terrier was hanging from his face. The border collie then play-bowed and gently placed the terrier back on the bed. It seemed to me that this behavior was a communication between the dogs that it was a ‘no harm, no foul’ event. They both fell asleep side-by-side after the event. I’ve always wondered what my border collie was trying to communicate to his terrier friend – it was a poignant reminder of their friendship.
Erin Sullivan says
How interesting! I’ve never seen my dog PB to another dog but she does so with me as a way to show she’s extremely excited or wants to play chase with me. Also she PBs when I try to initiate a game by saying “I’m gonna getcha!” if she wants to play she’s start wagging her tail, jump to the side, PB, then take off running.
Marianne Hovde says
One of my dog’s play bows to the other every time they play, even though they have lived together for years and know each other well. Interesting theory that familiar dogs do less play bowing, but not the case in my household.
Also interested in the play bow as an “apology”, which isn’t mentioned in the study. I’ve noticed if my play bower gets a little rough and the other dog doesn’t like it, he will play bow as if to say “I was just playing, didn’t mean it”.
Anyone else observe this?
Laura Harrington says
Hi,
For those of us who are, ehem, less than technically savvy, how do we post a picture? I thought I could just copy and paste but it wasn’t cooperating.
Love your blog!
Laura
Lynette Combs says
Here’s an interesting “take” on a play-bow: A friend of mine, living out in the Virginia countryside, saw a coyote chasing a small deer, who leapt up onto a tall pile of hay in a field. The coyote paced impatiently down below, unable to scale the hay. Then the deer, dancing back & forth, dislodged enough hay to half-slide, half-jump down. The deer landed hard on the ground, and its front legs skidded out into into an accidental play-bow. The coyote froze — then mirrored the play-bow! The deer bounded away — but the coyote sat down, seemingly befuddled. I thought this was an AMAZING example of how a posture in an unrelated species could trigger a response in a canid.
Doreen Browning says
Humans in our family are the recipients of frequent PB’s with ears forward and easily wagging tail, by our 4 yo male lab. He generally brings us a toy, we initially respond with play, he retreats, and gives a PB. If we respond by retreating playfully, he will advance playfully. If we advance playfully, he may either advance or retreat playfully. If we ignore, he will drop his hind quarters and continue to watch us for some indication of play. So in our case, it would seem to be a signal to continue play.
Julie says
My coonhound PBs all the time. Even when she is playing by herself. I’ve often wondered if it helps her physically prepare for the activity. Just like we stretch before a run, she needs to a good “downward dog” to jump and frolic with her toys.
Elizabeth says
Our Bullmastiff frequently playbows to one of our cats, who obviously doesn’t undertand Canine. I’m quite sure Rosa is trying to get Cricket to play; it never works. Last week I put up three new fridge magnets, one of them was of a cartoon dog (Tom Tomorrow’s Blinky, if that means anything). Rosa was quite taken aback, she approached it very cautiously, barked a few times…and then playbowed to it. (I even got a picture). Surely she didn’t think it was a real dog, and to me it seemed like calming behaviour, but I thought it very odd. (She and our other dog do occasionally playbow to each other during play).
HFR says
My 10 year old dog still does PBs, mostly with unfamiliar dogs and only when they’ve just met. What he has always done next tho is a mystery to me. He twirls. He PBs, then twirls around in a tight circle over and over again, pausing between each twirl to get excited again with the other dog. Usually the other dog has no idea what the heck he is doing. It’s so interesting to me that he has his own language (quirk?) that is not understood by other dogs at all. So therefore how is it that PBs are understood by all dogs? How does something like that get started? Is it because, like shaking hands in humans, no harm can come to the other when their paws (hands) are occupied? Are dogs born with that knowledge or is a PB taught somehow in the litter? Interesting stuff!
Trisha says
To Kathleen: Very interesting that your Mastiff PBs to ask to go outside. Smart guy, it sounds like! He must have learned it’s a great “attention getting” behavior somewhere in the past. And I love that he behaves like a Golden Retriever (or the common image of one) in a Mastiff costume!
To Barb: I love that you brought up the “fun police” kind of dog. I’ve seen so many of these, and never been sure about their motivation. I’ve guessed that many dogs find the arousal levels related to play anxiety-provoking, but that’s just a guess. Any other guesses?
To Carol, re “bite-shakes.” They are exactly as they sound: A dog bites another, often on then neck, and while still holding on, shakes its head like a coyote shaking a rat it’s about to eat. While some dogs can do it with a soft mouth, it’s not considered by people (or dogs in my experience) to be appropriate play. I have always stopped a dog I saw doing it. When do you see it in your dog, and what happens afterward?
To Kim L: Very clever to teach your dog to PB while greeting people. I have used it too for hundreds of client’s dogs, but usually dogs who needed to relax. I taught it to my own Willie as a way for him to relax, and after awhile he began to do it himself often in contexts in which I think he was getting anxious. I’m teaching it to Maggie & Tootsie now, because it is such a great behavior to train, for so many reasons!
