You may not yet be familiar with the types of whistle you can use to practise the “come“ and “stop“ signals. I will therefore give you a short introduction to the whistle types and how you can practise them.
A dog whistle is a tool with which dog handlers can give acoustic signals to their dogs. There are different types of dog whistles, such as whistles, shrill whistles and Galton whistles. The Galton whistle was invented by Francis Galton and its frequency range is largely outside the range of human hearing, only the dog hears the sound. Typically, frequencies from 16,000 Hz to 22,000 Hz are used. Some models of high frequency whistles have a thread that can be used to adjust the frequency of the whistle tone to condition the dog to a specific frequency. Most dog whistles are blown, while some models are piezoelectric. When used correctly, the dog whistle is a tried and tested means of requesting certain desired and trained behaviours.
To teach your dog to listen to the whistle, there are a few steps you can follow
- Start with a low frequency and gradually increase it to make sure your dog can hear the sound.
- Use the whistle to give positive reinforcement when your dog responds to the sound.
- Use the whistle to give negative reinforcement if your dog does not respond to the sound.
- Repeat this process until your dog reacts to the sound when he hears it.
- Use the whistle to call your dog when he is in a situation where he cannot listen to your voice.
It is important that you are patient and give your dog time to learn the sound and react to it.
