Silly Question re: whistle training

[SaddlePsych'D]

I'm working through the Total Recall book with Ivy and taken the advice to invest in a whistle. So far so good although we haven't got to the proofing bit yet. A silly question I have been pondering... do dogs know which is 'their' whistle? Or should I be expecting her to disappear into the horizon should someone else happen to have the same whistle pitch as me who also does 3 'pips'?!

 

[splashgirl45]

I use a whistle and have never thought of this.. mine are pretty quick to come to me and haven’t ever responded to anyone else’s whistle, so far ?

 

[AmyMay]

I'm working through the Total Recall book with Ivy and taken the advice to invest in a whistle. So far so good although we haven't got to the proofing bit yet. A silly question I have been pondering... do dogs know which is 'their' whistle? Or should I be expecting her to disappear into the horizon should someone else happen to have the same whistle pitch as me who also does 3 'pips'?!

It’s a really great question.

 

[SaddlePsych'D]

Maybe it's an unlikely situation? I mostly thought of it because where I used to hack was quite popular for dog walking and fairly often I'd hear people using dog whistles for recall (sometimes quite furiously/unsuccessfully so!)

 

[AmyMay]

Maybe it's an unlikely situation? I mostly thought of it because where I used to hack was quite popular for dog walking and fairly often I'd hear people using dog whistles for recall (sometimes quite furiously/unsuccessfully so!)

I’ve absolutely seen dogs confused by ‘not their whistle’

 

[Christmascinnamoncookie]

There was a dog Walker frantically blowing her whistle having lost a dog last week. I’ve been teaching the youngsters to recall to the whistle, not that they’re ever far. They ignored her. The worst situation was the constant football in the park when we used to go there, lots of whistles so I didn’t really use it there!

 

[SaddlePsych'D]

I did panic slightly at Cornbury HT today when I remembered whistles are a big feature of cross country day! Ivy did have a bit of a moment but I don't think it was whistle related in the end.

 

[druid]

Yes, they do - in spaniel trials two spaniels run side by side and each is responding to it's handler's whistle only (hopefully!). We pretty much all use 210.5 or silent whistles and the dogs can discern how you blow the whistle.

Even on a shoot their can be various whistles and the dogs know their handler

 

[some show]

Joe (also a greyhound) learned recall to the whistle really quickly (although I wouldn't rely on it as he gets small-furry-related-deafness!). There's a guy in the village who uses the same number acme whistle for his retriever but his three pips must sound different to mine because Joe doesn't respond to his at all.

 

[BBP]

I had the same question. My trainer explained it to me this way (for the average dog for recall)..the whistle means ‘return to me’, not ‘follow the whistle’. So it doesn’t matter if someone else has the same whistle, if they pip it, the dog should still return to its own human.

 

[MissTyc]

I had the same question. My trainer explained it to me this way (for the average dog for recall)..the whistle means ‘return to me’, not ‘follow the whistle’. So it doesn’t matter if someone else has the same whistle, if they pip it, the dog should still return to its own human.

While I had to figure this out for myself, it's exactly what happened with my terriers. The pup did take off towards another whistle a few times, but then realised it was the wrong human and came bolting back. So she learned to look for me when she hears any whistle. It's trickier in deep woodlands, etc, as they do run the wrong way, but provided the motivation to recall is there, then they will find you in the end. My older terrier doesn't like to let me tooo far out of sight so it never really came up with him.

 

[SaddlePsych'D]

Joe (also a greyhound) learned recall to the whistle really quickly (although I wouldn't rely on it as he gets small-furry-related-deafness!). There's a guy in the village who uses the same number acme whistle for his retriever but his three pips must sound different to mine because Joe doesn't respond to his at all.

I suspect we may also have small furry related deafness, need to be careful not be lulled into a false sense of security by the lightening speed she recalls when there's none around!

Thank you for all the replies, I am feeling much better informed on whistle-related matters

 

[Thistle]

Everyone blows their whistle with a slightly different 'accent' depending on how hard you blow, where you position your tongue, how many pips, (I use 5 for recall, three is turn back to me and start moving but be ready to stop/redirect etc).

It's impostant that you use a generic whistle that can easily be replaced if you lose it as then the new one will be identical. Also know what pitch your whistle is as they're not all the same (it's printed on the ACME whistles)

 

[FestiveG]

When we had the rotters, they knew whether it was me or sis who had blown the whistle. R rotter would only accept the treat from whoever had blown the whistle ?

 

[Clodagh]

I train all our dogs yet can work in the picking up team with my OH. The dog he’s working still goes to him. So they know.

 

[CorvusCorax]

Yeah if someone says YEP or deploys a clicker my dog will come for a reward from me.
Which is fun when I'm not expecting it and suddenly there's a dog's head in my armpit or pocket.

 

[SilverLinings]

slightly off-piste but whistle-related; a relative of mine was getting annoyed with his 5yo spaniel's poor recall (he has put almost zero effort into training her) and after reading something about dogs in Country Life magazine he decided to get a whistle. He simply could not understand why the dog didn't recall immediately when he blew it, and seemed not to entirely believe me when I heard about this and pointed out that you have to train the dog what the whistle means- he thought dogs automatically knew.

This is a middle-aged well educated man, and he still finds the idea of spending time to train a dog (and having some understanding of dog behaviour) a difficult concept to grasp

 

[Clodagh]

This is a middle-aged well educated man, and he still finds the idea of spending time to train a dog (and having some understanding of dog behaviour) a difficult concept to grasp

The worlds full of them!

 

[SilverLinings]

The worlds full of them!

They may have some good qualities but sadly a lot of them seem to be lacking common sense!*


TBF that applies to a lot of women too, I think we are slowly breeding it out of humanity

 

[Clodagh]

They may have some good qualities but sadly a lot of them seem to be lacking common sense!*


TBF that applies to a lot of women too, I think we are slowly breeding it out of humanity

I was going to attach a disclaimer saying it applied equally to woman. My brother and my MIL both examples of people who have had dogs all their lives and yet wouldn’t know anything about them

 

[CorvusCorax]

Put two completely random things in front of him in front of him (I dunno, a remote control and a packet of butter) and ask him to immediately explain the connection between those two things. Should be easy, no?

 

[SilverLinings]

Put two completely random things in front of him in front of him (I dunno, a remote control and a packet of butter) and ask him to immediately explain the connection between those two things. Should be easy, no?

Excellent suggestion! Or maybe I should just bark some unintelligible words at him and then ask why he didn't do as I said- I could have a lot of fun with this!

It's a shame as it's a sweet - although slightly hyper - dog who I think would do well with training and pick things up quite quickly. Sadly the owner requires much more intensive training himself before that is likely