# Does anyone use whistles anymore?



## Arcticfox (Dec 12, 2011)

Just out of curiosity, does anyone still use whistles to train their dog? Either the normal ones or "silent" dog whistles. I think it'd be kind of cool to have some whistle cues, Sound of Music style 
I know some people use their own mouth to whistle... but I can only get a weak one on the best of days. 
I'm pretty sure dogs, especially poodles, will be smart enough to differentiate between different whistle cues, like one long blast for come, two short blasts for jump, etc. I think I vaguely recall border collies using whistle cues for left and right - or rather clockwise/counterclockwise when herding, which is pretty neat.
So, any experiences with whistles? Pros and cons of training with them? Stories of neat things your dog learned to do on whistle cue?


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## BorderKelpie (Dec 3, 2011)

I used whistles to call in my horses and it just sort of transferred to the dogs. 

The most common reason for me to use a whistle is to call my kids. When they were small (both girls), I was uncomfortable calling them by names in crowds of strangers. (I know, that's weird, but I had a scary incident as a young girl - a looooong time ago, when a stranger called my by name and I walked right up to him and was talking with him before I realized he was not someone I knew). Anyway, I guess children can be imprinted because now that they are teens, they will still answer to my whistle in a crowd. 

(I marker trained them with m&m's too - I'm a baaaad mom lol)


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## Arcticfox (Dec 12, 2011)

Lol! That's hilarious and awesome. It makes me think of super secret spy signals like bird calls. What did you use as a marker? Were the kids easier or harder to train than the dogs?


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## MrsKaia (Dec 3, 2011)

I whistle with my tongue curled against my palate when he's not too far away, to get his attention when I want him to move on. When he's too far away for my voice to reach, I use 2 fingers to whistle him to come to me (just one really loud whistle). The latter happens mostly in our backyard, when he thinks he has to bark away the neighbors from their own backyard


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## BorderKelpie (Dec 3, 2011)

Arcticfox said:


> Lol! That's hilarious and awesome. It makes me think of super secret spy signals like bird calls. What did you use as a marker? Were the kids easier or harder to train than the dogs?


lol
With the girls (the human ones), I just verbally marked. "Yes" meant they did well and would get a m&m. We did it mostly as a joke to tease my mom. She thought that since I have always had dogs but never even baby sat, I wouldn't be able to handle/train children. Let me tell you how much fun I've had with that over the years, I am a tad sarcastic. *evil grin*

Anyway, they were easier to train than my GSDs but no where near as easy as the poodles. Funny thing is, I guess they (again, children) sort of imprint because years later, I can still get an immediate response for a direct command. No, I do not order my kids about - I consider them my best human friends. We have an awesome relationship, I am truely blessed, but if the situation warrants - immediate and reliable response. (and yes, I still randomly treat - just not always with m&m's anymore. Sad when they grow up.)


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## bigpoodleperson (Jul 14, 2009)

I see no reason you couldnt use a whistle for cues! I think that would be cool! I trained my boy with multiple cues for things. Sit alone had 5 different cues between hand signals, English, German and French. 
I used a whistle as a recall too. I can only make 1 whistle sound myself, but it is a pretty good one. From the time I got him, I used to whistle for a recall in the yard and when about. I have and will do this for all my dogs.


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## sgeorge (Jul 31, 2011)

I've always used my own whistle as a recall around the house and backyard. It's much more effective than calling a name, especially when you're a bit annoyed.

You could easily do the same with a metal whistle. I don't exactly 'train' it but I would follow the command up with the whistle sound. So for Fleur, I'm training her with 'Fleur Come' *whistle*.


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## liljaker (Aug 6, 2011)

Sunny, the mpoo I rehomed from a breeder in September, is whistle trained. The breeder is in Saskatchewan and they have 30 acres (or something), so she said all her pups are whistle trained from Day 1. I have tested it a few times and WOW, just a whistle (from me) and he is robotically programmed to come immediately! I meant to ask her how she does that --- he does not get offleash yet, and we start obedience soon, but she swears by it as a safety for sure.


