Has anyone successfully recall trained their dog with a whistle? Could you tell me what kind of whistle to buy and the steps you took to get there? Lots of conflicting information on the net. Last attempt at solidifying her recall before I hire a dog trainer.
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Whistle Recall Training?
- Thread starter Tova
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My dog is pretty much reliable on the whistle, though given his type, if there's a deer involved, forget it. I use one similar to these: https://www.amazon.co.uk/pengxiaome...64271&sr=1-1-spons&keywords=dog+whistle&psc=1
I started training in the house, at point blank range, with fantastic 'rewards' (even if he was already there). Once he'd belt through the house to get to me when I blew it, we took it outside. Start with no distractions, and build up distance and distraction level very gradually.
Counterintuitively, you should NOT use the whistle if you think there's a chance your dog won't come back - hearing the whistle while having the best time of her life will just teach her that she can ignore it. For that reason, I believe it can be good to have a range of recall cues, ranging from 'This way now?' which I don't really mind if he tells me he wants to go another way, through 'come along then' (gentle chivvy), 'Come, come come!' (you really should come but it's not the end of the world if you don't), 'Sausage!' (often a winner
) up to the whistle, where you want it to be such an automatic reflex that she will practically crick her neck as she turns round to come with you. It needs to get an awesome reward and praise, e.g. stuffing 10 bits of roast chicken in her mouth one after another while acting as if she's just won you the lottery. For that reason you also don't want to practise it that often - maybe once a walk or even less once she's got the general idea - because otherwise it will just become routine, and roast chicken might get a bit more boring.
If there's specific situations where your dog won't recall, you might have to work on them separately, such as persuading other people not to give her treats (I struggle to recall my dog from people he knows are a pushover), or preventing her from playing with any dog who takes her fancy.
If my dog does take off after a deer, I don't even bother trying to call him back - I'd be wasting my breath and again, he's learn to treat the whistle as background noise. But when I reckon he's had enough time to have given up the chase (his stamina is rubbish!), I might give the whistle one blow so he knows where I am.
I started training in the house, at point blank range, with fantastic 'rewards' (even if he was already there). Once he'd belt through the house to get to me when I blew it, we took it outside. Start with no distractions, and build up distance and distraction level very gradually.
Counterintuitively, you should NOT use the whistle if you think there's a chance your dog won't come back - hearing the whistle while having the best time of her life will just teach her that she can ignore it. For that reason, I believe it can be good to have a range of recall cues, ranging from 'This way now?' which I don't really mind if he tells me he wants to go another way, through 'come along then' (gentle chivvy), 'Come, come come!' (you really should come but it's not the end of the world if you don't), 'Sausage!' (often a winner
) up to the whistle, where you want it to be such an automatic reflex that she will practically crick her neck as she turns round to come with you. It needs to get an awesome reward and praise, e.g. stuffing 10 bits of roast chicken in her mouth one after another while acting as if she's just won you the lottery. For that reason you also don't want to practise it that often - maybe once a walk or even less once she's got the general idea - because otherwise it will just become routine, and roast chicken might get a bit more boring.If there's specific situations where your dog won't recall, you might have to work on them separately, such as persuading other people not to give her treats (I struggle to recall my dog from people he knows are a pushover), or preventing her from playing with any dog who takes her fancy.
If my dog does take off after a deer, I don't even bother trying to call him back - I'd be wasting my breath and again, he's learn to treat the whistle as background noise. But when I reckon he's had enough time to have given up the chase (his stamina is rubbish!), I might give the whistle one blow so he knows where I am.
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I use a Acme whistle available on Amazon, i went to gundog training with edie the first thing we learnt was blow the whistle ask the dog to sit give a treat. Like Judy i never blow it when she is chasing a bird as she wouldn't respond. But otherwise as soon as i whistle her she comes back looking like she has a smile
Thanks, her distraction is other dogs. If she sees one 90% of the time she is off and I no longer exist. She was doing really well the past couple months but then one day she was just crazy and it’s seems we’ve regressed back to a overexcited pooch that just doesn’t listen at all. Hopefully the whistle will work for us and keep my teen out of bother.
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It's not the whistle that matters, but what it means... Simple math, really, what's more fun - running off to another dog or coming back to the whistle? For the whistle to be more attractive than the dog, it should mean something extraordinary terrific, especially for a teenager, so I think the key here is to figure out what you can do when she comes back to you, and it better be spectacular... more spectacular than playing with the other dog.
