Hi John, I was wondering......... How to train Orry our lab, with a whistle, I have a 5m extendable lead if it helps.
Help much appriciated.
Izzi

Izzi, there are many previous threads on this subject which you will find if you use the Search facility, top right of this page.  HTH.  :)

Same way you would train with the voice; if the dog comes back to your voice it is a simple matter to add the whistle by blowing the whistle before you say "come" eventually the whistle will trigger the response and then you fade the verbal command.

If your dog will not come back to your voice it will not come back to your whistle!

Hi Izzi.
Someone else from that magical island!

Whistle training. Strange to say but there are good reasons who using a whistle for a recall can be more reliable than your voice! As someone said in a thread the other day on clicker training, a clicker (whistle) is always the same whereas voices change in tone and for that matter in the words we use for the command so the clicker/whistle is more consistent. Again, people often voice train a recall but because of inconsistencies allow the recall command to loose its effect, they allow the command to be ignored possibly because they are talking to a friend, calling the kids or whatever and to become just another sound. Then the "Kevin" stage comes along and the last of the recall disappears. What happens next is that the person decides they need something else to call the dog with, get a whistle and find it works! In fact, any change of command, retrained properly would work just as well as the whistle!

So why do we use a whistle for working gundogs? Two reasons, 1/ The sound of a whistle is far less likely to scare off game than the sound of the human voice and 2/ It carries far better over long distances, particularly against the wind.

For retrievers there are two main commands which we train. The "Stop" command which is one single blast and the "Recall" which is a series of short pips on the whistle (I give three pips for a recall) Get a cheap "Acme" whistle and a lanyard to hang it round your neck, from somewhere like www.turnerrichards.co.uk. The whistles come in a variety of pitches numbered from 210 to 211.5 It matters not which one you get to start with but make a note of the number because if you loose it then you can get another exactly the same pitch. The whistles cost about £3 and the lanyards start at about the same.

If you already have a recall on a voice command then simply call your dog and immediately give the recall signal on your whistle. Very soon you will find you no longer need the voice command and can just use the whistle. As in all commands, try to never give it if you have reason to believe that it will be ignored. If you see him suddenly find a very interesting smell to examine it would be better if you did not call him at that time! Wait until he has finished and is looking for something else to amuse himself with. Whistle him then and make yourself as attractive to him as you can.

Make sure he gets the praise for coming absolutely the instant he arrives. For the praise to do any good it must be associated with the recall so it is absolutely essential that it is the very first thing that happens when he arrives. I cannot stress that enough! As to whether you use food as a tit bit for praise and incentive, that is up to you. In my pet dog class I use it but in my working gundog class I never do. The reason is that I find pet dog handlers need all the help they can get whereas most working gundog people have been around dogs for many years and are rather more clued up on training, realising more the value of consistent handling. If you do use food then be aware of the fact that one day you may not have any food with you! So do not use it any longer than you need. Food is the invisible lead and we all want to dispense with the lead!

The Stop whistle command could better be described as the "Look At Me" command. If I want to redirect my dog then I will blow the stop command then give the direction command to start the dog heading in the right direction. To train it I teach my dogs to stay with a flat hand signal. Once that is learned I wait until my dog is at the stage where, like in the recall training, he is looking for something to do and I give a single blast on the whistle. The usually surprises the dog to the extent that he looks at me at which point I raise my hand in the flat hand stay command which I have already taught. I can then go to my dog and praise him. It's as simple as that! In all training it's a matter of teaching just a little bit of the exercise and gradually adding to it as the first bit is learned.

Hope this helps you a little.

Best wishes, John