How do i teach puzzle and barley to only respond to there own whistle? We have 2 whistles both of different, one 210 1/2 the other 211 1/2, we are using the 211 1/2 with puzzle and we are going to be using the 210 1/2 with barley, but how do i get them to only respond to their own , i want to get it right so i don't muck up their training. We have not started barley's recall training yet, but we will soon, we just want to get puzzle's done first then work on his, as he is going to be a lot harder to do than her's, she is progressing very well with her's i can call her from anywhere in the house or garden and she will come hurtling towards me, even if she was playing or busy sniffing, we have also done a couple of recalls at our local dog park, which she responded to with as much enthusiasm as she did in the house, and this was even while she was playing with another dog, so she is getting really good now, but i want to make sure that she only responds to her whistle and not barley's and the same go's for barley as well
Re: Differentiating between whistles I work four dogs but I have got just one whistle a 210 1/2. I would get terribly confused if I had more than one whistle. It has never been a problem. Some old fashioned Gundog trainers might have a separate whistle for the stop whistle command, a so called Thunderer ;D, but I have never seen anyone use different whistles for different dogs.
Re: Differentiating between whistles I am the opposite to that and all the people i know who use whistles with there dogs have different ones for each dog, the reason for having 2 whistles anyway is one is for spaniels and the other is for retrievers, puzzle is a labrador and barley is half spaniel
Re: Differentiating between whistles It makes no odds which whistle you use for which breed. It is just that traditionally the two different types of whistles were used by spaniel and retriever handlers. I sometimes think it is more the way the handler blows the whistle than the actual pitch that the dog recognizes and responds to. I often work one of my spaniels alongside my friend and her spaniel. We both use the same whistle and the dogs are only a couple of yards from each other but only respond to the commands given to them. A young inexperienced dog might get a little confused at the beginning but they adjust very quickly.
Re: Differentiating between whistles This is interesting - I was interested to see that Charlie didn't respond at all to the gun dog trainer's whistle and I thought it was because it was a different frequency, but then I "allowed" OH to have one of my whistles (I've hidden it now though...supervised use only - I don't know if any of you remember what my OH was like with the clicker!) and Charlie did look up at his recall signal blown by OH but only as though to say "eh? That doesn't sound quite right". OH is having to put in the work again to get Charlie to respond to him with the same frequency whistle as I use.
Re: Differentiating between whistles I must be an old fashioned trainer then! I have a thunderer which works wonderfully as my stop whistle, for us a single peep on the horn whistle is a signal to search the immediate vicinity, our recall is a two pitch double peep, the second one longer than the first -it carries further than the single. Years ago I was recommended to have different pitch whistle for different dogs which worked well when I took them out individually but both together I got so confused, the dogs were fine! I then retrained the second (younger) dog onto the same whistle as the first one. Life got so much simpler. I must admit to a sentimental attachment to my thunderer too, dad had one from a family member who worked down the pit in Nottingham (it was the "all out now" signal) and mine is the one he bought mum when she got her first teaching job. So even if I stopped using it as a dog whistle I think it would still be in my pocket. Kerryn
Re: Differentiating between whistles I can't understand why one whistle can't be used for two dogs, why confuse yourself and the dogs with two different pitch whistles ? Helen
Re: Differentiating between whistles [quote author=charlie link=topic=2664.msg27091#msg27091 date=1379864958] I can't understand why one whistle can't be used for two dogs, why confuse yourself and the dogs with two different pitch whistles ? Helen [/quote] We would rather have two separate whistles, they are different colours (one black, one purple) so it is easy to know which one is which, and at the end of the day it comes down to personal preference
Re: Differentiating between whistles Sorry I just was curious to know why two different pitch whistles are used, isn't it easier to use the same pitch for two dogs? of course if comes down to personal preference, it was just a question. Helen
Re: Differentiating between whistles [quote author=Moorlands link=topic=2664.msg27089#msg27089 date=1379864475] I must admit to a sentimental attachment to my thunderer too, dad had one from a family member who worked down the pit in Nottingham (it was the "all out now" signal) and mine is the one he bought mum when she got her first teaching job. So even if I stopped using it as a dog whistle I think it would still be in my pocket. Kerryn [/quote] That's lovely
