Question for you pro's

[ben33127]

I just picked up my dog I had for about a year and a half from my trainer. He seems to be a much better dog. However, the first couple of days I got him back when I said here he ran to me, now he comes but it is not with urgency likes those couple of days back from the trainer. What can I do to make him get that urgency baCK. He is an inside dog and seems to be adjusting back fairly well.

[baileydog2007]

Im no pro, but I uderstand what you are saying. Make sure you listen to what your trainer said when you picked your dog up. Im sure your dog had a routine when at the trainer, and little room to "sluff" on a command he/she knew. IMO, you have to have the same expectations and corrections as the trainer. There cant be a "good enough" attitude, if that makes sense. If your dog was at a good trainer, he gave you some tips/instruction when you picked your dog up, follow those instructions. Your dog has heard a different guy for a year plus, you, at the very least, initially, need to follow what he did. If you dont, the dog will take every inch you give him/her. JM2C.

[snips]

Talk to the trainer..Know what your home follow up should be.. Knowing what needs to be done at what time is part of keeping the dog right. Your trainer should be able to tell what if any correction your dog may need..He definetly knows better than we do.

[dan v]

I just picked up my dog I had for about a year and a half from my trainer. He seems to be a much better dog. However, the first couple of days I got him back when I said here he ran to me, now he comes but it is not with urgency likes those couple of days back from the trainer. What can I do to make him get that urgency baCK. He is an inside dog and seems to be adjusting back fairly well.

Did you have much if any involvement with the trainer and the dog during the 18 months? Did you go for a weekend here and there and watch the pro work your dog? And if you did, did the pro try to transition the dog from his/her control to you? If not you are going to be playing catch up in a serious way....get on the phone and talk it over with the pro. Maybe you'll need to go back to the trainer for a mini-camp.

[ben33127]

So i spoke with my trainer, and he quickly deduced the problem as me not using my whistle..... Why is the whistle so important, I now understand that it is very vital, however, what is it that makes it "work"?

[Sharon]

Dogs are creatures of habit. That's how they learn . Trialing dogs are taught to take off on the whistle. You can use any cue to train a dog to come to you; the whistle is just convenient and easily heard.

[kensfishing]

Dogs are creatures of habit. That's how they learn . Trialing dogs are taught to take off on the whistle. You can use any cue to train a dog to come to you; the whistle is just convenient and easily heard.

None of my trial dogs use a whistle to take off. Unless it's Mike, and I want him to run AA. It's funny. He's two different dogs, one with a whistle and one without.

[JMc]

If you use the command 'here' as in come over here buddy and let me pet you then he will get complacent. You must use it as 'HERE'...as in get here and heel and I'll either pet you or work you. The dog recognizes the urgency of your command as much as the word. The whistle is lound and piercing to the dog everytime therefore you get the result desired.

[Trainer8307]

What makes the whistle work is he was trained to come to it. Likely, the dog was on a check cord, the trainer blew the whistle while encouraging him to come. This is the foundation for transitioning to ecollar where it is further enforced. It could just as easily have been anything else. Whistles are effortless to use and loud enough to be heard farther than a human voice so they are natural tools for instruction. There is nothing magical about blowing a whistle unless the dog has been trained for it. I use a whistle to tell my field trial dogs to run. Years ago when hunting, I used it for them to come in.

[birddogger]

If you use the command 'here' as in come over here buddy and let me pet you then he will get complacent. You must use it as 'HERE'...as in get here and heel and I'll either pet you or work you. The dog recognizes the urgency of your command as much as the word. The whistle is lound and piercing to the dog everytime therefore you get the result desired.

Ditto.

Charlie