Hey

You may have read my thread today about letting Ollie off lead. I was wondering whether to get a good whistle for times when he may not listen and my voice isn't enough. this may make me feel more confident, like I have a backup if my voice doesn't work.

Firstly, should I get one?

And secondly, I've looked at this site and saw this:
Gundog Equipment Suppliers | Buy Gun Dog Training Equipment - - Whistles -

Now, is it a good whistle? is leather good as a lanyard? And which one should I get; 210 1/2 or 211 1/2? What's the difference between the two?

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I OWN A CHOCOLATE ROAN COCKER SPANIEL
RIP David xx Run free at the bridge. Love you always xx 19th February 2011
RIP Jack and Mickey xx Run free at the bridge. Love you forever xx 20th June 2011

I have no experience in this area, but I would think that a generic whistle sound would potentially alert all sorts of dogs, not just yours, whereas he knows your voice and is therefore much more likely to respond...

Just a thought...

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You can look on this site on ebay - you can get a matching acme and lanyard. Im not sure if they do that colour though.

the 210.5 is higher pitched. It is the one reccomended for spaniels, but im not sure if it does make a difference.

I have just posted on a very similar thread about whistles. You will still have to train your dog to respond to the whistle otherwise it is totally meaningless. Start in the house every time you call your dog, several short pips on the whistle followed by the voice command. In no time at all your dog will come to you on the whistle call alone. But then you need to proof that recall everywhere else.
Most spaniel people will use an Acme 210 1/2.

do you sort of train it like a clicker? do two short pips and reward? and then progress to calling across a room? And then another room? and then finally in the garden and then on walks?

once they are trained to the whistle, can you use both your voice and the whistle? Does it weaken the recall when using just your voice alone? (because they have learnt to respond to a whistle)?

__________________
I OWN A CHOCOLATE ROAN COCKER SPANIEL
RIP David xx Run free at the bridge. Love you always xx 19th February 2011
RIP Jack and Mickey xx Run free at the bridge. Love you forever xx 20th June 2011

Whistle works a treat for my two dogs when they don't seem to want to come back or they need a no nonsense issue to come back here NOW!

I use an acme one, not sure which one, i did buy a couple as bound to loose one.

I trained mine in the house/garden by firstly when they close or coming towards me whilsting and giving a treat and repeating this each day or when they fully mastered the previous step making it a little harder, i.e. when they in another room, when they i the garden, when they slightly distracted (playing, doorbell, food). They got it spot on in the house.

Took it outdoors, the lady suggested breaking their dinner into portions to use but they still wanted dinner when got home so we just stuck with lovely treats, they are really food motivated any way mine). One was OK outside, the other didn't acknowledge the whistle at all.... back to basics with starting whistling and treat when they are with me, when they are coming towards me, then when they are close but maybe facing away and each time they master one distraction working on something more difficult. Didn't take too long at all.

You need to start whistling him when you feed him,so he knows when he comes its for something tasty,and then when he is off lead he knows its treat time when he comes back to the whistle.I have just bought Alf this one
trainingforgame | eBay
as we left his other whistle in France and I couldn't remember whether the other one is a 211.5 or a 210.5 so I have basically been starting again and just randomly whistling him from all over the house so he knows when we go out tomorrow that its him I am whistling! Try and build it up so that when Ollie is distracted ie on a sniff that you can break it with the whistle.Good luck he is doing wonderfully

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I would start in the house when you are calling your dog to put its food bowl done, that's how I start my puppies the very first day I bring them home. I use several short pips. Build it up very slowly from there.
You can still use voice commands it doesn't weaken the dog's recall. The only thing that will weaken the recall is by moving on too quickly, from the house to the garden to outside with all its distractions.
There are some very good booklets you can buy from The Gundog Club especially The Right Start. I know your dog is not a puppy but I would treat it like one if you ever want to get a solid recall. Simply start again from scratch. Even experienced trainers have to go back to basics occasionally if they have made the mistake of moving things on too quickly.
Could you go and have 1-2-1 lesson with a good gundog trainer in your area? I think it would help you enormously.