Training with a whistle

[steve reyes]

Anybody train with a whistle?
I managed to get three whistles. Two work one I can't get any sound but a "fitt" and some slobber out of it.

Being an engineer I like to test and prove things so I tested these against sound equipment. The silent one is just that....silent. The othe two produce a quiet but piercing sound that measures up to to 90 db which is quite loud. Being very high frequency it's not particularly noticeable by humans....at least me....friends say I'm turning into a dog. Haha

So, I would like to use herding commands as well as obedience commands. My dog responds very well to vocal commands and hand signals.

It appears that using the whistle with various numbers of "toots" and fast and slow periods would be the way to go. Obviously I need to learn these first.

I tried the whistle while Samantha was in another room and she came running full throttle ears straight up and pointed. She is more curious about things than a cat. I just said its ok Sam, not wanting her to recognize this as a recall yet.

At this point I think a relatively long hard blast would be best for a recall, that being the first command to teach. Of course generous praise and high value treat would be used.

Anybody have experience or use a whistle?

Thanks

 

[Caro]

I have used a dog whistle, mainly because we sell them at my club so I figured I'd better learn how to use one. I found it too cumbersome though - I can use my own lips instead of fumbling around with a dog whistle.

I do, however, whistle to my dogs all the time. It's fantastic for distance recalls and to call them in from outside. I also have a whistle for I'm changing direction, I'm heading off, and I want your attention. I have a number of whistle commands because my dogs are often off lead in places where the dogs can meander around at will and be out of sight and often in different directions. I don't want to yell out for their attention and whistling gets a dogs attention much better than a spoken command.

I taught the recall whistle deliberately by treating every time I whistled, then increasing the distance until they were coming from outside when I whistled, then I phased out the treats. Tully's whistle recall is far, far better then her word command recall. My recall whistle is 5 short whistles - differing considerably from my other whistles because I don't want any mistakes when I want them with me. Funnily, I worked out it was similar to a whistle sound made by a native bird - but the dogs can differentiate the bird whistling from me whistling.

Changing direction whistle I just taught while we were walking by changing direction. The other whistles they worked out for themselves by doing. The good thing about whistle commands is the dogs pick it up easily and, as I only whistle when communicating with the dogs, they know I'm taking with them. The sounds I use aren't anything formal - they are just ones that worked for me.

I suggest working out your whistles first before trying them on the dog, and remember them. You'd be surprised how easy it is to forget which whistle is what, and you don't want to confuse the dog. And I'd also suggest if you use a dog whistle, make sounds that you can do with your own lips - because one day you'll want to use that command and won't have a dog whistle around. Start with one command so the dog gets the concept of communicating with whistles.