To Bruce: Interesting idea about lower status dogs signaling higher status ones. Would be something that could be tested (starting with who wins the bone-in-between-the-dogs test, as done originally by M. Fox and replicated in Anneke Lisberg’s studies). But do remember that Bekoff’s hypothesis was exactly what you also suggested (Please forgive my transgressions in advance!”), and the data from this study did not support that as an idea. And your point about freezing being used both before re-initiation of play and as a signal of potential trouble is such a good one; I’m fascinated about whether one could tell the difference without knowing what had preceded the freezing.
To Joan: Brilliant behavior on the part of your Border Collie! What a sweet and interesting story!
And to Lynette and her story about a deer skidding into an accidental play bow after being chased by a coyote, who froze and then play bowed back. WOW! That is a fantastic story. You’ve made my morning!
Christy Paxton says
2 examples:
1) Was working with a dog who was pretty reactive to other dogs. He didn’t seem to understand social signals (rescue, history unknown). His owners mentioned he never play bowed. I had them teach him how. After that, he became much more social! Owners said he would play bow to almost every dog he met and seemed thrilled to have a way to communicate properly!
2) I have experimented with my dog Tawny to see if I could approximate a play bow and also a greeting bow (stretch). My play bow is straight arms spread into a V and pointed slightly downward plus open smile and slight body wiggle (we trainers are shameless when it comes to the dogs!). When I do that, Tawny will smile, bark, and dart away to grab a toy. I have tried this on other dogs as well, and they all respond appropriately (helps me with scared dogs who are dog friendly too, btw). My greeting bow/stretch is straight arms pointing towards her, wrists touching and hands up with fingers curled in (looking like a paw), and head up like I’m stretching my neck. Invariably, I get a front and often back bow/stretch and she comes lazily toward me, grinning and wagging, to bury her head between my legs.
Sarah says
In my observations of my own dog, the hypothesis that play bows are used to elicit play from a higher-status dog makes a lot of sense. Chara is a two year old mutt, and she’s outgoing and playful, but also very submissive. Frequently when greeting dogs that approach with a dominant stance–stiff, upright posture, stiffly wagging tail held erect–she’ll sink into a play bow and then try to initiate play. She also plays with a very dominant, older female three or four times a week (who growls at her whenever she acts too silly) , and while in most of her long time companions she eventually stops play bowing, with Mala she play bows frequently, and always after she’s been growled at.
Becka says
Super interesting! I agree that it is used more with unfamiliar dogs — my dog, Kate, never does it when she’s with friends. I’d be interested to see research on the PB in other contexts. For example, Kate is a hound with a high prey drive, and when she is on leash and greeting a cat that doesn’t run away, she gets very aroused, and eventually runs in tight circles and seems to play bow. I have no idea if she wants to eat the cat or play with it!
Wanda says
We have a 4 year old Irish terrier who has seen a number of foster dogs come and go. Quinn is very playful and PBs all the time…to other dogs and to my husband. If Quinn wants my husband to play “Let’s slowly walk around the island, I’ll have a toy in my mouth, and you try to get it), he almost always starts the game with a PB. When Quinn wants to play with either Ben or Peanut (foster), he’ll PB, and then sometimes jump around in a full circle to get a game going. I’ve never seen a dog so playful as our Quinn. I’m not sure if he’s so eager to play because of lots of foster dogs or he’s just naturally a dog that loves to play.
Definitely looking forward to the photos of other dogs……not that I don’t love the photos of your dogs.
Amanda says
My rescue “pit bull” type dog seems to give a deep play bow to unfamiliar dogs who are unsure of her, or do not immediately start playing. She almost always runs away, as if initiating the other dog to chase her.
She will play bow several times during a play session with my parent’s dog (that she’s played with since she was a puppy). But those are quick, shallow bows as opposed to the deeper ones she gives unfamiliar dogs.
Ruth says
My Tibetan Mastiff will often play bow in response to a dog acting fearfull-aggressive towards him (something we get alot of, I have suspicions as to why, but thats unrelated). Extra-especially towards particularly small dogs. Now, he was introduced to toy breeds at a young age, and definetly considers them awesome playmates, and lives in a household with a 30lb dog. But when he does this with “new dogs” it looks like he’s trying to tell them he’s “ok” and not a danger. Though it always makes me laugh a bit, here they are growling and barking at him and he’s “inviting them to play”……
Erica Marshall CPDT-KA says
Hi Patricia,
Play bowing has become very interesting to me and how it is used among dog/dog interactions as well as dog/human interactions. I have three dogs, my cavalier I have never seen playbow, even to the dogs he enjoys playing with. My pyrenees will playbow, especially with smaller playmates, but it’s not as frequent a behavior in his play as he often gets bored or tired after short play sessions. My terrier mix is an enigma, I have seen her play bow to other dogs, but it’s never her first behavior. She often rushes them, she comes on strong, and then if they can deal with that she will throw in some play bows and bounces to get play moving. She also playbows at me, in a totally different context, and only me. I know this is anthropomorphizing but often it seems as if she’s asking permission for something, what I’m not so sure, possibly to come in for a snuggle, to enter the bathroom if I haven’t closed the door or to be let in from the yard. I have also had her offer it to me if I have yelled for any reason (not necessarily even at her, I have 2 children) or if I am getting frustrated with our training. For all her bluster she is a rather soft dog I believe and I feel this behavior is in her repertoire of appeasement behaviors. Thanks for posting this study.
