That yogalike pose is known as a “play bow,” and in the language of play it’s one of the most commonly used words. It’s an instigation and a clarification, a warning and an apology. Dogs often adopt this stance as an invitation to play right before they lunge at another dog; they also bow before they nip “I’m going to bite you, but I’m just fooling around” or after some particularly aggressive roughhousing “Sorry I knocked you over; I didn’t mean it.”.

via Explore – 150 years after Darwin’s studies of dogs,….