Whistle recall - good dog!

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Time for the dog to do some training. I have had a whistle for years, and I've had a dog for years, but never really got the two together. Time to start. Note the secret weapon dog kibble.


Dog is thinking  "WHAT are you up to now?"


"Ah, it involves food. That's different. Look how obedient I am. I AM ALREADY SITTING AND YOU HAVE NOT EVEN ASKED ME TO."


"So sitting wasn't it?" 


We practise. Dog is bright and gets the idea, I think. We step up. She is in the kitchen. I am in the sitting room. Pheep, I go. Pheeeeep.


Dog is not convinced.


I try the other way.



Still waiting, and looking noble. Dog thinks "Why can't you just yell, like normal?"


That problem over, we migrate outside. If we must, says dog. I leave dog in front garden. Wait, dog, wait!




Pheeeep!


Good dog. Amazing what you can do with a labrador when you have food about your person.

Comments

madwippitt said…
Ah, bless. Nothing like a direct appeal to the stomach. When you get a REALLY super fast recall, try giving sonething ultra tasty like a bit of chicken: amazing how it sharpens it up even better and will make the recall even more effective in emergency situations or when there are a lot of distractions. A tip a friend psassed on to me is that if you have one of those 'silent' whistles that you twist to adjust the pitch, whack a bit of superglue on the threads so it doesn't either loosen and come undone altogether (I used to lose loads that way) or loosen slightly so the pitch changes - which can confuse the dog if it is responding to a different sound. I buy Acme whistles nowadays and keep it hung round my neck on an old bootlace.
8 August 2012 at 12:19
Christina Wilsdon said…
Brilliant. I taught Luna recall by using cheese as the bait...didn't need a whistle as we were out in the dog park, which is fenced and limited, and I'd just call her name and hold my arm out straight to the right for a visual long-distance signal. Did 'catch and release' again and again every visit so she could never know which one was going to be the one in which her leash would be reattached for leaving the park!

Love the "sitting" picture with the spreading hind feet...my lab sits down extra hard that way too to show what a good doggy she is :)
8 August 2012 at 16:19
Jane Badger said…
Madwippit, I don't think my whistle is a silent one, but I will investigate. I was completely thrown at first by the fact it had a lid. Ahem.

Christina, it's funny, but mine loves cheese too, and that was what I was thinking of for the ultra tasty treat. I love the way they plonk their bottoms down ultra fast when they're doing their super-sit!
8 August 2012 at 16:47
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