Peggy Michaelis says
I have two dogs – a Pembroke Welsh Corgi and a Basenji/Carolina dog mix. My Corgi has never done a PB to my knowledge. She’s very social but is also all about order & control. My Basenji PBs – I think she is doing it to get dogs to chase her. Running with other dogs is her favorite mode of play. Running in general is her favorite thing to do. At dog parks, Glory, my Basenji mix, can create a pack of new dogs within minutes of arriving. Bodecea, my Corgi, is more comfortable trailing behind – maybe she thinks she is herding them. They are both very social, friendly dogs but with different methods to get their social needs met.
Chris says
My pup is a bottle raised singleton so her communication is often not clear to other dogs. She is quite vocal/growly when she plays and will growl as she performs a play bow which elicits some worried reactions from her play partners. She will also do her growl-PB to me when she gets frustrated or stressed. Not a barker, unless someone comes to the door, of course.
Bruce says
Fun police: Sandy the nervous Sammy is the fun police in our 3-dog house, and in her case I agree with your guess that the arousal level of play causes anxiety. We previously had a 15-pound Schipperke who was The Queen and the Fun Police rolled into one. For the Schipperke, I think that being fun police served to maintain her status by keeping her subjects (including a 70-pound Labrador) from getting unruly.
Bekoff’s Hypothesis: I explained poorly, let me try again. I question Bekoff’s hypothesis (PB = “Please forgive my transgressions in advance”). Instead, perhaps a PB simply means a polite question: “Um, would you like to play?” If polite or lower-status dogs are more likely to use PBs compared with rude or higher-status dogs, PBs would not necessarily lead to more “offensive” behavior.
In support of this interpretation, Bekoff observed that the PB receivers were more likely to exhibit “offensive” behavior. Perhaps the PB receiver saw the PB as a sign of weakness or lower status in their play partners, and responded with more “offensive” play.
Lisa Shirley says
My dogs are both deaf and they both PB to each other all the time. They always do it when in view of the other dog because visual communication is all they have. It does seem like their PBs are an invitation to play. Sometimes they can be a little competitive with one another, and I have often seen one or the other PB to defuse the tension and get the other one to relax and have fun.
Gayla says
To Marianne: My bossy-aussie doesn’t really “play” with other dogs. She tries to “control” them. (Sigh, she doesn’t have a lot of friends.) In 6 years, I have probably only seen her PB 4 times, and once was to offer an elaborate PB to ME, after she had accidentally bit me. It totally looked like an “Oops!” apology…
Bruce says
A more succinct way of saying what I said above:
Bekoff’s Hypothesis: PB = “don’t take umbrage at my next move, just playing!”
Alternate hypothesis: PB = “I promise not to take umbrage at YOUR next move, would you like to play?”
em says
I always love discussions about play bows. Interesting that the play bow does not seem to be a metacommunication in the sense of “please consider the following play behavior”.
When Otis was an only dog, I associated play-bowing with youth, since he did it occasionally when young, but ceased doing full play bows almost completely by the time he was four or so. Sandy, however, still bows once in a while at the ripe old age of thirteen and so I’ve had to re-evaluate.
I think my thinking on play bows has gone the direction of much of my thinking on dog communication- toward simplicity. My current hypothesis is that play bowing is an invitation to play, full stop. Other correlations such as the bower being more likely to be the younger, less experienced, smaller, or less secure dog of a pairing or that bowing is more common between unfamiliar partners are perhaps just non-causal correlations- these dogs are more likely to desire and thus to formally request play with a dog that they wouldn’t dare just jump on.
Reasons for not wanting to jump straight in with pounces, flying hip-checks, high-speed passes, tooth fencing, etc. that I see between play partners who engage without bowing may be anything from intimidation (the small dog who doesn’t want to risk an aggressive response) to self-handicapping (the big dog who doesn’t want to frighten away a playmate), but the only real commonality between bowing dogs is that the bower wants to play and is inviting the other dog to engage.
In the same way, I tend to think of pee marking as a very simple message, “I was here” with a million nuanced interpretations depending on context and audience. To the friend, it’s an invitation “I was here, look for me!” to the enemy, “I was here, so YOU had better NOT be” to the overmarked mark, “*I* was here, not just that dog.”
