The dog whistle is a proven and practical aid for dog owners to be able to call their four-legged friend when they are running freely over long distances. It’s nice that you can get by without shouting loudly and protect the hearing of those around you. You can train dog whistle commands with both young and old dogs. With a little patience, any dog can be conditioned and called off via a dog whistle. Here you can read what you should pay attention to when buying a dog whistle and when training it.
Dog whistles are different and range from the classic whistle to the high-frequency whistle. The latter is called the Galton whistle because it was invented by the British researcher Francis Galton. He designed a whistle that could reach very high frequencies and exceed the limits of audibility. Galton showed that high frequencies are harder to hear by older people than by younger people. The researcher also found that dogs responded to high frequencies that could no longer be heard by humans. Because of this, the frequency range of a dog whistle is largely outside the range of human hearing (if at all, the sound can only be heard at a low level). But dogs hear the sound.
A dog whistle is a tool that you as the owner can use to communicate with your dog using acoustic signals. When letting your dog run free, it is important that both you and your dog feel safe and calm in the environment. This is only guaranteed if your dog reacts reliably to commands – especially at long distances. A dog whistle should give the four-legged friend more freedom because good communication is possible over greater distances. You can use the dog whistle to remotely interrupt your dog’s unwanted actions, such as chasing animals, with a command or call him to you.
What’s practical is that you don’t have to raise your voice and the command for the dog remains neutral, with no emotional fluctuations in your voice. In principle, any dog can learn dog whistle commands. The standard commands include “sit,” “down,” or “here.” The latter is the most important command in dog whistle training. It is most often used when the dog is outside and is intended to work over longer distances. However, you must train your dog for all the commands you want to use the whistle to give. Only if your dog knows the signals and understands them as a request for a certain behavior can you successfully use the dog whistle as an aid.
The origin of the dog whistle comes from working with hunting and herding dogs that needed to be called over long distances without visual contact and out of voice range. Experienced dog trainers usually rely on the Galton whistle with signals that are similar to Morse code. People only hear a faint sound, if at all. This is what makes this type of dog whistle so attractive for outdoor use. However, the choice is yours because there are different dog whistles on the market. They differ in terms of design, material and whistling frequency. Once you have decided, you should stick with one model because your dog will be conditioned to the sound of the whistle. Alternatively, many dog owners also rely on so-called clicker training. You can find a clicker test here.
Start dog whistle training with your puppy or young dog as soon as you have the opportunity. This way you can incorporate the whistle into your education right from the start. Older dogs can also be trained to use dog whistle commands. However, depending on your dog, this process may require a little more time and consistency.
Dog whistle training is done step by step. Start at home in a familiar environment where your dog has few distractions. Important: Think carefully about which signal commands you want to use. For example, this could be a single long tone for the recall and two short tones for the “sit” command. It is not important which dog whistle command you choose, but that you consistently stick to the tone or tone sequence you have chosen. This is the only way your dog can reliably follow the commands.
Source: Fressnapf, Fern-Universität Hagen
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