Hi All,

I want to train a recall with a whistle. What type do people recommend? I have never used one before so any tips regarding them would be a massive help.

Thanks

I use an Acme 210.5 which is the sort that tends to be used on shoots. It's not too high and the sound carries well.

Easy to get hold of from Amazon etc in a good range of colours, I went for purple. :-)

If you go to the Acme website you can hear each type and see which one your dog responds to the best.

Before you start training recall the whistle the whistle (or any other sonic medium) the sound & the dogs >behaviour of coming back to you< should then be reinforced with short game, the game MUST be finished after a very short time & any attempts (expect many) by the dog to restart the short game MUST be ignored >under no circumstances< should the owner give in to manipulation attempts, just ignore. The prceedure needs to be carried out in as many diferent place (in the dogs perception)) as possible.

Only do this maybe once the first day & for only a short space of time, then maybe a couple of days later again in a different place with minimal/no other distractions to the dog - continue over a couple of weeks period without any pattern the dog can detect or predict. It would be far more important to carry this out 3 times only in a first 7 day period than 3 times a day over the same period.

The whistle used in the vids below is a Fox40 classic, the reason that's used instead of an ACME is because these seems a lot of ACME around & others can confuse a dog

This video at the first link gives a reasonable idea of going about it (conditioning the whistle as a positive reinforcer).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8W3s3UfAgO4

The second link shows the long term consequences of recall strength/value.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R33iI12-N-U
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I use the Acme 211.5. :-) Train it in by blowing the whistle a number of times (we use 4 'pips' for a recall) when you put his dinner down, or give him a titbit. Once he's used to the noise and knws it means Good Thngs, you can use the whistle and call him, so he associates it with coming to you. The advantage of a whistle over the voice is that it carries much further and NEVER sounds angry; a cross voice can be a real deterrent to s good recall!

My young dog was taught by her breeders to come to a whistle as soon as the litter was being fed on solids (and enjoying it). As the pups surged towards the bowl of food, they would give two toots on the whistle. They learned very quickly that whistle meant come to humans who have food. I kept this up for a while when the pup came home and now she automatically turns to come back without thinking as it's become instinctive. It may be worth trying this with your dog initially to get the idea, but I suspect a call, then the whistle, will soon become whistle only especially if there are treats involved.

Although a lot of people have acme whistles Ive noticed that we have different recall whistles. I use three short followed by a long, peeps. A friend three very rapid blasts followed by a slightly longer one. Seems similar when written down, but surprisingly different when in the middle of a field. Your dog will get to know what your special recall whistle will be and to him will be completely differnt to all the others.

And no two people blow even the same 'tune' the same. My husbands last Lab used to ignore me using the same recall on a shoot for my Flattie but knew instantly when it was hubby blowing his whistle, same 210.5, for him.

Hi Becky
I use the Acme 211.5.  As others have said the choice is yours as is the number of 'peeps' you decide to use - it's the consistency that matters.

I do recommend you buy two whistles as, if you are like me, you may lose your whistle eventually (even if only temporarily!)  It's great to have a spare - I keep mine in the car.

Pippa Mattinson has written some excellent guides on whistle training on her various sites.  If you are interested in in-depth reading about recalls, her book 'Total Recall' is excellent too.

Enjoy whistling!

Thanks everyone!! Some great advice here!

My retriever was trained since a puppy using the word "come" but I think he's now come back so few times that the word "come" actually means - continue sniffing for a bit and then if you fancy it come back. So the meaning has been completely diluted!  Hence why I now want to completely retrain it using a whistle so that he can't sence my worry/annoyance when calling him!

I've got an ACME 210.5 and have decided on 2 sort peeps.

I've watched the first video so far and definitely understand the method so will start practicing :)