I’ve started thinking of dog communications as being a little like the Guardians of the Galaxy’s “I am Groot.” It’s a language of tone and gesture rich in nuance but simple in vocabulary- not necessarily one that lends itself to direct translation. The question, ‘what does it mean when a dog does….’ seldom seems to have a simple or universal answer because, fundamentally, their language doesn’t work that way any more than human language does (as anyone who puts too much trust in Google translate can attest). Still, the struggle to come up with an answer that works well enough to help us put together a dictionary or a grammar to help us understand our companions’ communications better (at least as well as they seem to understand ours) is endlessly, endlessly fascinating to me.
jenn says
I was very interested to read the section about PBs as visual signals. Our Hannah was born blind and deaf and offers PBs all the time – to other dogs, to people, and even to our cats. My sense is that she uses PBs in part as a way to gain a sort of physical advantage, allowing her a way to “escape” and also as an accommodation to allow her to play with other dogs that she can’t see or hear. Offer a PB allows her a second or two to confirm that her playmate doesn’t have any aggressive intentions (I swear she can sense the smallest bit of tension from another dog, even if the dog is 4 or 5 feet away).
Thank you for the summary of this interesting research!
Kat says
Ranger is undoubtedly a very high status dog. If he wants something he gets it, always. However, the key is *if*; not very much in his world is sufficiently rare to make him exert himself. Finna, for example, typically enters or exits the house first because it doesn’t matter to Ranger who goes in or out first. On those rare occasions where something matters enough to Ranger that he curls his lip or heaven forbid growls at Finna she’s immediately a groveling pile of appeasement.
I have never once seen Finna PB to Ranger. She generally solicits play from him with more sexual approaches (they are both fixed) such as backing into him so her rear hits his chest, neck stroping, and coy advance retreat dances. Ranger will play bow to her when he wants to play either in response to her overtures or in the absence of overtures from her.
Thinking about it I seldom see lower status dogs play bow to Ranger initially they generally approach him and wait for him to respond. If he wants to play he’ll offer a PB which is returned and the game is on. When he meets another high status dog and they want to play there will be simultaneous play bows. From my observations status definitely plays a role in who bows to whom but it seems more that higher offers the PB to the lower who has presented themselves. It would be interesting to see some hard science on the subject.
As for Fun Police I’ve seen a lot of them over the years and they seem to me to fall into two categories 1) herding breeds who simply cannot handle the unmanaged activity of play and 2) dogs that get overwhelmed with too much stimulus. I always think the latter type is kind of like me trying to drive in an unfamiliar big city–there’s just too much happening to keep track of at once and I want it to stop. My solution is to not drive in unfamiliar big cities, a fun police dog chooses to try to make the play stop.
Jo says
Thanks so much for sharing. Very interesting and I would never have found it on my own.
Kristi Murdock says
Trisha, I realize all of this is discussing dog dyads or greater, but many comments do address PB toward humans. Sometimes, during nosework and barnhunt, when Ziva the Standard Poodle has been tasked with finding either an odor or a hidden rat, she will PB. It is always when I’m confused or unsure of what she is indicating (“Is it there? Show me!”) and does TYPICALLY serve to “point,” although it can be the direction of her body (the rat is hidden in the crevice in front of me) or the specific spot (the odor is in a tube that has been sunk into the ground right in front of my nose and paws). Do you think it’s just that she’s discovered spectators really love the PB response and she’s playing to the crowd (not that Poodles ever do that), is this just a convenient body posture for what she’s trying to do, or is there some communication being given that’s going right over my head?
Myra Estopinal says
I volunteer at the local dog park. I saw a perfect example. A BC 9 month old, Boss, would grab a toy that another dog was going after. Then hold it in his mouth, face the other dog, and get in the PB position. If the other dog would chase him, he’d run. If they didn’t give chase he’d drop it. Another thing he would do sometimes would pick up his right paw and tap the other dog. I don’t know what that was about. I think he wanted them to chase him,lol.
juce says
I have an older female dog (9 years) and a pretty young one (2 years, f). They play a lot, due to the younger one wants to play and have action all day. The younger one playbows to keep the play going, before escaping, but most often also before attacking. Only with unfamiliar dogs I saw her doing a pb the first thing of a play sequence.
HFR says
A bit off topic, but I’m wondering if you ever get discouraged by research results being “overturned” regularly. It’s almost like there is a contrarian flow to research. Which I guess is a good thing, in theory.
I bring this up because I was just reading about how there is a new (to me) idea that RG may not be that bad in a dog. RG was always something that I was taught was a huge red flag and something that should be corrected immediately. Now some respected people are saying RG may not be the harbinger of aggression we thought it was. (I do know a few people who live with dogs with RG and they just manage it.) Sometimes it feels like I should never adopt any theory because if I wait long enough, it will surely be disproven at some point.
glen says
My two 6 year old border collies, brother and sister play bow a lot to each other as well as to me, seemingly to get me involved in an activity, often after a period of doing no activity.
Debra says
I have 2 older aussies (10 and 8) and a 14 month old cattle dog. A new dog came to visit last night – 8 year old Border Collie and the interactions were interesting in light of this conversation. The cattle dog adolescent was PBing like crazy to get the BC to play which he didn’t like and kept trying to get away from him. We took the cattle dog outside to play ball to redirect his energy and the older dogs all went into the other room together like old friends and just hung out.
