Swit swoo… no not that sort of whistle a dog whistle is more than just a swit swoo noise, it’s actually a way of asking your dog to do a certain behaviour cool or what?! Dog whistles cues and commands are frequently taught to gundogs and sheepdogs, but they can be used by any dog if you teach them in the right way, and are brilliant for working dogs at a distance where they might not hear your voice so well.
In this article we’ll be filling you in on what dog whistle commands are, what dog whistle commands are used for, the top dog whistle commands to learn, and how to teach your dog whistle commands.
Dog whistle commands should be taught with positive reinforcement, just like we do in the Zigzag puppy training app. We’ll take you through all the basic obedience commands you’ll need for your puppy like walking on a lead, recall, and more, plus we teach important life skills such as socialisation, habituation, toilet training and coping alone at home. There’s also a team of professional dog trainers ready and waiting to talk to you about your puppy 24/7.
However, if you want a bit of a base knowledge before getting started, be sure to check out our training tips for beginners here.
What are dog whistle commands?
Dog whistle commands are a specific number of whistle toots that signal to a dog to do a certain behaviour. They’re clear for a dog to hear as they cut through all the background noises, and they also don’t carry emotion, so don’t convey stress to your dog.
Dog whistle commands don’t disturb other people, or animals as much as a human shouting commands does, so it’s better for nature to use them instead of your voice.
It’s also worth thinking about saving your own voice, if you’re having to call your dog from far away it can make you quite hoarse, so a whistle prevents you from getting a sore throat!
Why not avoid sore throats with our puppy obedience training programme here?
What are dog whistle commands used for?
Typically, dog whistle commands are used for training sheepdogs on the hillside, but also training gundogs out on the moors and dales. In fact, any dog that works at a distance can be trained to listen and work for whistle commands, and your puppy can learn them too.
Dog whistle commands
Sit/stop
Getting your dog to sit at a distance when you blow the whistle.
The dog whistle command for this is one ‘toot’ of the dog whistle. Teach your dog on a single soft ‘toot’ to begin with, and you can use a stronger one when they’re at a further distance.
Come
Getting your dog to recall away from anything and everything fast!
The dog whistle command for this is usually 3 sharp toots on the whistle, loud enough that your dog can hear them.
When you’re training a recall, it’s useful to use a long line to begin with so that your dog has a good chance of getting it right and not ignoring you.
Turn
This is a command you can use if you’re asking your dog to search an area.
The dog whistle command is usually two short toots.
Learn more about getting your dog to search and use their nose in our training games library.
How to teach my dog whistle commands
To teach dog whistle commands, you introduce the whistle just like you do any other new cue. It’s easy if you have already taught your dog with verbal commands to switch from saying ‘sit’ to blowing the whistle.
Dogs learn visually much faster than with verbal or whistle cues alone, we typically get the behaviour either through shaping or using a treat to lure, we then turn that into a hand signal and then add a verbal or whistle cue right before we do the hand signal.
This is what the process looks like to whistle train a sit using the lure and reward method from the beginning.
- Lure the dog into the position you want – mark the behaviour with a clicker or say ‘good’ repeat this 5 times.
- Remove the treat from your hand and turn it into a hand signal – if you’re whistle training your dog to work at a distance, we recommend a hand in the air, like we show you in our hand signals for dogs article as this is nice and clear – mark the behaviour with a clicker or say ‘good’ and reward your dog. Repeat this 5 times.
- Toot the whistle – raise your hand – dog sits – mark or click and treat repeat 5 times.
- Toot the whistle -wait 3 seconds – dog sits – mark or click and treat
To teach a dog to sit on a whistle toot when they already know the verbal cue ‘sit’, you would:
- Practise sit a couple of times on your verbal cue, to make sure it’s reliable, and your dog understands what the new game is – reward your dog for sitting
- Toot your whistle once – leave a 1 second gap – then say sit – dog sits – reward your dog (practice this 3 or 4 times)
- Toot your whistle – wait 2 seconds – say sit – reward for sitting (practice this for 3 reps)
- Toot your whistle – wait 5 seconds (give your dog that thinking time, be patient)- did you dog sit on the whistle alone? Excellent! Reward and treat.
Once your dog understands that they need to sit on the whistle cue, you would start to add in distance, and generalise the behaviour to different environments, so they learn to perform the command no matter how far away they are and in lots of situations and places.
Dog whistle commands can be used in many situations like gun dog or sheepdog training, or when you’re working with any dog at a distance from you. They can be used for basic obedience commands or more advanced work too.
There are several different types of whistle to choose from; such as the pealess gundog style whistle to multi pitch sheepdog whistles as well as silent dog whistles which aren’t totally silent, but they’re at a higher pitch that dogs can hear well.
When training your dog with dog whistle commands, it’s important to start from the very beginning and get a good foundation using positive reinforcement training, like we use in the Zigzag app. Use plenty of food rewards and have a high rate of reinforcement so that the training is rewarding for your dog.
Want to learn more about training commands? Check out our guide to basic puppy commands and it will offer you a great start. If you’ve come here looking for help with training your specific breed to use a dog whistle then our breed specific guides on gun dog or sheepdog training will help you with this. Or maybe even our ultimate training schedule?
For a fully personalised training programme for your puppy, download the Zigzag app today and start teaching them all the important life skills they need like being comfortable around traffic, fireworks or thunderstorms, sleeping through the night, toilet training and much, much more. We also have a team of professional dog trainers on hand to talk to you in the app 24/7, so they’re always there when you need someone to talk to. We understand, the puppy blues are real!
