# Dog whistle!!!



## SleepyG (Dec 23, 2008)

Well I took some good advice today and went and got a dog whistle. I should have done this the day I picked up my new pup, its probably one of the best training tools you can have. In just using it within the hour. I have already gotten him to come on a double quick "tweet, tweet" blow. Its really neat to see him staying for a while and calling him on the whistle. 

The only thing I haven't been able to figure out is trying to get his attention with a single quick blow from the whistle. Hes got the double down really well. But getting his attention is a pain for some reason. Oh he does respond to his name very well actually that is the only way to get him to look at me to get his attention. I have been saying his name then blowing a single right after I do. But he still is very distracted for some reason. Any suggestions? If you are wondering its one of those little skinny whistles without a pea numbers on it are 210 1/2. Its got a loud "tweet" to it.


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## Theekillerbee (Jan 8, 2009)

You may want to try using it in combination with an e-collar. It sounds like he knows it is associated with his name, he just needs to put them together. Apply some light pressure right when you blow the whistle, and when he responds like you want, let off the pressure. That makes it a positive reinforcement tool instead of a negative one.


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## SleepyG (Dec 23, 2008)

What particular e-collar do you recommend. I don't want to spend too much money but I do want a decent collar to help with the training down the road.


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## Gumbo (Sep 22, 2007)

Hold on before putting the juice to him. An ecollar isn't made to get his attention. It is used to enforce known commands.

One whistle is usually used for sit, not to get the dog's attention. If your dog already sits well, start giving the command and giving a single toot as he sits. Soon he'll sit by whistle alone. You'll notice that he'll tend to sit when near, but not so well when he's across the yard. That's when you can start introducing force to enforce the command.

But before I get ahead of myself, what kind of dog do you have and how old is it?


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## SleepyG (Dec 23, 2008)

Hes a 4 month old GSP. Even at a distance as long as he can hear me, when told to sit he sits. He does it really automatically, when hes walking next to me and I stop he sits and just looks at me wondering what to do next. I guess im trying to instill in him the retrieving basics so say he on a blind retrieve ill blow a single whistle tweet to get his attention then guide him with the right and left arm motion depending on the side i want him to go. Of course that is a bit to advance at this point right now im just trying to get his attention with the whistle on a single blow.

I was reading up on other forums and suggestion sites. I see what you mean about using the single blow to get him to sit since when I do tell him to sit he 99.9% of the time turns to face me and sits. He does sit very well on verbal command. It shouldnt be a problem to train him with the whistle. BTW do you have any other ideas for other whistle commands I could try. I mainly training him to point. But right now in his training hes getting obedience down very well and I wanted to try something a bit more advance. So far so good.


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## Theekillerbee (Jan 8, 2009)

SleepyG said:


> What particular e-collar do you recommend. I don't want to spend too much money but I do want a decent collar to help with the training down the road.


I prefer collars from TriTronics, and I think most guys in the business use them. I've not had the chance to use the other brands, so I don't know how they compare.

I agree, don't just put the juice to them to try to teach them something new...you have to use it on a known command. When he understands what you want, go to the collar as the next step in the obedience process.

BTW, that is a good lookin' pup.


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## Donttreadonme (Sep 11, 2007)

I am not much of a dog trainer in general and definitely not a pointer trainer, but here is my .02.

1. 4 months is a very young dog mentally. At that age, I would just let the dog be a puppy and have fun. I would get him out in the field as much as possible and try to get him on a bunch of birds. If he will fetch then play fetch with him to instill the retrieve.

2. I wouldn't even think of putting an e-collar on a 4 month old pup. The dog shouldn't get any "juice" IMO until he has been through a formal obedience program and force fetch. I wouldn't start a dog on that (Formal Obedience) until it is 5-6 months old.

3. Get a good book on how to train a pointer, visit the guys on the pointer forum at http://www.utahbirddogs.com they will be able to tell you what books are a good guide.

4. Leave the whistle at home for now. I would guess that the dog at this point really doesn't associate the whistle with the command. You would probably get the same results from clapping your hands or any thing else to get the dogs attention. The whistle only gets his attention and then he wants to run to you and play. That is why he won't sit on the whistle. Again the dog needs to learn and be "fluent" on his obedience commands BEFORE you introduce the whistle and or e-collar.

I am not trying to offend, I am honestly trying to give some good advice that has worked for me in training my dogs.


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## Gumbo (Sep 22, 2007)

And if you forget everything alse in this thread, just remember item 1 above.


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## SleepyG (Dec 23, 2008)

Oh i wasnt planning on using an ecollar yet anyways, just curious on how which brand and how exactly i should be using it. And yeah i know what you mean hes still got a bit of pup in him that is for sure. But hes coming along very nicely, im almost to the point that hes learning new commands every week only prob is what to teach him next. Of course I always go back to old commands and fine tune them a bit just to make sure hes still on track. All in all good progress! 

Oh and this is the collar i was looking at, not too bad on price and seems like a really good unit from what reviews ive seen. Any suggestions? Tri-Tronics Sport Upland G3 Dog Trainer

http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/t...t20879&parentType=index&indexId=cat20879&rid=


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