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## Arcticfox (Dec 12, 2011)

Whistle for recall seems like a good place to start. I went and got a nice little whistle from no frills (only $1, whoo!). It was advertised as a "silent" dog whistle but I think they meant "If you're deaf". I don't mind, I like the sharp sound. My other gym type whistle makes the whimpiest trills. I started with her on a six foot leash, just blow the whistle then offer treat. Pretty soon I progressed to being in a different room. She come dashing at top speed at the sound of that whistle (mostly because she gets sausage for it), leaping over bags and any other obstacle. This is great


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## tortoise (Feb 5, 2012)

Arcticfox said:


> Just out of curiosity, does anyone still use whistles to train their dog? Either the normal ones or "silent" dog whistles. I think it'd be kind of cool to have some whistle cues, Sound of Music style
> I know some people use their own mouth to whistle... but I can only get a weak one on the best of days.
> I'm pretty sure dogs, especially poodles, will be smart enough to differentiate between different whistle cues, like one long blast for come, two short blasts for jump, etc. I think I vaguely recall border collies using whistle cues for left and right - or rather clockwise/counterclockwise when herding, which is pretty neat.
> So, any experiences with whistles? Pros and cons of training with them? Stories of neat things your dog learned to do on whistle cue?


Yes, the whistle is used in some dog sports like French Ring and Mondio Ring for recall or call off.

Pro - it looks cool, and good just in case you need recall from a distance. Dogs respond more reliably to a mechanic noise than human voice (no one knows why). Con - nothing.

I did a whistle recall to use at the dog park. It was underwhelming, lol. I haven't bothered since.


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## BorderKelpie (Dec 3, 2011)

Underwhelming - I know that one well. lol

If you wish to use the whistle for recalls, you could try to do what I do with my pups. Blow the whistle right before you feed them. Sort of like marker training. They learn to associate the whistle with food (pavlov's dogs sort of thing). When transferring to other treats, use only your dog's most special favorite food ever for the whistle recall, ie: cooked liver, canned cat food, my dogs' favorite - canned mackeral. The recall is so important, it needs the highest value reward you can get. Now, just associate the whistle with it and you're good to go. (Oh, my GSD is not that food driven, but her ball on a rope...get out of her way lol)


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## mandyand casey (Jan 12, 2011)

When we had 3 acres i whistle trained only because some how the COME command meant when they were done eating goose poop rabbit poop or god knows what else lol.
The whisle meant COME and COME now for liver. Havent used it in a bit but makes me think it will be fun to pull out again and try it. I had them weened of the liver but will bring a few treats with me on our next off leash trip and see.
Would be kind of fun to see what tricks we can learn with it.


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## afkar (Dec 9, 2011)

I use it sometimes but like Mandyandcasey I haven't used it for a while either. I have one "horse whistle" & one "dog whistle" although the older dogs sometimes come to both in case they are going to miss out on something interesting. I must also give it a rev up & see what happens as I don't think my youngster has heard it yet.


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## Sookster (Apr 11, 2011)

We "whistle feed" the service dog pups that I work with. They sit across the room, their food bowl is put down, then with a metal whistle, three short "chirps" are given and that is the cue for them to come running and have their dinner. This is to help create a more reliable off-leash recall. 

Nova is whistle trained, though not flawlessly. It's a work in progress, and I don't work on it nearly as much as I should. Three short "chirps" of the whistle mean "come" and one long burst means "stop and sit".


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## frankgrimes (Nov 28, 2011)

I whistled one day and Ralph came bounding over to me to check it out. I now use it as a recall and it has never failed. He will sometimes ignore the "Come" command but has never ignored my whistle, weird eh? It's not even something I had to teach him.


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## Arcticfox (Dec 12, 2011)

How do you train the "stop and sit" for the long whistle blast? I'm having trouble getting her to do anything while in motion. If she was walking with me or towards me, she wont sit or down until she is beside/in front of me AND I stop moving. I can get short distance sits and downs if neither of us were moving.


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## Sookster (Apr 11, 2011)

Arcticfox said:


> How do you train the "stop and sit" for the long whistle blast? I'm having trouble getting her to do anything while in motion. If she was walking with me or towards me, she wont sit or down until she is beside/in front of me AND I stop moving. I can get short distance sits and downs if neither of us were moving.


Nova was already really good at distance (moving) sits and downs. The easiest way I have found to teach this is to have a really strong "place" command. Place meaning "get on this object" not go to your bed (so place is generalized, not specific, and can be any thing). 

Once the place command is strong, practice "come to a place" by standing behind a place and calling the dog to come, then place in front of you. You gradually start taking steps back away from the place and still doing "come, place". By using the place you give them a specific spot to target and it make the stopping part of distance sits/downs easier. I'll try to make a video of this process since its easier demonstrated than explained.


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