After watching Mr. N “bowl” (knocking over pins with his paw/nose), a young relative asked if Mr. N knew how to use a bowling bowl. I said not yet. So after we acquired a child’s bowling set, I set about teaching him how to bowl for real.
We were also inspired by Denise Fenzi’s blog post about posting positive unedited training videos so here’s one of our training sessions. Mr. N was super patient with my tinkering with technology and put up with several mini-training sessions. We’re still experimenting with our new GoPro so this is technically take four.
I’ve been working on this trick with a clicker and shaping (breaking down a behavior into tiny steps and rewarding those small steps until the final behavior). He’s starting to get the idea.
Welcome to First Monday’s Positive Pet Training Blog Hop hosted by Cascadian Nomads, Tenacious Little Terrier and Rubicon Days. Please share your responsible pet owner positive pet training tips by linking a blog post or leaving a comment below. Any positive reinforcement training posts or comments are also always welcome. The Positive Pet Training Blog Hop goes all week long. Our next hop will begin Monday, March 7th and continues for a week.
February 1, 2016 9:38 am
Good job, Mr. N! What a fun trick! 😀
February 1, 2016 11:11 am
That's flat out BRILLIANT, Mr. N. I learned bowling with empty water bottles, but when Mom bought me a bowling set, she threw the ball away! Aaargh! I'm pretty sure I could've learned that.
Love and licks,
Cupcake
February 1, 2016 11:45 pm
Thanks! Maybe you can improvise with a different ball.
February 1, 2016 3:27 pm
You are so smart Mr. N! Nice strike at the end there.
February 1, 2016 3:35 pm
How cute! That is a really creative trick.
February 1, 2016 7:28 pm
Okay, I actually cried out "yay!" the first time he knocked down the pins. Very cute.
February 1, 2016 7:28 pm
Also, cute jammies!
February 1, 2016 11:46 pm
Thanks! I got them for Christmas. Mr. N appreciates his cheering section.
February 1, 2016 8:13 pm
Great job, Mr. N! That really looks like a fun trick, I'm going to have to keep that one in mind to try. I'll have to remember to do it on a rug like you did…much quieter that way! 🙂
Jan, Wag 'n Woof Pets
February 1, 2016 11:46 pm
Haha. We mostly have carpet so I wasn't really thinking about that.
February 1, 2016 8:57 pm
What a cute trick!
February 1, 2016 8:59 pm
Mr. N is smart and super adorable! What a winning combination.
February 1, 2016 10:33 pm
That is an awesome trick. You should get Mr. N into Treiball! Small dogs get to use small balls. Wilhelm gets just as excited about nosing the ball- he doesn't want to wait!
February 1, 2016 11:47 pm
I think he would do Treibball but he might find it boring. He would like to "herd" live things please.
February 2, 2016 1:02 am
That is nothing but total cuteness overload. How sweet. I loved the video.
February 2, 2016 2:30 pm
I LOVE this trick. I can see that it would be a fun game/trick for a bored puppy on those bad weather days!
Good job!
February 3, 2016 6:35 pm
How cute! Mr. N. did a great job.
February 3, 2016 6:46 pm
Aw… SO CUTE! With our super long winters … I think we need to do this to switch things up a bit.
February 4, 2016 6:54 am
It's a fun trick!
February 3, 2016 7:37 pm
You're such a good bowler, Mr. N! 🙂 I love mom's pjs, too!
February 3, 2016 11:01 pm
Aww, that's so sweet! Mr N sure loves his treats, doesn't he? He's such a smart little man. Peace
February 3, 2016 11:51 pm
Good job Mr. N! By the way, I love your girl's PJ's! They have poodles on them!
February 4, 2016 6:54 am
And Yorkies!
February 6, 2016 4:54 pm
You guys make it look so easy! Mr. N is such a smart little dude. 😀
March 24, 2017 3:18 pm
So cute! I love the idea of teaching bowling as a trick!
March 25, 2017 6:09 am
Great job, Mr. N! Your bowling skills are so much better than mine.
March 25, 2017 6:27 am
So much fun! Are you going to do the new Tricks program with AKC?
March 26, 2017 6:17 pm
Great job, Mr. N! You’re learning so many coo things.
March 26, 2017 11:07 pm
I really like seeing your training videos! It is really helpful to see the training in action, instead of just the trick. Also, your pajamas are awesome.
March 27, 2017 1:54 pm
Woohoo! That looks like fun!