My oldest aussie we refer to as the “hall monitor”. He has to try to control everyone’s behavior if it’s group play and I definitely agree it’s an over stimulation thing. He has anxiety and always barks too much. We pull him in out of the group play very often and let him play just one on one after everyone else is a little more tired out and calmer.
Bruce says
@em: “My current hypothesis is that play bowing is an invitation to play, full stop.” Yes, I like that hypothesis better than mine. I also like the idea of dog language being “rich in nuance but simple in vocabulary”. Although I will say – dogs frequently seem to mis-communicate with their own species.
@HFR: I had a neurophysiology professor who, on the first day of class, held up the rather expensive textbook and said, “By the end of this class I want you to understand that everything in this book will eventually be considered wrong.”
Trisha, thank you so much for starting this discussion!
Margaret McLaughlin says
Re interspecies play-bows: took awhile, but I finally realized that the reason my dogs go berserk when I get down to fish toys out from under the china cupboard was that my position–elbows down, butt up– was a play bow. I think I confused many of them by yelling when they jumped on my head or whacked me in the face with an offered toy. Now i either wait until they’re outside or use a broom; no fair giving a false signal.
@HFR, can’t cite chapter and verse on this, but I remember once hearing that the scientist who developed the theory of plate techtonics was asked what he was going to do next, & replied something like, “Oh, I think I’ll disprove it”. Personally, I find it freeing, & also find that it improves my life with my dogs without defining it–I can use new research as I find out about it, but keeping moving on as new information becomes available. No need to get stuck on the notorious “dominance theory” for example–that ship has sailed.
Laurene von Klan says
Some people will say “pardon my french” before delivering swear words that are not “offensive” to others. What the receiver gathers from the communicator are the parameters of communicator’s behavior and the tone they wish to set or maintain for in the conversation.
So many behaviors that dogs exhibit in play (chasing, mouth wrestling, and more) could be misinterpreted as aggression — the bite shake is not alone in this regard.
So it is conceivable that when a dog play bows they are communicating “do not take umbrage what follows is play,” even when their play repertoire does not include gestures that we perceive as “offensive.”
Carol says
Hi Trisha
Thank you. I thought my definition was as you said, but I wanted to be sure.
She only does “bite-shake” with inanimate objects –her bed, her toys, throw rugs, etc. I think it might be out of frustration that our cats and the squirrels won’t do as she says, and/or when she hasn’t had enough exercise.
She play bows to me then we play “tag”, and she PB’s to her Boxer friend. I have not seen her PB to any other dog, but then she is very particular about whom she chooses to communicate or play with. She doesn’t make doggie friends easily. The Boxer is her only doggie friend. She’s a rescue, so I don’t know her history.
Thank you for a great Blog!
Chris Redenbach says
I wonder how the play dyads in the study were chosen. Were all dogs already acquainted with each other? If not, were they all experienced in play with other dogs, even unfamiliar dogs. I think it makes a difference. I believe that the playbow is a negotiating tool that can be used in a variety of situations. I’ve had dogs playbow to me when they don’t want to do what I wan them to do, but prefer to do some other thing instead….the PB seems to be their way of “talking me into their idea”. I have dogs who are brutal in play and if they don’t play bow, it’s easy for a fight to break out. As it is, they tend to approach each other very stiffly, sniff, hop on stiff legs a bit while slightly changing distances, and then pause and one may play bow. The other then acts like a grouch and cuts it off or play bows back and then the rough and tumble begins in earnest. I’ve also seen PB’s used when males and females are in fore play before mating. It seems to be a way of testing the friendly intent of hte other because if the female isn’t ready, she will respond to the play bow with some grouchy vocalizations or a forward threatening movement or if she’s ready, or almost but not quite ready, she will respond with another PB and then take off running and act offended when the male catches up. Finally when she’s ready, she will settle down to engage. I’ve also had dogs who were edgy dogs who have shown some human oriented aggression play bow to me when I’m working with them and this seems to be a negotiating ploy to tell me that they don’t want to fight but they don’t want to do what I want them to do. So I think that a PB can be used in many contexts and I would not rule out Patricia and Karen’s initial hypothesis but rather arrive at the idea that the question is still open and that the PB can be used in a number of contexts to mean slgihtly different thngs.
Chris Redenbach says
I also wanted to add that I think the type of dog is important to the interpretation of the PB. My dogs are not given to easy play after pyppyhood and they easily go into ritualized fights that can last a long time if I don’t break them up. They look and sound ferocious when doing this. Oten PB’s are responded to with cut off signals and the two part ways. Other times one PB’s and then the other and then it’s game on and they play very brutally…you wouldn’t want to be in the way. Then someone says an angry word and the play stops and they separate. So again I would like to see the study done across greater contexts.
Sydney says
Very interesting! I would love to get my hands on this article once it’s published and really look at their analysis groups. Especially to see if the results are dependent on the size of the two dogs at all.
