The Recall Whistle
By Debs Sutton
THE RECALL WHISTLE
Easy to teach but don’t hurry it. If you go too fast it won’t work
For the first couple of days from time to time when your dog is near you, blow whistle three times and give him a treat . Also blow the whistle three times before giving him his meal. All you are doing is getting him to understand that three peeps on the whistle means a treat.
For the next couple of days blow whistle when your dog is a short way away (on the other side of a room for instance). When he is coming to you consistently, lengthen the distance between you and your dog before whistling. Maybe room to room, then house to garden and garden to house.
Play games in the garden or on a walk, but don’t whistle him to you unless you are fairly sure he will come. Work on this making it fun, and after a couple of weeks it should be automatic that he comes for his treat when he hears the whistle.
Within a few weeks you should be able to get him return to you on walks and be able to get him away from most distractions. But when you first start to whistle him to you on walks, do so when there are no distractions and only from a short distance. Then as you did in your home extend the distance gradually.
Debs Sutton
APDT No. 00694
