Professional Ultrasonic Dog Whistle Guide

Transcription

1 Professional Ultrasonic Dog Whistle Guide Thank you for purchasing the MaxiPaws Ultrasonic Dog whistle. Please enjoy this free guide to help use your new whistle and make training your pup a breeze!

2 First off, the MaxiPaws ultrasonic dog whistle has an adjustable frequency to best fit it to your dog. Please consult the below picture showing how to adjust the frequency: Now before we dive into whistle training, let s take a look at why people use dog whistles, and how they can help you with your dog training. What are dog whistles traditionally used for? Long before dog whistles were created, people were whistling dogs. You have probably watched sheepdogs working with shepherds on TV and it s certainly a wonderful thing to see dogs running from left and right, and sometimes dropping flat on their bellies, to whistle commands, often at hundreds of yards from their handler. Whistle control for the working Dog Working dogs must be able to follow whistle signals at a distance, especially the stop and recall signal. Well, that s all very well, you may say, but why does my dog need a whistle, he s just a pet. And that is a reasonable point. Let s take a look at how whistle training can help you Why pets can benefit from whistle training There are some obvious benefits to a dog whistle. A good whistle carries a long way, further than most people can shout, and your

3 whistle won t get a sore throat if you use it too often. If you don t have a very powerful voice, a whistle will certainly help you. There are other benefits too. When we are dog training, the cue or signals we give our dogs are easier for the dog to learn if they are consistent. A whistle always sounds the same, even when you are angry, or tired, or just have a cold, your whistle will sound the same to your dog, and this consistency helps him to learn. Another benefit to the whistle is that you can prevent other people using it. This can be helpful if you have small children who tend to devalue the dog s name or recall command by using it over and over again, and at the wrong times. One disadvantage of course to a mechanical signal like the whistle, is that it is possible to forget it! Disobedient dogs get a fresh start with whistle training The main advantage of whistle training for many pet dog owners is that it offers them the chance of a fresh start with their training. Many of us get in a bit of a muddle with our first dog. We tend to mess up the training process and often end up with a dog that suffers from selective deafness or tends to ignore us and only come back when it pleases him. Selective deafness is common when your dog is playing with other dogs

4 Dogs like this have learned that come here means practically nothing at all. It might mean Mum or Dad is going to be a bit cross, but that s about all. The whistle on the other hand, has no meaning not yet. But it is a new and interesting sound. And a chance for you to retrain your recall and get it right this time we ll look at that below. Will a whistle make my dog more obedient? A whistle won t make your dog more obedient, but whistle training will, provided that you commit to it. There is nothing about a whistle that makes a dog instinctively respond to it. You still have to train your dog to obey the whistle, just as you have to train him or her to obey your voice. You might think that this is obvious, but I do need to mention it, because it isn t that unusual for people to return a whistle that they have bought and claim it doesn t work. And they are not talking about the sound that the whistle makes, they are talking about the fact that their dog doesn t respond to it. Are whistles harmful? One question people sometimes ask is, can a whistle harm a dog? Will it hurt his ears or harm his hearing? Some whistles are extremely powerful, especially some of the USA competitive gundog whistles that are designed to be heard hundreds of yards away even in strong winds. It makes sense to avoid making very loud noises next to your dog. Having said that, the MaxiPaws ultrasonic whistle will not do your dog any harm at all provided you do not blow it directly at his ear. How to use your whistle Before you start training your dog, its a good idea to get the hang of using the whistle and making a distinctive sound with it. Try blowing a single blast both softly and loudly. Use your tongue to break up the sound and tap out a series of pips its a bit like say t-t-t at the same time as you blow What kinds of commands can whistles be used for? Most of us focus on using the whistle to get our dog to come back to us. But there are lots of other uses for whistles too. During Gundog training whistles are used to control dogs at a distance.

5 You can use a whistle command to turn a dog for example, so that they don t get too far away from you or use a whistle command to stop the dog at a distance and get them to look back at you for directions. A stop whistle is a useful cue for pet dogs too. Another useful whistle command is to tell the dog to put his nose down on the ground and start hunting for a retrieve. This is useful if you want your dog to fetch something that they did not see fall. What do the standard whistle commands sound like? You can teach your dog to come to any kind of whistle blast that you can consistently make and repeat with your whistle There are benefits to using standard whistle commands though. If you really get into whistle training and decide to take your training further at some point, you may want to teach your dog more than just a recall. You might also want to attend training classes, in which case it s quite helpful if everyone is singing from the same song sheet. Here are the three most basic, standard gundog whistle commands Recall a string of pips pip-pip-pip-pip-pip Stop! A single blast peeeeeeep Turn two brief pips pip-pip If you are certain that you never want to get involved in gundog training at any point, and if you only ever want use your whistle for recall, or teaching your dog to come, then you can use any of the above as a recall signal. Your dog won t care what your signal is. Everything hangs on your commitment to teaching him to respond to it. And that is what we ll look at below. Let s just deal with a common concern first. Do I need different whistles for different dogs No, one whistle should be fine for all, but If you have several dogs to train, you ll need to train your dogs individually, rather than as a group to begin with. Once they all respond well to your whistle, you can recall them all at the same time. How to train your dog to respond to the whistle Whistle training is essentially the same as training with your voice, there is no real difference in technique, no special skills or tricks you need to know.