For my own two dogs (a Maltese/poodle and a pit mix) there is significantly less play bowing now that they have lived together over 2 years. Play just happens. However, it definitely still occurs. The pit PBs far more frequently that the maltipoo and usually accompanies that with a small bark. From what I can tell the PB usually continues play interaction and is the pit’s way of yelling “HEY play with me!!”
She also PBs during play. Though I’m not sure if it’s a true PB or she’s just getting her head down to the maltipoo’s level.
Sometimes the maltipoo gets a little growl-y while playing and I’ve noticed the pit will PB in this situation and it is usually followed by a small break (5 seconds or so) and afterwards play is less vocal. I don’t know if I have EVER seen the maltipoo PB to the pit. I wonder what that means? Is he just a dog snob?? Is he trying to say something? Is it just pits really seem to enjoy PBing and will just hang out in that position? Who knows!!!
Adrienne Carson CDBC, CPDT-KA says
Thank you for making difficult to obtain research accessible. Dog behavior consultants and trainers want to be in the know, and your summary was a gift! Please keep us informed of all the latest compelling research.
jackied says
My unsocialised dog very rarely PBs, and does do inappropriate play including actions like biting and shaking. I didn’t know the latter was associated with puppyhood, that’s interesting.
My other dog sort of stands on her head on a cushion (!) rather than play bowing to initiate play with him. It does have the front down bottom up elements of a play bow. I am not sure whether that is because she has various joint problems, or whether she has found that it works. She does occasionally PB to other people’s dogs, but she more often initiates play by running around barking.
Kris But says
I have 2 Rhodesian Ridgebacks (dad 5.5 yrs and daughter almost 3 yrs) she is always doing PB’S to him when he is resting and she wants him to play with her at first she is hitting him with her paws on his head and face barking at him etc and PB-ing he than is growling and finally standing up from his bed but he never does PB’s it back to her
Jean says
Thank you! So very interesting.
Antonia says
My three LGD breed dogs do very little PB between each other. When they do it, it is generally the younger dog to an older dog and soliciting play. Almost like they are saying, “look how tempting I am! Don’t you want to come chase me?” However, my dogs do a great deal of PB posture to their favorite people. It is not soliciting play and they only do it to their special favorites. Often the bow is very deep and then they lie down from there and roll over for a belly rub. Appears to be a sign of special affection or devotion for their favorite people…
Betsy Lane says
Great, logical, engaging post, as usual! I’ve been a trainer for about 10years now, and somehow never knew about the assumed/hypothesized role of PBs in making subsequent acts more forgivable, but my anecdotal experience wouldn’t support that, either. My own dog–a female GSD, 12+ years old–no longer PBs much,presumably due to the arthritis in her mid-spine, but it used to be her signature, go-to move for enticing dogs and humans alike into starting or continuing play. I would also be interested in exploring who uses PBs more: dogs who prefer chase-type games or those who prefer body-slamming-type games. My hunch would be that chasers use PBs more and tacklers use PBs as just one of a few options (barking, nudging, running, etc.).
lynn says
speaking of pictures… i want to see pictures of this:
I have experimented with my dog Tawny to see if I could approximate a play bow and also a greeting bow (stretch). My play bow is straight arms spread into a V and pointed slightly downward plus open smile and slight body wiggle (we trainers are shameless when it comes to the dogs!). When I do that, Tawny will smile, bark, and dart away to grab a toy. I have tried this on other dogs as well, and they all respond appropriately (helps me with scared dogs who are dog friendly too, btw). My greeting bow/stretch is straight arms pointing towards her, wrists touching and hands up with fingers curled in (looking like a paw), and head up like I’m stretching my neck. Invariably, I get a front and often back bow/stretch and she comes lazily toward me, grinning and wagging, to bury her head between my legs. –
Mireille says
To Carol & Trisha: is this what you mean with “bite shakes” https://youtu.be/APSnWzY_3p0 ?
Frankly I was rather amazed that it is considered inappropriate play because my two do it rather often. Actually, when thinking about it, they mainly do it on lazy summer evenings…. It much less intensive than chase play, which they also love. It looks quite fierce, but they do not even have scratch. No my tow grew up together, they have been doing it since they were pups https://youtu.be/hn4M3b-VPRA (bit less clear here, just could not resist adding a puppy play movie… )
What I also noticed is that bite shakes are very often followed by mock bite to the hind legs, “hamstriging” so I would assume that this kind of play is practising killing a prey.
Shad and Spot play in this way together but never with other dogs. They do not often play with other dogs anyway, but play with occasional friends is almost always chase.
It would be scary if they attempted this kind of play with dogs with less ruff and small dogs (eg een JRT) and I would hypothesise that is would take quite soms trust between dogs to play in this way.
Anyway, since they are both comfortable with it and they do not try to do it with other dogs, I have never intervened.
