Whistle training the recall.

So my Acme 211.5 has arrived.

Louie is clicker trained - although I only use it for training - think I will have to bring it out with me more though. So I don't want to change him from the clicker to the whistle on sit, stay, etc.. I just need help with the recall.

I know Leanne used 3 short whistles for Flynn when he went after a rabbit - is that the norm?

Any tips on training recall with the whistle - or is it, whistle and when he comes - treat?

Any help is appreciated

I use 2 short pips followed by 1 slightly longer, don't know why, just seemed to fit for us.

Remember the idea is never to let the dog fail, so like with the clicker you need to 'charge' it up, whistle, treat, whistle, treat in the house to make the connection. Whistle before you give food and practice, practice until you have it solid in the house/garden before you take it out.

As I was told you should never 'whistle up a dog's ar*e'! Basically set them up for success, whistle when your dog is running towards you and save the best treats for when they come to the whistle. Have it really solid before you attempt to use it in the face of the mildest distraction.

Having said all that, that's what I did with Pepper and after about 18 months of building it up it's great for when she's just gone a bit further than I want and from low-level distractions but certainly isn't an automatic response, as she proved today.

Good luck,

J.

Thanks I have been out in the garden, just playing about with it really, whistle - then walk away, it does the trick. But I have been charging it a little in the house. And the other problem is there is a bloody bird who sound the exact same! Grrr damn countryside (I love you really!)

I've left it at our house - yet I am at the in laws - so will have to do it this weekend.

Have to bring out the cooked liver! Or the overcooked mini sausages - Oh he loves them.

Thanks - I think one long one should work for us. Although I know some people use this for lay... I'm just worrying that I'll be pipping away and I'll happen to be somewhere where there is a dog whistle trained and doing all these things and I'm totally oblivious to it

Oh keep up the good work with Pepper - you'll get there

You have to train the dog to the whistle.
Start in the house. Every time he comes for his dinner whistle. Other times, whistle, treat, whistle treat. The same as when you are priming him to a clicker.
When out, only whstle treat when he is absolutely bound to come. Never let him find out it`s optional.
This will take a while. Don`t rush it. When he begins to drool when you whistle you know he`s got the idea.
Build up slowly. It`s the groundwork that matters.
The convention is 3 short blasts for a recall, but it doesn`t really matter as long as it`s the same each time.

He comes to my whistle - fingers in the mouth kind of whistle - but a lot of people do that so he goes to them so I'm hoping he won't be an absolute pain. But I live by the saying: "If you think it'll take 15 minutes, it'll take all day, if you believe it's going to take all day, it'll take 15 minutes" so I should get there before I think

I'm also going to try training Sadie the whistle - now being 9 I'm not sure she is going to get it as quick as what Louie probably will - but then she gets most things quicker than Louie so I dunno.

Thanks for the help

I trained a couple of older dogs to the whistle, no problem.
Re the groundwork. It`s not so much getting him to understand what you want. It`s more building up an automatic response. Like Pavlov`s dogs.
Because when he has the choice of you or a rabbit, you want him turning to you automatically, without pausing to think. Because if he weighs up the comparative pleasures.... you`d probably lose.

Whistle training is great.

It cuts through the fact that many dogs "zone out" to their owners voice.


The way I train is to incite the three most basic insctincts in any dog. Pack, predation and survival.

SO for me. I get someone to hold the dog, I whistle, run like ******y, carrying my dogs favourite toy (all my dogs are tug toy trained), then the dog is released once it is showing desire to follow me and when it arrives they are given a vigorous and noisy game of tug, which is then followed with a few top treats thrown all over the floor with me encouraging with "get it get it get it!"

The instincts of need to not be abandoned, chase, catch, kill,shake and eat, are all invoked by one sound, resulting in a fantastically responsive dog who loves to come to me.

After training has been successfull the running, tugging, feeding can be reduced, but NEVER totally abandoned else the recall will become dull and the whistle will lose its meaning.

I use any amount of whistles for a recall as long as they amount to more than 2 because one pip and two pips have their own meaning. Actually, just counting them I normally use 7 pips, lol! The further Flynn is away the more pips I tend to use but he realises when he hears a series of pips it's a recall.

My memory is pants and I cant really remember how I trained anything in the early days. I think thats because I did it by trial and error and never really trained anything with a definate method.

I think I just introduced the whistle as he was coming back to me anyway and I remember it being quite simple compared to the stop whistle for example!

Thanks guys.

Lots of useful information there to digest.

Sadie will - thinking about it - get it quicker than Louie, however the length of time of her coming to a whistle may be shorter as she is going deaf - although I'm pretty sure it's selective deafness on her part.

Well I'll see how it goes this weekend and then hopefully - as he learns quick, the next Dogsey walk - you'll see the results (or some will)

I'm excited!

I use the same pattern, simply beacause that's what Pammela Dennison sugeested in a clip.