For You Whistle Blowers!

[shaneroyce]

I am training my 1st pointer and I would prefer to overlay commands with a whistle. What I would like to know is what the most common whistle commands are for pointers. I will continue to use the voice commands as well when the dog is in close or I don't have a whistle. I am a hunter, not a trialer (yet...I could see that in my future as this pointer work is a blast!!!). Here are my thoughts:

1 short blast: "whoa" (just what it means...STOP IMMEDIATELY and DON'T MOVE!)
2 short blasts: "yep" (change direction...locate me and go with me)
multiple short blasts: "come" (all the way to me)

What do you whistle blowers use for these commands? Also, are there other commands that I should overlay with the whistle. I use "fetch", "kennel", & "heel" (am I missing any?).

I know some people hate whistles, but in the chukar country I hunt in Idaho, I will be using a whistle. Thanks in advance and I look forward to hearing your thoughts!

[gonehuntin']

That's exactly how mine are trained. As long as you don't trial, you won't get in trouble.

[Gertie]

Sounds a lot like mine but a little different. I use 1 long whistle for "here", 3 short blasts for "turn" and will use 2 blasts for "whoa" when we get her trained on that soon. I think any combination works as long as the dog knows what you're 'talking' about.

Just curious, and pardon my novice-ness here,but what's up with the no whistles in trials?

[birddogger]

Sounds good to me. I know a lot of people don't like the whistle but I have always used one. The whistle is much less annoying to me than yelling. It is more relaxing for me and I think the dogs respond better and faster. It works especially well when the dog is out of voice range or in the wind.

Charlie

[Sharon]

Sounds a lot like mine but a little different. I use 1 long whistle for "here", 3 short blasts for "turn" and will use 2 blasts for "whoa" when we get her trained on that soon. I think any combination works as long as the dog knows what you're 'talking' about.

Just curious, and pardon my novice-ness here,but what's up with the no whistles in trials?

Trials are run in braces. I'm whistling , the other is whistling = ??????? I prefer to use my partcular voice - which the dog knows.

[gonehuntin']

Just curious, and pardon my novice-ness here,but what's up with the no whistles in trials?

Some trainers use one hard blast for the break away. You don't want yours whoaing when he blasts and runs!!

[ultracarry]

My first though also.

If you did one blast for whoa and two to turn your dog would stop and then hear a second blast.... Maybe switch the two.....

[DonF]

I've got a couple whistle's I scratched up somewhere but haven't used a whistle in years. I do whistle thru my lips though. I quit using one because it seem's that everyone has one and they bolw it indiscriminately. Thinking about starting to use it again though. I guy just looks better wearing a two whistle lanyard! :roll:

[bb560m]

Double blast on breakaway, let him know there are some dumb birds to be found. Use his name to turn him or assure him we're nearby if he's been out of sight a while. Using anything else and the other handler can F you up big time in a trial. Odds of the other handler having the same name dog - slim to none - no screw ups.

[Ralph Ford]

Two toots on the whistle gets the pup to turn and head in my general direction and look for my arm signals. Multiple blasts makes him come all the way in. Whoa is spoken or arm signal.
Run and hide so my wife can't count the number of dogs in the backyard is also a spoken command!

[mudhunter]

If your serious about giving trials a shot then the only use of the whistle should be to send the dog on. Use it to encorage the dog to run, its usefull on the breakaway and when you get the dog turned in a direction and want to send him out. Plus if the dog starts messing around with old scent or something a few blast of the wistle can get him to move on and keep hunting. Any other use and you will be setting your self up for problems in a trial.

[Buckeye_V]

There are going to be some seriously screwed up dogs if y'all run with me

You can run with someone who has different commands than you, but just be prepared to get your dog's attention adn redirected accordingly. Otherwise, you just got smoked

Also, if you think you're dog can hear your voice 100% of the time. You might be fooling yourself. Just sayin. Whistles are much easier for a dog to hear.

[Sharon]

Just curious, and pardon my novice-ness here,but what's up with the no whistles in trials?

Some trainers use one hard blast for the break away. You don't want yours whoaing when he blasts and runs!!

Took me a while to figure that one out. That's when I decided not to use a whisle ,but the dog's name /tap on the rump. ( Not the head which I learned from you. )Dog doesn't need to hear my voice far away. When he's far away he is hunting. If worse comes to worse, ask for the Astro.

[Trekmoor]

We go completely the opposite direction on this side of the pond ! If you have to use a loud voice in a trial for pointing dogs, spaniels or retrievers you will at the very least be marked down and you could be " not called back in " .... (for a second run or for an award.) Dogs can and sometimes do get confused by your running mates dog whistles in spaniel and in pointer setter trials but this does not happen as much as you might think because the handlers themselves, without intending to, have their own way of blowing a whistle which the dogs, somehow, seem to recognise.

I had trouble only once. I train my dogs to stop/sit to one small, sharp "pip" and while competing with my spaniel my running mate used the same whistle type to turn his spaniel to one short, sharp "pip." My dog sat while hunting twice. The judges told me they made allowances for this sort of thing and that my dog would get used to working on if the other handler blew his whistle. They were right , my dog quickly began to ignore the other handlers turn whistles.

I use - 1 pip "stop/sit" ...... 2 pips "turn" ....... repetitive short pips "recall" ......and I also use a "go hunt" whistle which I try to make sound a little like a curlew call .... 1 long pip plus a short one joined onto it. I use these for both pointing breeds and spaniels.

