nater Posted February 3, 2007 Share Posted February 3, 2007 I was reading a book about training my new lab and it talks about getting him used to responding with a whistle. I looked around today and found a standard whistle and a silent whistle made by remington. Since I have never trained a dog before, what would be better? I would guess the silent whistle because it can be adjusted to a pitch they can hear, but I wanted to see what everyone thought first. Any help would be appreciated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ufatz Posted February 3, 2007 Share Posted February 3, 2007 Most people use a standard whistlem, but there are a lot of variations on the market. Cabela's has a bunch of them, including a small Gonia clear police whistle I like. Once your dog is accustomed to a whistle he'll respond to either kind-silent or loud. Main thing is to get started early. It'll be no big deal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
delmuts Posted February 3, 2007 Share Posted February 3, 2007 i think the big reason for using a whistle was so the dog could hear you. i had train my lab by whistling with my lips, which worked great til you had a windy day, or you just couldn't make much more than a squeek! i don't know of any one that has tried a silent one ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LovenLifeGuy Posted February 3, 2007 Share Posted February 3, 2007 Two questions while the topic is on the table.1) does the pitch of a silent whistle hurt a dogs ears?2) can a rooster hear a whistle?I was at cabelas the other day and the staff did not know the answer to either. So, at this point I will stick with my trusty lucky whistle.I started early and have felt the whistle training has been pretty easy as long as they have the basic voice commands down. It's fun to watch also.Thx, LovenLifeGuy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Try Too Fish Posted February 3, 2007 Share Posted February 3, 2007 One thing to keep in mind if you hunt alot with other dogs that are whistle trained is they will all be keyed in on the whistle. I don't know what a good solution is. Different tones maybe! Its kinda frustrating when another hunter blows the sit command for his dog and your dog sits too and etc! Maybe others have a good solution for this! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gspman Posted February 3, 2007 Share Posted February 3, 2007 LovenLifeGuy,Generally speaking the answers are 1) No and 2) Yes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LovenLifeGuy Posted February 3, 2007 Share Posted February 3, 2007 Thanks gsp. I was not sure a rooster could hear a silent whistle or not.. thx Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nater Posted February 4, 2007 Author Share Posted February 4, 2007 That make sense that if they associate that pitch with certain things they will understand. I would like to train him on a whistle so I know he will hear the command in the field. I don't want to yell all the time! Hopefully by the time I get him in the field he will be a good listener. So if the roosters did hear this whistle, do you just not go with it unless its a windy day when he can't hear you or what? I never thought about them hearing it... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ufatz Posted February 4, 2007 Share Posted February 4, 2007 Don't worry about the birds hearing your whistle-they hear you the minute you step into the field!! Most so-called silent whistles can actually be heard by some people. And always keep in mind that a dogs olfactory and auditory systems are estimated to be 1000 times more sensitive than yours.Train your dog carefully; its way easier to do than some people would have you believe. And you COULD train your dog to respond to a clarinet if you wanted to. Or a bass drum. But either one would get in the way when your walking a field. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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