As for play bows: Spot bows more often to Shad, but both do it mainly when they are trying to get the other one to play and the other one seems reluctant. https://youtu.be/Si2HUKOWnFo Shad appears rather tense here, not sure why (it’s from a couple of year ago) and Spot wants to play chase…..
Jenny H says
None of my 12 (over the years) German Shepherds have ever ‘play bowed’. I tried with a couple to teach a ‘bow’ (for Musical freestyle) with a marked lack of success.
On the other hand, when German Shepherds play, non-German Shepherd people think that they are having a serious fight.
But I cannot remember any of my other dogs play-bowing either. Certainly neither of the Kelpies. Even Mad Mill, the Speagle, doesn’t play-bow.
Maybe it is due to always living I a multi-dog household?
But I’ve seem it frequently in other people’s dogs, and always viewed it as a polite invitation to play.
Jenny H says
Having now read all the comments:
Re the “bite-shakes” I have never viewed this as a ‘normal ‘ dog behaviour and associate it only with Terriers. And then, even with them, never in play between two or more dogs. They bite/shake toys and small animals to kill them. Now terriers DO bite/shake in “play”, but it is more akin to “huntin’, shootin’ and fishin’. ” (aka recreational killing).
I have bred several litters of German Shepherds, and never seen bite-shake in puppy play. There is a lot of rough and tumble though.
As far as Kelpies go, I have never ever been able to entice mine to tug!
HFR says
@Bruce and @Margaret, thanks so much for the anecdotes about research. Constantly questioning results is part of the world of science and I do think it’s better for it to be that way. I just hope that in 5 years we don’t hear about the research that says the dominance theory was right all along! 😉
I love the story of the blind dog who PBs. That possibly answers my previous question of whether it’s learned or hard wired. What a wonderful thing.
Thanks, Trisha, for such a fun convo!
Nina says
Has there been any/much research on play-bowing to humans vs. to other dogs? (Apologies if this has been raised in the comments, I haven’t had time to read all of them…)
Our Georgie play-bows to us, enough so that I ended up teaching her to do it on command because it was so easy to get the behavior out of her just by doing it first myself toward her. (In fact, I think I tried that because I read somewhere that dogs will often bow back to a person?)
On the other hand, I don’t think I have ever seen her play-bow to another dog–which is maybe because she doesn’t seem particularly interested in playing with them… We’ve only had her about 6 months, so time will tell I suppose. But while she meets loads of dogs on our walks, and is curious, interested, extremely polite, usually tail-waggy, sometimes a little nervous (if they’re really high-energy of intrusive), so far she mostly just wants to sniff them thoroughly and then move on. She’s not really spent much extended time with other dogs, though, so I wonder if once she got to know any better she might be more interested in playing…and therefore play-bowing…
But my gut feeling is she’s one of those dogs who’s more interested in engaging with people than with other dogs.
Kathy says
To Em: Yes! Great “Groot” comparison!
To Margaret McL: Thanks for the “spit-take” on the “jumping on my head when I fish stuff out from under the china cabinet” comment–that was really, really funny and really, really familiar!
I taught my dog to play-bow when he found the objects in a nose games class. It’s cute to watch him bow with his tail thrashing in pride when he has located the “lost” object and I say, “Show me!”
Bruce says
Background: Red Dog is an enthusiastic face-licker. I do not mind, but Mrs. B is not a fan so I discourage it. Well, most of the time.
So I tried PBing to Red Dog. After a little confusion she recognized what I was doing and leaped at my face to lick it, sending my newly-adjusted glasses flying. My interpretation: To Red Dog, PB means that normal restraints are revoked and you are free to interact as you wish.
I have a new appreciation for how much Red Dog normally restrains herself to accommodate the humans. 😉
I watched for PBs at the dog park the last couple of days. A young male Shiba Inu, playful but a little nervous, was a PBing machine. In contrast, Red Dog and her Ridgeback buddy ran and wrestled for 30 minutes with nary a PB (I did not count wrestling moves that involved ducking under to gain advantage).
Lots of play-freeze-play sequences, though.
Cheryl Alusow says
Hi Patricia.
I enjoyed reading your recent blog regarding Play Bows. We adopted a 3 legged Miniature Schnauzer from Louisiana about a year and a half ago. We sent him to a Doggie Fun and Fitness Center for Training and he still goes there 2 days a week for day care mainly for the socialization aspect as we live in a seasonal area where for half the year there aren’t may other dogs around. Since he has been attending doggie day care he has become much more easy going around other dogs and play bows are a part of that reaction. The other night my husband mentioned that he and Sycamore had met several dogs that morning on their walk and Sycamore had done this action like a bow to the other dogs almost like he wanted to play. He seems to do this with dogs he does not know that well, even when they are barking at him. It is almost as if he is saying “I’m not a threat, I just want to play”.
Recently our neighbors came down to check on their beach house and brought their 3 little dogs. Sycamore knows them from a distance, This time because of his day care socialization I felt comfortable enough to let him off the leash. He did his Play Bow. As a matter of fact my neighbor said “look he’s trying to play”, so even she recognized the Play Bow as a friendly communication. So as you can see your recent blog was interesting because it involved an action my dog uses to communicate.