Sometimes, during grouse counts here as many as 8 pointing dogs will be working their way across a moor along with their handlers all at the same time. Whistles are always used in preference to voice since voice scares game more easily. With all those whistles going the dogs do get confused at times but not as often as you might think.

Bill T.

[uplandguide]

I train the dog that two toots means come check in... It is a must where I hunt and the wind can overpower any voice. that is all I use it for...

[Jrclmn18]

We go completely the opposite direction on this side of the pond ! If you have to use a loud voice in a trial for pointing dogs, spaniels or retrievers you will at the very least be marked down and you could be " not called back in " .... (for a second run or for an award.) Dogs can and sometimes do get confused by your running mates dog whistles in spaniel and in pointer setter trials but this does not happen as much as you might think because the handlers themselves, without intending to, have their own way of blowing a whistle which the dogs, somehow, seem to recognise.

I had trouble only once. I train my dogs to stop/sit to one small, sharp "pip" and while competing with my spaniel my running mate used the same whistle type to turn his spaniel to one short, sharp "pip." My dog sat while hunting twice. The judges told me they made allowances for this sort of thing and that my dog would get used to working on if the other handler blew his whistle. They were right , my dog quickly began to ignore the other handlers turn whistles.

I use - 1 pip "stop/sit" ...... 2 pips "turn" ....... repetitive short pips "recall" ......and I also use a "go hunt" whistle which I try to make sound a little like a curlew call .... 1 long pip plus a short one joined onto it. I use these for both pointing breeds and spaniels.

Sometimes, during grouse counts here as many as 8 pointing dogs will be working their way across a moor along with their handlers all at the same time. Whistles are always used in preference to voice since voice scares game more easily. With all those whistles going the dogs do get confused at times but not as often as you might think.

Bill T.

Right on. The dog will almost always know your whistle. If you don't believe, give it to your buddy and let him work your dog in the field. Totally different response in most situations. The above whistle/command sequence is the standard for retrieving dogs and transitions well to the upland game. Nevertheless, be conscientious of this, NO person likes to have a whistle repeatedly blasted in their ear while hunting. The less you have to use the thing, the better for you and all who hunt with you. As the dog is exposed to more and more whistle command at a distance with proper correction at that same distance the more the dog will understand how you want to hunt and will respond to your movements before you have to signal a change from them. There are many good books and DVDs out that will more than adequately cover proper whistle training.

[Trekmoor]

Although the use of the voice is frowned on here in Britain we don't like to hear the whistle used too much either . In Scottish field trials we have a saying ........ " One toot and yer oot !" Roughly translated this means "one blow on the whistle and you are out of the trial." I have heard judges say this to handlers especially in run-off situations near to a trials end. The best dog is the one that needs to be handled the least.

Bill T.

[tasi devil]

similar here in Australia to Trekmoors experience in Trials, the better your dog shows itself with less handling , the more likely you are to be in the placings. the trick is to 'read your dog' & use the whistle before the dog blots his copybook

i use a double ended ACME Thunderer.....Referees whistle one end & a 211-1/2 pitch on the other end
Stop; one blast on the Referee end for stop what your doing & pay attention
Turn; on the 211-1/2, one short pip then a longer pip immediately for turn or come with me
Come; on the 211-1/2 three pips in succesion repeated to come all the way in.
quite often tho for expediency i will whistle with my mouth.

my experience in the past with Retrieving Trials in particular where i've been doing duty on a thrower is that a whistle has more penetration & definition than the Human voice.
the option with a whistle is to use a different pitch or a handmade one, to avoid confusing the dog. amazing how they can differentiate.

this is an interesting article & well worth reading
http://www.spanieljournal.com/atrudel.html

my wife just walked past asked what i was doing, said replying to a thread on whistles, she said.
"god knows you've got a lot of those"........so there you have it.
btw i'll be out very early the next three mornings with Tex (GSP) 'whistle training' / hunting

.................tasi

[SubMariner]

Sounds a lot like mine but a little different. I use 1 long whistle for "here", 3 short blasts for "turn" and will use 2 blasts for "whoa" when we get her trained on that soon. I think any combination works as long as the dog knows what you're 'talking' about.

Just curious, and pardon my novice-ness here,but what's up with the no whistles in trials?

Trials are run in braces. I'm whistling , the other is whistling = ??????? I prefer to use my partcular voice - which the dog knows.

Just to clarify, there is nothing in the AKC rules that forbidding whistles in FTs. No two people are going to use the same whistle in exactly the same way, even if it is an identical make/model. The way someone uses a whistle is as distinctive as the transmission style or "fist" of a telegraph operator. (Yes, dating myself here! ) If a lowly human such as myself can tell the difference, surely my dog with his superior auditory sense has little problem distinguishing between "his" whistle and "the other one"?

As far out as the dogs run here in FL, voice isn't always an option: the whistle carries much further & better. That being said, I can't stand "hacking", whether it be by whistle or by voice... both are truly grating.

[Trekmoor]

One judge in a trial I competed in told a fellow competitor as he worked his dog that he sounded like the "Beep-ing dawn chorus !"

Bill T.

[birddogger]

As far out as the dogs run here in FL, voice isn't always an option: the whistle carries much further & better. That being said, I can't stand "hacking", whether it be by whistle or by voice... both are truly grating.

You just nailed it, IMO.

Charlie