Training recall to a whistle

[Tangaroo]

I have 13 month old sprocker who is adorable. I only got her at 8 months so wasnt able to train her as a pup. When she came she didnt even know her name so we worked on that one in the house with treats etc.
When out on a walk or at home in the garden (half an acre!).. if she is looking at me and i call her or put my hand in the air she comes straight to me. I always treat her and make a fuss of her.
The problem is that if she is in spaniel mode,i.e. head to the ground following her nose, i cannot get her attention for love nor money. We did actually wonder if she might be deaf but she isnt shes just oblivious if shes on a mission.
I wondered about training her to a whistle and just wondered how to go about it properly?
She is really good in every other way and will even walk to heel in a field of livestock off the lead. Its just when that nose gets to the floor i cannot get her attention.
Ideas please.

 

[Gooby]

My trainer told me to start with when you feed instead of giving them their normal command for them to start eating instead you use the whistle so they start to associate it with food. Once they have the hang of whistle means food you can start playing hide and seek (you go hide, blow whistle, they find you and you make fuss of/treat), move onto outside with lunge line on - whistle and they should come to you, if they don't then simply reel them in as you would do with your normal recall, treat and release then just repeat repeat until they are consistent then remove line.

 

[foraday]

when the 'red veil' descends then most dogs disappear and 'go deaf'

training to whistle-recall (3 short blasts on your whistle) is quite easy! TREATS in the pocket on the walk and call them back make them sit and then treat.

Each time on the walk allow them to go a little further then recall repeat

You also need the 'stop' whistle-which of course is the other end of the whistle and has the pea in it-one blast.

Horse and Country TV run Howard Kirby's series on gun dog training-maybe worth a watch!

 

[joe_carby]

a few years ago i bought some cheap dvds by a bloke called edward martin i think it was. and he showed how to do it with all different ages and types of dogs. at the end of the day it is a spaniel so if you find a way that works it will pick the idea up very quickly but until then i no how you feel and i feel sorry for you

 

[Scranny_Ann]

very easy when you know how! *so they say*

The stop and recall whistle is the most important command for us on the shoot. This is how i would go about it.

She sounds like she's very willing learn but just typically head strong. Take her out on your usual walk, armed with the whistle in mouth at all times ... when she glances or looks your way take 'advantage' of her attention. Drop down into the crouched position, recall her on the whistle and clap your hands loudly and then spread your arms out (as if to cuddle someone) to welcome her to you. Maybe even call her name after the first recall and then recall whistle again after. Keep repeating the recall intermitantly until she is with you. When she reaches you, she should sit and you make a fuss. If you would prefer to use a treat at this point you can, it's optional. I don't use treats at all with mine.

The thing you have to remember when training, it's basically a trust that must be gained between dog and owner. Hence the taking advantage of recalling when she's looking at you, she's essentially checking and in a sense asking permission that her behaviour is acceptable to you. When training any dog, if you work with them instead of forcing every command you build a better trust, you're working with them, not grating against them constanly and you will be more successful.

Good luck - and don't forget it will take time, there will be days you will think she's not learnt a thing, you must persevere ... it will come together in the end!

 

[Tangaroo]

Thanks for the suggestions. I have bought a whistle so i will set to work later on

Should be interesting.

 

[kirstyhen]

The way I taught it to Otto was to wait until he was already doing what I wanted and then blow the recall whistle.
The reason being, he was VERY headstrong when we got him, we also thought he was deaf for a while, however unlike your dog he would never look in our direction.
As such calling him was pointless, all we were teaching him to do was ignore us. Recall was taught on the lunge line, we would stop and just wait for him to realise he wasn't going anywhere until he returned to me.

When he had got the hang of that, we introduced the command and eventually the whistle, but only as he was already returning to us. That way he never learnt that ignoring it was an option (in theory anyway!). Once he was off the lead, we had to be careful not to call him back when his head was down and hunting, as it was pointless - he was never going to come back and we were teaching him to ignore us.
We also spent lots of time indoors and then in the garden, calling him back, blowing the recall and giving him a huge fuss, so he had already begun to associate the recall whistle with coming back in a controlled environment where his attention was always on us.

Now he will always come back if we time it perfectly, and we have now started calling him back whilst his head is down and he is coming back more often than not, because he hasn't learnt before now that ignoring us is an option (although it hasn't taken him long to work it out!!)

Also an important thing he has taught me is to be completely stationery or walking backwards as he is recalled. If we are walking he will ignore us, and if I step towards him as he gets close he will bog off again. It's seems obvious, but it's easily forgotten.
If I want him to come to me whilst I continue walking he has a different command, two whistle pips to turn him and get him in close, and a 'heel' once he is near.

I also wouldn't suggest starting with the thunderer if you want to teach her to stop to the whistle. Purely because if she doesn't respond to one long blast on your normal whistle you have a next step up - the thunderer. However if you start at the thunderer and she doesn't respond, where do you go from there!?

It has taken us a year to get Otto to this point, patience is most definately a virtue!!

Good luck.

(Gosh, I've just written an essay

)