I look forward to receiving your next blog.
Sidney Hardie says
My most versed Airedale in dog communication definitely play bows with strange dogs more than his home playmate. Those two go full bore into rough housing. Rowdy will do the sinuous butt sniff with a stranger and with some, not all, then do a play bow invitation.
Jen says
I found my two year old border collie cross play bowing to what seemed like nothing in a corner yesterday. He doesn’t pb to my other dog, so I thought it was strange that he was bowing at all. When I went to investigate, it turned out to be a mouse he had cornered. I kind of squealed I think and then he grabbed it and flung it into the air like one of his toys. The mouse died from this.
Alison Campbell says
among my pack of 3 females, a 12-yr old poo-triever, an 11-yr old border collie, and 4-yr old lhasa-huaua, I have noted that only the BC and the youngster PB. the poodle-mix just watches, mouth open and tail slowly wagging. she only intervenes if the BC gets too close or too rough with the Lhasa. the BC was aggressive toward the Lhasa-mix in the beginning, and I always half expect the BC is looking for an opportunity to catch the Lhasa. fortunately, the little one is faster than a speeding bullet and the BC doesn’t have a prayer in her pursuit. what do you think? have you seen dogs of the same pack PB while masking aggression?
Alison Campbell says
additionally, my dogs only ever PB and chase each other when I’m watching. they seem to be doing it for my amusement, as they keep the behavior going as long as I laugh and whoop.
Bri says
Pretty sure I now have TWO dogs that don’t play bow – sigh. The new little guy may be too new to the fam to say I know that about him for sure yet. He seems totally comfortable greeting all types of dog – maybe a little too brave at times. Though he does sometimes set an awfully short time limit on how long the other dog can sniff him and gives a growl.
I’ve never seen my first dog play bow in the 7 years I’ve had him. He had a pre-existing rear leg injury when I got him that was soon after amputated, so I’ve wondered if that’s inhibited him at all from that motion, but I have seen plenty of photos of rear (and front) leg amputees play bowing. I notice I can’t get him to respond to my version of a play bow either. (It always got the shepherd mix I had growing up to zoom circles around me!) He likes other dogs and wants to interact with them, but he has gone from just playing to angry scuffle with other dogs at the dog park multiple times (we stopped going, of course) and I couldn’t root out a common trigger or similarity among those other dogs. Had to conclude MY perfect boy was to blame. And when he did play with other dogs without incident, no play bows, lots of mouthing, and he rarely paused. Those were very patient dogs who let him, I suppose, because basically he’s just got rotten play manners, doesn’t he?
But, could be I lucked out getting two non-PBers, since this way I don’t have one dog constantly play bowing to no avail to the other – or to too much avail. And my two non-PBers have gotten along great from the start. I feel sure they even love each other now, but since they don’t play together or cuddle, it’s hard to prove objectively. : )
If anyone ever tries an experiment or training method to teach adult dogs to play bow (in the proper context), please be sure to blog about it!!! Dream on, I know, but… I have two participants!
Drew says
I remember reading about bows, and it’s saying that play was only one of the placs that we would see them in canines but there were many other situations where we should think of bows as punctuation after communication or action. Wild canines would often bow after killing a small animal, so the hypothesis of initiation between species or as a invitation type gesture would not be true in this circumstance. But rather some form of punctuation after a big action or in the middle of an action. In the context of play or to initiate play I like thinking of it as a forced pause and a way to deliver communication whether it’s to get attention, pause the action or to end an action. I propose we stop calling them play bows and just refer to them as bows and pay attention to the specific context in which we are seeing them.
Pamela Myers-Lewis says
Very interesting! I have three dogs, a male (11) and two females, a found Staffie (5), and a puppy mill Jack Russell (11) I bought at 8 weeks (I know, I know). I can’t remember having seen the male PB ever, but he chases, plays tug with, and rolls over with the Staffie in their exuberant play.
The two girls have gotten into scraps a couple of times over high-value treats, resulting in my JRT going to the pet ER one night. I’ve since learned to manage them better. I keep them separated whenever I leave my home, have found my command voice, and I keep a spray bottle of water at hand; we’ve had no further incidents in a long time. Separating them while I’m gone seems to have really affected their relationship in a positive way.
In the last year, I’ve noticed behavior on the part of the two girls that I keep a close eye on, and it appears to be play. They approach each other with stiff bodies (exaggeratedly stiff) and wagging tails, and they kind of hop around each other, staying stiff the whole time. The Staffie will PB in the midst of that; at some point, the JRT will go “paws up” on the Staffie. Soon after doing that, the JRT will have had enough and will break off the interaction and move away. If the Staffie wants to continue, the JRT will bark or grumble. At that point, I call off the Staffie if she hasn’t already disengaged. I keep trying to find something online that describes this type of behavior, and I haven’t been successful. I have noticed, though, that my Staffie does PBs in the midst of this activity, not to initiate it.