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Desensitizing was the right idea, but either you didnt see it through or you didnt do it correctly.
Ill take a wild guess and predict how you react to a whistle:
Now lets run through the same scenario from your dogs perspective:
You see, trying to calm a frightened animal down often has the opposite effect. You reinforce the unwanted behavior.
Instead, you should model the behavior you expect from your dog. If you want him to ignore any whistling, ignore it yourself. Dont react to it in any way and dont look at your dog. Keep your body language loose and relaxed.
This wont work in a day or even a week. Playing the sound of a whistle on a computer is more likely to reinforce his fear because you are more concentrated on your dog than usual. You are agitated when the whistle sounds, so the dog gets more agitated himself.
Instead, you should create a relaxed and fun environment. Play his favorite game with your dog. When he has the most fun, blow a whistle out of the blue and without warning. Continue playing as if nothing ever happened.
Its beneficial to not let the dog see the action of blowing the whistle. If you play with another human, let the human your dog is facing away from blow the whistle. Instead of blowing a whistle, you can play the sound from a smartphone or similar, but dont warn your dog by letting him see you taking out your phone and looking at him before the whistle sounds. An added advantage of playing the sound on a phone is that you can start with a low volume and gradually increase the volume over time.
Start with no more than once a day and low volume, but do it every day or at least every second day. Then gradually increase the intensity of the trigger (in your case: whistle several times a day and gradually louder). You can expect your dog to start ignoring the trigger after a week or two and maybe ignore whistles completely after 4 – 6 weeks.
Here is a great step-by-step instruction by wikihow.pet how to treat fearful dogs in general.
This video form BrightDog Academy perfectly sums up fearful behavior and the treatment of it (the most important part for your particular problem is the start until 8 minutes in)
In your comment you mention a very important problem:
No you should not “correct” his behavior when he is panicked, because there is nothing to “correct”.
We “correct” unwanted behavior to train our dogs to act in a way we like. We teach them “if I say sit down and you press your bum on the ground, you get a treat” or “if you pull on the leash our walk gets disrupted by obedience training”.
When a dog is fearful or even panicked, these rules dont apply anymore. The dog cannot think calmly and therefore cannot learn anything from this experience. He is not misbehaving but rather expressing his fear and this expression simply doesnt coincide with “good behavior”.
If you encounter a trigger on a walk and its a single whistle that will not repeat, stop and wait calmly for your dog to come out of his panicked state. He can still be agitated, but he should not pull you with the leash.
If you are walking and the trigger is likely to repeat (because theres a playing field nearby), change direction to walk away from the field and then stop to calm down. If (at the beginning of the training) your dog can only calm down back home, then you go home. You should desensitize him in a calm environment where he feels safe before you can expect him to stay calm on a walk.
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What effect do dog whistles have on dogs?
The dog whistle was invented in 1876 by Sir Francis Galton. The original use was to test the range of human hearing, but Galton quickly discovered that our furry friends had an amazing ability to hear high pitched sounds up to 45,000Hz (frequency range for humans is about 18,000Hz).
Therefore, it is important to note that these whistles are NOT silent. They emit a tone of around 35,000Hz, which is indiscernible to humans, but piercing to a dog. It also has the ability to travel very large distances, which makes it a great tool for hunting or herding dogs.
Nevertheless, to a dog, this whistle is nothing more than an unconditioned stimulus. It cannot cure barking, howling, or excitement simply by using it. You still have to condition train the dog to respond to it using classical and/or operant conditioning!
Are they suitable for training a dog? Why or why not?
A dog whistle can be a great training tool for a dog, if used properly. It is extremely distinct, silent to others, and the high frequency cannot be easily replicated. As a result, hunting, herding, and police dogs are commonly trained using a whistle. The reasoning behind it is that this high frequency it emits can travel far greater distances than a voice, and is less likely to scare wildlife or alert humans.
Although the whistle is suitable for training a dog, it is useless without association. If you blow the whistle and expect your dog to stop barking or to come, you will be extremely disappointed!
Do Dog Silencers And Whistles Affect Cats?
Even though many of us pet parents have loved dogs for our whole lives, few of us have actually used a dog whistle before. What are dog whistles, exactly? What do people use them for? Do they whip dogs into a frenzy like in cartoons?
A dog whistle, known also as a silent or Galton’s whistle — after inventor Francis Galton — is a high-pitched whistle generally used for dog training. The sound it emits comes from what is known as the ultrasonic range, a pitch that is so high humans can’t hear it.
Dogs can hear these sounds, however, as can cats and other animals. Because of this, the dog whistle is a favored training tool, though it may not be for every dog parent. Here’s what you should know about dog whistles.
Dog whistles are most commonly used during dog training. You will often see them coupled with clickers and treats to signal to a dog that they have performed a task correctly.
The noise they make will likely grab a dog’s attention, but they will not usually make dogs go wild like you may see in cartoons or movies.
The type of dog whistle a person uses doesn’t matter that much. While the most commonly used are physical whistles, you can also use digital ones. I actually have a dog whistle app on my phone!
Training with a dog whistle, like all other forms of dog training, will take time. But it can be one of the most successful forms of communicating with your dog when you want them to perform a certain behavior or task.
While many pet parents enjoy the directness whistle training provides, this method also helps with other dog activities as well.
Many canine sporting events and competitions utilize silent whistles to communicate to dogs when to go and when to stop. You will see this a lot in sheepdog competitions where whistle commands instruct the dogs on what to do. These whistles are usually not “silent” whistles, but their purpose is more or less the same.
The silent whistle is employed with hunting dogs or gun dogs, as well, since the range of frequency that hunting dogs can hear at is higher than many animals.
This is the most important question. Unfortunately, like with all other training techniques, that answer can only be given as a “maybe.”
Every dog is different, and some simply don’t respond to a whistle command the same way another might to voice or treats.
It’s best to know your dog when you proceed with this method of training. Don’t dismiss training your dog completely if they don’t take to the whistle. Try another method until you find one that works for your individual pooch.