Make Sure You Adjust the Pitch of the Whistle First
Did you know different dogs react to different pitches? I must admit I didn’t know when I first started looking at this topic. That means any dog whistle you get should be adjustable (most good ones are, though).
The whistle I bought in the photo below has a rubber sleeve on it. I slid that off to reveal the metal whistle. One end can be unscrewed, so I just adjusted it by tiny amounts, blowing on the end with each attempt. Freya just stared at me to start with. I’m sure she thought I was mad.
Anyway, after six or seven attempts, I made another tiny adjustment and blew it again. This time, her head cocked to one side. I knew I had the correct pitch, so I slid the rubber casing back on and kept it handy for training sessions.
I have no doubt that if I’d just tried the whistle in another room to start with, Freya wouldn’t have responded to it. However, because I took the time to find the correct pitch for Freya’s fluffy ears, it worked.
But only when I had started to train her, of course.
Dog whistles only work as part of training
Having a dog whistle is not a magic cure all to dog obedience.
Even if the whistle can be heard through a wall, unless your dog knows what it means, it will have little, if any effect.
Your dog whistle is another tool and progression in your dog training and, regardless of breed of dog, you have a path to follow if you are going to get effective results from using a whistle.
Blowing a whistle won’t produce miracles and you’ll need to introduce the whistle alongside more basic training exercises.
You can read more about basic training exercises for dogs in my post here.
It deals with spaniel training but the basics are applicable to any dog, regardless of breed or whether you want a pet or working dog.
How far away can a dog whistle be heard?
Developed for hunting dogs, the training whistle can be heard by dogs from up to 400 yards away (direction and strength of wind may affect the distance).