Male puppies purposely let female puppies win while playing.
If you’ve survived that cute nuke, let’s get on with the story. A new study has found that when young male dogs play with young female dogs, they will often let the females win even if the males have the physical advantage. They sometimes place themselves in potentially disadvantageous positions that would make them more vulnerable to attack.
Such “self-handicapping” has been documented in red-necked wallabies, squirrel monkeys, hamadryas baboons, and of course, human beings. The study has found that this act of puppy chivalry tends to occur in conjunction with play bows. A play bow is when a puppy playfully bows to signal to its companion that it doesn’t have any serious intentions; that it just wants to have a little fun.