I have an 11 week old alaskan malamute. He is due to start puppy classes in a few weeks so have already started basic commands such as 'leave it' 'sit' 'wait' and recall. He is doing really well considering his age. i have kept any training sessions short about 5 minutes follwed by play as a reward. I have bought a whistle as he responds to it better along with my voice than my voice alone. I have a few questions on the best approach to this. I started training this morning and within half an hour he will recall to the whistle (3 pips) and sit (1 pip). My question is, do I just whilstle train, or alternate with voice as i cant always use the whistle around the house ie evening when my son is asleep! Also im assuming i cant take the whistle to puppy classes, so will this confuse him training him to voice and then using the whistle at home on walks???  Also is it actually possible to train a malamute to whistle train effectively to the point he can be let off the lead????? Ive owned a husky before he was impossible to let off the lead as she would just run, but then I got her aged 7 rather than from a pup. I want to get obedience under way as he is already quite big and strong and cant imagine him unruly fully grown!!!

I would give your trainer a ring and ask about the whistle beofre you attend the class.
Unfortunately, your whistle may put off the other dogs :-(
Well done with the training so far though!!!

Well done on your training so far, doing a great job.

I've always whistle trained all of our dogs, but they also know voice commands too, so do both. Voice is used indoors and for close up commands, whistle outside, apart from when first training and then in house too.

I also would not use the whistle in training classes unless it is appropriate.

Can't answer the Malamute off lead question as not my breed, but there are a few people on the forum with Mals, so hopefully they will be along soon.

Good luck with the training though, doing fantastic for 11 weeks. :-)

I was advised to teach voice as well as whistle as there may be times when you can't get the whistle into your mouth fast enough!!

I wouldn't use a whistle in training classes due to putting off other dogs as has already been stated but double check with the trainer.

Well done so far though!

> I was advised to teach voice as well as whistle as there may be times when you can't get the whistle into your mouth fast enough!!

Very true!  I like to use voice and whistle for the opposite reason as well - I tend to lose my voice completely every winter so it helps to have a backup for recalls :-P  That, and I'm dreadful for rambling on to my dogs to the point that they tune my voice out, so having a distinctive cue is ever so useful. :-)

I use voice and whistle as well - trained the vocal commands first and then onto the whistle commands. In an emergency situation you couldn't always guarantee having your whistle to hand and time to use it.

Our training club lets us use whistles if we wish to  - one chap uses one with his springer spaniel all the time. My dog looks at him when he blows his whistle but doesn't respond to it perhaps due to the pitch being different to the one I use.

I train all of my dogs to come to the whistle. I suggest you choose the signal for come,(probably one fairly long blow), give the signal in the house when the dog is close to you and immediately reward him with a high value treat such as a piece of chicken or cheese. Do this several times a day, gradually giving the signal when the dog is further away from you and rewarding him when he comes. He'll very quickly learn to associate the signal with the treat and after a few days he should come running in from the garden when he hears the signal. Then you'll be ready to test the training in a controlled environment. The best place is a field which has stock fencing around it, (ask permission first of course), or if you have a riding school nearby with an indoor school, this is also a good place as it's a large enclosed area. These are just suggestions but that's how I train my dogs and it seems to work.

I train all my dogs to voice, hand signals and whistle and use the one most appropriate for the context.

Hand signals are not very useful when your dog is going away from you and whistle is a bit of an overkill in the house!