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Training Your Dog to Come to a Whistle

Training your dog to come to a whistle may someday save its life. Even though you always have your dog on a leash, there may come a time when your dog gets loose unexpectedly. They may be in a panic or distracted playing with other dogs or chasing an animal. A dog that has been whistle trained correctly will do anything to get to you. A whistle is a lot louder than a voice and your dog is more apt to hear it when distracted. Whistle training will take about 3 – 4 days. This method will work well on food motivated dogs. If your dog is not food motivated, then whistle training may not work for you, unless you can substitute something they do like as a reward (such as throwing a ball, etc). If you have more than one dog, you can train them all at once.

You can use any whistle, but the louder the better. You want your dog to hear it from a distance. You can also use a silent whistle, but keep in mind a silent may not work well when the dog is distracted. Some people use the silent whistle for indoor situations.

The first step is to get some really great treats ready. Not just the regular old cookies you always give, something fantastic like cut up low-fat hot dogs or cheese. You want the dog to associate the whistle with a very special treat. While you are getting the treats ready, if the dog has noticed and taken an interest, put them aside until she has forgotten about it.

With the dog near you, for no apparent reason, suddenly toot the whistle and dole out the special treat. Do this about 3 times in a row. This will teach her that the sound of the whistle means a fantastic treat is coming. After about 3 times, go back to business as usual and set it all aside.

After an hour or when the dog has completely forgotten about the treats/whistle, suddenly toot the whistle again and immediately give special treats. Repeat this exercise throughout the first day. As the day progresses, increase the distance between you and the dog (while still in the same room). The dog should naturally run to you to get the treat, but if your dog is slow to come around, reward her when she takes even one step toward you at the sound of the whistle.

On the second day, wait until you are in a room without the dog present, but nearby. Toot the whistle and the dog should come running to get the special treat. The next step would be to go to another floor or opposite end of the house, such as an upstairs bedroom or the basement. Toot the whistle and as soon as the dog comes running to you, give it bigger pieces or several pieces of the special treat (bigger reward because the dog made a greater effort to find you).

On the third day, start taking this exercise out into the yard, play some fetch, etc., just having a great time, when suddenly, unexpectedly, toot the whistle. Only give the special treat if the dog comes running promptly. If she doesn't come running, decrease the distance and distraction level a bit. If she seems to have the hang of it, increase the distance, and turn your back.

By day four, while you've had the dog out in the yard, sneak back to the doorway of the house and toot the whistle. Give an extra big special treat when she comes (bigger reward because they aborted their playtime to come to you).

On days 3 & 4 start grabbing the dog's collar while you give the treat and then release it after a few seconds. This will teach your dog that it's OK if you grab them, it doesn't mean that playtime is over, and that touching the collar is a good thing too. Later if your dog gets loose and returns for the whistle you'll be able to grab the collar easily.

From here on, it's simply a matter of building distance, and then going back to the starting place to build in ever-increasing distractions. Once you feel like your dog will come reliably to the whistle, you can go to regular treats or even just loads of praise. Every so often repeat the 2 nd & 3 rd day's training sessions with the special treats so that the whistle training stays fresh in your dog's mind.

Do's

• Do set your dog up for success. When first starting whistle training, only blow the whistle when you expect that your dog will come.
• Do use EXTRA SPECIAL treats during the training period – you want your dog to associate the whistle with something FANTASTIC
• Do decrease your dog's regular rations on training days so they don't get fat.
• Do increase distraction and distance slowly as training progresses.
• Do ALWAYS praise and/or treat when a dog comes to the whistle or calling – no matter what!
• Do keep a whistle handy at all times once they are trained for those unexpected escapes!
• Do Have FUN!

Don'ts

• Don't ever blow the whistle without giving a special treat during the training period.
• Don't ever toot the whistle without some reward when the dog comes, even if you think they are reliably trained.
• Don't ever punish your dog if he/she comes to you (by whistle or calling) no matter what they've done. Punishing the dog when it comes only teaches it not to come.

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