Do you, or have you, whistle trained your dog?

[drivinmecrazy]

We have a 14 month old Weimaraner.
Our trainer told us to concentrate on the 4 peeps for recall.
We've had, mostly, great success with this.
I've been using two peeps for sit and he's been great with this on the lead and we're just starting to get consistency off the lead, as long as he's not too far away.
Any hints and tips would be very welcome.
I'd rather he was trained for basic commands to the whistle to save me sounding like a screaming banshee in the field!!

And yes, a 14 month old HPR is probably at the most tricky stage for them!

I would say when training to whistle, don't repeat commands. 1 peep is sit. They sit, immediately. Don't repeat the peep - the dog has heard you, it's just choosing to ignore it! If you start repeating commands they lose immediacy and respect for them. Then you end up endlessly blowing away on a whistle with a dog who couldn't care less three fields away! 😂

This is exactly what our trainer has said, so we adhere to that.
I've made the mistake in the past when I have been over using the whistle and he'll just tune out 😂

Have done whistle training with 2 border terriers now .Not a breed well known for their recall .
Has been a total game changer I do 2 short blasts then one long. remaining dogs recall is so good .Dh now does it to show her off 🙄. Loads of treats and keep doing it i used a long lead to begin with. Still give treats if turns immediately if I blow whistle a second series just gets praise .I also still occasionally put a bonus treat in bit cheese etc to keep her excited.
What really nailed it for me is by not shouting I don't sound stressed ,annoyed ,anxious .
Good luck

@EdithStourton That's impressive! I hope to have that much energy in my 70s/80s.... maybe when the DCs are grown up I will do.

My 8 month old pup jumped a barbed wire fence on the walk this morning. The whistle came into its own for holding her in position while I worked out what to do. I had to climb over and lift her back over... again 🤦‍♀️

There are people on our park blowing whistles for their dogs. How does the dog know which is which? Asking for a friend. 🐾

Good question! I use the acme 211.5 and if someone near me has the same one... my dogs will come back to me when it's not my whistle! I just reward them anyway. It's quite funny if the person nearby is using it a lot because they're like a couple of yo-yos!

Amazingly, they know the sound of you blowing it even if it is the same pitch as the person standing next to you blowing theirs.

One of mine sat to a friend's whistle the other day...

14mth male HPR - testosterone is kicking in so sometimes at this age, it seems all previous training is forgotten! I find at this age up to 2, keep doing the training but also just have some short fun sessions, when they are just dogs.

One of mine, at a similar age, has just recovered from a broken toe, now out and about again, it seems as though the few weeks he had off from being exercised fully, has really helped with the training I had done up until that point.

I always train the recall above anything else with gundogs, that is the command I want to be 100%. I do also train other whistle commands but will accept not quite with a turn over 100% recall. Turning and sit whistle will come in time.

Super proud of our dog yesterday!
A stag crossed his path in the forest yesterday, too tempting for him to show restraint.
He was off like a shot.
A few calls with the whistle and he came back quite quickly.
It's really for incidences like this that we wanted him whistle trained so it's good to know it works when it counts!

That sounds like great progress. Keep going until he comes back on the first whistle though. Otherwise he will work out that it is elective.

A stag would have been a good distraction to test against though 👍

Thankyou!
Yes, I had to resist the urge to 'panic blow' as I know I'm inclined to do this.
But stayed calm and trusted him.
It was another thing trying to put him back on the lead though 😂

I need to read this thread. I’m thinking of getting another Weimaraner after our old girl died 2 years ago at 14. Then I remember that she was a maniac right up to the end and change my mind. Then I think, they can’t all be hyperactive, stubborn idiots, right?

Now you can start to introduce the stop whistle which will eventually prevent him running after anything to begin with 😊

Twistyizzy absolutely!
A work in progress 😂

I think you've summed them up perfectly!
My mum and dad had a Weimaraner and DM told me all the things they regretted not doing with her.
The whistle being the main one.
They are amazing, intelligent dogs but boy are they stubborn 😂

Ours is still very much in the puppy stages so everyday is a training day.

He's definitely a full time job!!

Also, don't whistle from the same place twice. He knows where he left you, so if you move, he's more likely to come back to find you.

HappiestSleeping great advise!.
Thank you

It helped me to remember that she’d been bred to independently hunt boar and stag. Bred to take the initiative and be very brave. Great combination for a hunting dog in a huge forest; less good in my local park 🤣. But if a whipper in can train a whole pack of fox hounds, I can manage one Weimaraner, surely?

Bred to take the initiative and be very brave. Great combination for a hunting dog in a huge forest; less good in my local park

I think lots of people forget to factor this in when looking at breeds. I've had Weimaraner owners ask how I get my dogs to be so well behaved. I have labs, I've got a huge head start to begin with!

Absolutely!
It's why I won't go down to my local dog friendly park because Rafa hasn't read the rules of the road.
He & I are far far happier away from people and other peoples dogs for a reason 😂

I'd much rather he was in a space able to express himself instead of a place I'd have to constantly be on at him to behave.

One of the most valuable pieces of advise we got was to allow him his independence but know when to reign it in.
If that were in an open public place that would be very millisecond.

Just do it!

You know from experience that you'll have moments of regret almost daily, but you'll also know that for every second you spend with regret that you'll get hours and hours of love and laughter 💐

And don't forget their ears of velvet and their absolute devotion to their family!

Oh, the ears! ❤️



That's interesting. I like and whould use a whistle but...

I'd keep whistle companies in business and would lose c.2 a day and not have one when I really needed it.

Lab and all foster dogs are trained to voice and hand signals. Recall for everything is herrreeee - I figure I can't misplace my voice.

As a PP said I never, ever stop training. Lab is 4 and I've got my DSs gun dog trained pointer at the moment - luckily he's trained to herrree too.

Jist been out for and hour and a half and I probably recalled them 20-30 times as part of a game. Only needed to once as saw a dog on lead - both came bullets - because of the 29 times they came and we had treats/run around when I didn't need them.

I have got a whistle kicking about. I might have a go with it on the garden/house later because you e all made me think I should have it as a back up.