Find what that can be for your girl, associate whistle with it - and you will have this one solved!
Good luck.
For my part - hard as I tried, nothing came close to chasing other dogs for my hound... Chasing deer was probably even better, but clearly not very helpful in training good recall..
Find what that can be for your girl, associate whistle with it - and you will have this one solved!
Good luck.
For my part - hard as I tried, nothing came close to chasing other dogs for my hound... Chasing deer was probably even better, but clearly not very helpful in training good recall..
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It's her age... they do regress when they hit the teens. I think recall is only half the solution here, the other half being breaking the habit of going off to play with other dogs. Not something I've had an issue with as mine isn't that sociable/playful, but there's a thread that mentions it here: Young dog charging!
For now, I would forget about 'whistle to come away from other dogs' as you're likely to be frustrated and end up blowing on the whistle when she's not going to respond, and work on whistle recall in other contexts while also working on 'stop bogging off to play with that dog in the distance'. Only when the latter has become a bit less irresistible is the whistle likely to come into its own then. And don't forget that, eventually, maturity will help too.
For now, I would forget about 'whistle to come away from other dogs' as you're likely to be frustrated and end up blowing on the whistle when she's not going to respond, and work on whistle recall in other contexts while also working on 'stop bogging off to play with that dog in the distance'. Only when the latter has become a bit less irresistible is the whistle likely to come into its own then. And don't forget that, eventually, maturity will help too.
I’m aware that her age and hormones play a huge role in her behaviour rn but I might as well start teaching her something new rather than just hoping the problem will fix itself.
It’s not even the fact that she wants to socialise and play, it’s that she doesn’t take the hint with other dogs most of the time, especially if she’s in a mood. We go mostly to the same places and see the same people so it’s not so bad if she does decide to pelt off as it’s usually to the same people and dogs she knows. But obviously odd times it isn’t and that’s where the danger comes in.
She’s been bitten before and you think that would’ve calmed her down a little around dogs but it hasn’t. And I don’t just leave her off if she’s not listening, I usually take her to a certain field in the park that’s usually empty, do a few commands and if she’s listening well I let her have a run around.
I know this is going to be a very long and gradual process and it may not even work but then again it might. I would start off very small, very easy and increase the difficulty over weeks, maybe even longer depending on how she reacts.
It’s not even the fact that she wants to socialise and play, it’s that she doesn’t take the hint with other dogs most of the time, especially if she’s in a mood. We go mostly to the same places and see the same people so it’s not so bad if she does decide to pelt off as it’s usually to the same people and dogs she knows. But obviously odd times it isn’t and that’s where the danger comes in.
She’s been bitten before and you think that would’ve calmed her down a little around dogs but it hasn’t. And I don’t just leave her off if she’s not listening, I usually take her to a certain field in the park that’s usually empty, do a few commands and if she’s listening well I let her have a run around.
I know this is going to be a very long and gradual process and it may not even work but then again it might. I would start off very small, very easy and increase the difficulty over weeks, maybe even longer depending on how she reacts.
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It's been a hard slow slog with Harri ( now 17mths).
He is a notoriously awkward breed - not a people pleasing one at all!
After months of getting nowhere we are starting to see improvements. He has recalled whilst playing with a strange dog (this is a huge breakthrough) and today he actively chose to come to me for a treat when called rather than run on straight up to another dog - another huge breakthrough!
I actually have hope that he will be able to be off the long line at some point. I'm not sure that he will ever be 100% reliable. Squirrels and deer are much too alluring.
He is a notoriously awkward breed - not a people pleasing one at all!
After months of getting nowhere we are starting to see improvements. He has recalled whilst playing with a strange dog (this is a huge breakthrough) and today he actively chose to come to me for a treat when called rather than run on straight up to another dog - another huge breakthrough!
I actually have hope that he will be able to be off the long line at some point. I'm not sure that he will ever be 100% reliable. Squirrels and deer are much too alluring.
That’s great, well done to Harri. It’s nice to know you can get them to improve.
A couple weeks ago mine was like a different dog to what she is now. (Very good to very bad). It makes it worse that she doesn’t get the hint with other dogs and can quickly get overexcited. She’s half Weimaraner and half staffy so it’s my own fault really for getting a mix of two headstrong, hyperactive breeds.