6 If your dog is disobedient, buying a whistle is a great opportunity to start again with your training and get it right, I ll explain the stages you need to go through below. Make sure there are no distractions If you have already taught your dog to respond to your voice and he is fairly obedient, you can transfer that response to the whistle quite quickly. Simple transfer from voice to whistle Start by pairing the new whistle command or cue, with your old verbal one. Always give the new cue first. So for example if you normally say come when you want to recall your dog, and your new whistle recall signal is a string of pips, you ll need to give the pips first followed by the word come. Like this Pip-pip-pip-pip-pip Come give your dog some great rewards when he arrives, food, a game, a retrieve etc. Don t rely on praise or petting. After a few repetitions, start to leave a gap of three seconds between the pips and the come. Soon, your dog will start to come towards you before you say come Make the pause bigger now, and drop the verbal come as soon as the dog is coming to the whistle alone. As with any new training, make sure you avoid distractions to begin with.

7 That s for good dogs. Now let s look at naughty dogs, because whistle training is a great chance to start over Starting over with whistle training your dog When you train your dog to do anything to a whistle, there are five stages to work through. If your dog has got into bad habits (ignoring you) You need to start at stage one, and work through to stage five with a brand new command. That s your whistle. Here are the five stages 1 Get the behaviour 2 Pair the behaviour with your whistle 3 Teach your dog to respond to the whistle 4 Proof the response against distractions 5 Maintain the response to the whistle Many people fall down by trying to begin at stage three. Let s look at an example. Training your dog to come to the whistle Dogs learn much faster if the signals you give them have meaning. It is much easier to teach your dog to come to your whistle, if he already knows that the whistle means run to me The way he learns what the whistle means is by hearing the whistle when he is already running towards you. That s what Stage Two is all about. Stage two a new language In stage two we introduce the whistle not as a cue, not as a command, just as something that happens when he is running your way. This is essentially about learning a foreign language. About understanding that pip-pip-pip-pip-pip is just another way of describing the act of running back to your best friend. But first you need to get him running after you which brings us to Stage One Stage one loving that recall Stage One is all about creating a dog that enjoys returning to you. This has to come first, and the only way to have a dog that really loves running up to his owner, is by reinforcing that behaviour with a powerful reward. A lot of people struggle with this because they think a dog should come out of duty or respect or love. But I can promise you that neither duty, nor respect, nor love is going to help you when your dog is three hundred yards away and is having to choose between returning to you or playing with another dog. Only a trained response is going to do that.

8 And to train an automatic response we must reward the behaviour we want. Get it and Pair it first Remember, before you start to teach a response you need to get the behaviour and pair the behaviour 1. Forget about commands. Just get your dog running after you and keep on surprising him with great rewards every time he reaches you. Get him running after you by acting silly, get his attention, whoop and wave your arms about, and run away from him. Keep those rewards coming. And stop giving him commands. Do this well away from any distractions. 2. Once your dog enjoys running towards you, start blowing the whistle when he is on his way and has almost reached you. When you are out with your dog and he checks in with you, blow the whistle as he approaches. It still isn t a command. This is the pairing stage. Whistle training for puppies People often ask at what age whistle training can start. Should you teach a puppy a whistle recall first for example, or a verbal recall then a whistle? The truth is, it doesn't matter as long as you do it One at a time It is best to choose either a verbal cue, or a whistle cue and get the puppy responding well to that before teaching the other. And many people will want to start with a verbal cue because they don t want to be worrying about wearing a whistle in the house during those early weeks when a puppy is small. Mealtime whistles However, one thing you can do, to build a great association between the whistle and a pleasurable experience, is to blow your recall whistle gently whenever you feed your pup. If you do that four times a day for the first month, he is going to be a big fan of the whistle before you even start training. Summary A dog whistle can t train your dog, but it can certainly help you get the job done. It will carry a long way on a windy day and be a recognisable and consistent sound that your dog associates with happy recalls.

9 Starting with a puppy can be a lot of fun, but don t worry if you have an older and rather naughty dog. This is your chance for a fresh start and a great way to get your dog bounding back towards you as you ve always wanted. Have you taught your dog to come to the whistle? Please let us know how you got on! At MaxiPaws we want every customer to be 100% satisfied with their purchase. If you are unhappy for any reason or if there is anything we can help with, please get in touch with us. Our small family business thrives on customer feedback and any you might have is greatly appreciated!!