Do dog whistles work?

1. 77

   flacoinohioposted 11 years ago

   Do dog whistles work?
   
   My son bought a dog whistle with his allowance thinking he would have better luck getting them to listen to him by using the whistle.  He did not understand that he cannot hear the whistle only dogs can hear it.  It appears that my dogs cannot hear a dog whistle either, after the two of us spent almost an hour adjusting and blowing into his whistle our dogs did not respond at all.  Their was no indication from the dogs that they heard anything from the whistle.  No ears perking up, no head turning, nothing.

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2. 95

   alexadryposted 11 years ago

   While your dog does not show an orienting response, it could simply be that from his perspective the noise is just a neutral stimulus. In other words, the noise means nothing to him, it's irrelevant just as the birds chirping or the TV. Try to work in an area with low distractions,  blow the whistle, immediately call your dog and give a treat to reward him. Repeat several times in a row. Afterwards, try to blow the whistle only. If your dog comes running (or at least turns around and seems to waiting to be called) most likely he hears it. It's just like the clicker, when you click it at first the dog cares less, then when you click and give a treat, it becomes a conditioned reinforcer, it has a meaning just as the noise of you getting the leash from a closet grabs his attention or the noise of the can opener if you feed canned food.
   
   Of course, if this doesn't work and you tried to adjust the pitch already, maybe it's defective. What brand is it? Some of the best are produced by Acme.

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   1. 77

      flacoinohioposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      Thanks for the tips!  Not sure what the brand is, I know it is not an Acme.  Our dogs are sit means sit trained and we used electronic collars to train them.  He does not remember the collars, but wants the dogs to obey him and they don't.

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