Has anyone tried recall with a whistle? today I noticed that my voice cannot compete with a howling wind thats blowing my words in the opposite direction :D

A lady passed with her Lab saw my problem and just tooted on a whistle.  Sal heard the whistle stopping dead when the woman blew it Sal turned and came racing back to me. I "rewarded" her with a game with her kong on a rope. The lady just walked off before I could ask, and I didn't want to look like an idiot by asking what it was knowing here on Champdogs you CLEVER people were bound to know ;)

If you do know anything about what type of whistle might it have been? and more importantly where do I get one :D

Karen

A gundog person will tell you properly which is best.  You can get gundog whistles from pet shops, I know that Dogano's sells them.  You can do one whistle for a stop/sit, and say 3 quick ones to get the dog to come back to you.

I'm sure that John will be along soon to advise you properly, PLEASE JOHN!!!

Thanks, and how do I get her to recognise "my" whistle. And not respond to someone elses, do they have a different "tone" or something.

Don't mean to sound dense here but how do the dogs know? I can just see a field full of Labs stopping and sitting because they don't know who whistled :D

Karen

Karen, everybody's whistling technique is slightly different and your dog gets to recognise your technique.  So my three pips will be slightly different to your three pips or whatever pattern you decide to use. :D Consistency is the key.  Also, whistles come in different pitches.  It doesn't matter which pitch you use, so long as you stick to the same one - if and when you lose your whistle you should buy the same pitch again. :)

You can buy Acme High Pitch Whistles from Turner Richards for about £3 + P&P.  Most gundog people seem to use 210.5 or 211.5 although there are others (the number here refers to the pitch of the whistle, so you need to remember which one you buy). :)

Hope this helps!

Dogs CAN get confused by other people's whistles - I've seen this happen at gundog training classes and also on shoots where several dogs are being worked at the same time.  Most gundog owners seem to use a 211½ pitch whistle - try to get a 210½ pitch which is a little different.  Otherwise a staghorn whistle is good - no two are the same. 

In fact, ANY whistle will be fine as long as you are clear and consistent with your commands - on, two or more short pips, or a longer blast, but be consistent.  I trained many of my dogs with a flat black plastic affair I bought in Tesco in 1972 - and it's still good today.

The only whistle I don't recommend is the 'silent' one - you need to hear what sort of a noise you are making and somehow they seem to have less impact that 'ordinary' volume ones!

Thanks,

I will get a whistle and try 210.5 thanks for the tips, I'll see which sequence of pips works best for me :D
    Sal comes quicker if I whistle (myself) but I'm usless so a whistle would make it consistent.  Never thought about it before but it was such a quick reaction from her today it made me think it would be a good idea :D

Thanks again, Karen

I use 210.5, it is quite simple to teach a recall using a whistle.I usually start from a young pup at feeding time using a verbal call to catch their attention then three pips on the whistle, eventually just use the three pips,its amazing how quick they will learn this simple command.In an older dog I would use the same basic technique, use his/her name first as a recall followed by the whistle and eventually drop off the verbal recall.To strengthen the command in a older dog I would try to teach this at feeding time,get your other half to keep the dog in the house while you go in garden with his food,give the recall pips so he has to come and find you and his food but what ever you do don't let him fail, even if you have to give him a little help make sure he finds you.

It's equally easy to put the dog on a longish lead and when he's at the end of it just pip the whistle (with chosen sequence) and  gently tug the dog towards you with MUCH praise when it gets to you - or a tit-bit.  the lead means you are in control all the time.

You can do this while 'out and about' on walks, especially when the dog is sniffing or concentrating on something else - that way you're mimicing a real situation.

You can use any whistle you like, it does not have to be a "gundog" whistle.  I use a sheepdog whistle with my "gundogs" :D

The advantage of the gundog whistle is that it is much easier to blow then a "bent penny" whistle, the advantage of the latter is that you can "blow tunes" if you need a lot of commands :D

If you only want a recall then a gundog whistle would be fine.

I never use a lead for this kind of training as the dog soon learns that once of the lead you don't have the same control,repatition, consistency bulit in with a big fuss/treat from an early age is by far the best for learning the recall.

Have to say, Bronnie is trained to the whistle.  Hubby has trained one long blow is come back, and she does whatever she is doing, even playing.

Two short to long pips means sit and don't move until told.  Which she also does perfectly.

One very short pip is used to make her get on, which she is just getting the hang of.

Hopefully Ellis will be easier to train as he will follow her most of the time.

Juliet

Haven't had any really bad problems transferring to working off the lead myself - either training for obedience (competition) or working to the gun, but all dogs/handlers are different I suppose.

Personally I find it easier to do the much of the early groundwork on a lead so I can be sure the dog gets it right every time and doesn't get into any bad habits. 

Do whatever works best for you.

A friend trained my dog to the whistle - by recalling her Flattie with the 3 pips when they were all off lead, she also taught my dog who now understands what the 3 pips mean! Handy for trialling later when i will need the whistle for longer distance work :D

I must get my friend a box of chocs for training my dog <vbg> :D

Lindsay
:)

Lindsay ;)

Thanks all,

Turner Richards is 10 minutes from home :D I am going down to buy the whistle up tomorrow Thursday and will let you know how it goes.

Thank you all for your help why I didn't think of the whistle before for recall I don't know.

Karen