acme 210.5 whistle

[Scarlett]

Thanks Nicola!
I will also order a 210.5 from e bay!
Maybe the first one coming to Greece! 

Scarlett, I'd suggest you order two. It probably won't be that much more postage, and it means you have a spare one in case you lose/can't find the other one.

that's what I am gonna do! Thanks

[siam]

This is slightly off topic but I've been using just a Pets at Home whistle with Alfie for recall which has been sucessful unless he finds the best smell on the block! I also use a whistle at school, as a primary teacher, mainly for P.E., but after a library visit and subsequent late playtime I used the whistle to gather the troops. As soon as I blew it, I thought 'what on earth's wrong with this whistle', then realised it wasn't of course Alfie's whistle, but my school one with a pea in it - the sound seemed so strange after my doggy one   

[JeffandAnnie]

THANK YOU. I have bought countless "silent" whistles and the ends unscrew themselves and drop off 

Have bought a norange one

[Emma xx]

We use the 210.5 for Alfie, im still training him at home with it though and havent been brave enough to use it on a walk yet incase i break the process : xx

[Petepreston]

I'm so glad I stumbled back into COL. I was looking at dog stuff on Amazon and got it into my head to buy a whistle to try to get Posie into a consistent recall.

We tried the clicker but when she's any distance away in a noisy area such as the beach - crashing waves and wind - expecially when she's upwind she hardly hears us shouting, let alone a clicker.

I saw the Acme ones on Amazon and wondered about the 210.5 and 211.5 variations. As I understand it, this is the frequency that it works at, making it a different tone. I've read in several places, including a gundog website, that the 210.5 is especially good for Spaniels and the 211.5 is good for Retrievers. That seems to be supported in here too.

Amazon have them for about £8, but not much choice of colour. ebay have for £5 in various colours.

[mooching]

We tried the clicker but when she's any distance away in a noisy area such as the beach - crashing waves and wind - expecially when she's upwind she hardly hears us shouting, let alone a clicker.

Good move to get a whistle - did you realise though that the clicker is not intended for recall, but to reinforce actions that the dog has already done?

IMO it's a good idea to get a lanyard with the whistle - makes it harder to lose.

Re whistle training, I'd highly recommend Top Barks' thread on whistle training - http://www.cockersonline.co.uk/discuss/index.php?topic=69512.0

[Petepreston]

I didn't actually know that about the clicker. I honestly thought it was just a weakness of that method. Just as well I come to COL.

There are two brightly coloured whistles on their way and two equally bright lanyards are on their way from another suppplier.

A little bit annoyingly, I've found my own whistle (as in, using my fingers and mouth) over the last couple of days and this morning Posie ran a couple of hundred metres away, and up steps, to see a walker while we were at the beach but she came belting back to me on my second whistle (the first was very wheezy and quiet). It was so loud that it actually rang in my own ears. The people I was standing near to seemed to think it was a little "loud"   but their dogs looked at me too.

I've read the Top Barks article too.

[Ralu A]

I use a whistle from The Company of Animals, the Clix Multi-purpose one. I bought it here in a pet-shop this summer after reading about whistle training on COL. I'm happy with it, it works really well, so now Elmo responds to both whistle and voice command. He picked it up quick. I treat with Milk or Vitamin Drops (special doggy treats).

[Petepreston]

Posie update: I got the 210.5 whistle the other day and she responded positively on first blow. I think it was out of curiosity but possibly because I've been whistling for a few weeks now. I forgot to take it out on walks today and yesterday but she wiill come from any room in the house and even in from the garden on no more than one short peep on it. She even returns faster on my own mouth whistle which isn't very good but seems to resemble it closely enough for her to be interested.

Oddly, this morning a lorry or bus drove passed us while we were on the beach and out of sight and it was making a very high pitched whistling noise as it passed, and Posie kept looking up towards the road. Something has definitely clicked with her.

[mooching]

Posie update: I got the 210.5 whistle the other day and she responded positively on first blow. I think it was out of curiosity but possibly because I've been whistling for a few weeks now. I forgot to take it out on walks today and yesterday but she wiill come from any room in the house and even in from the garden on no more than one short peep on it. She even returns faster on my own mouth whistle which isn't very good but seems to resemble it closely enough for her to be interested.

Oddly, this morning a lorry or bus drove passed us while we were on the beach and out of sight and it was making a very high pitched whistling noise as it passed, and Posie kept looking up towards the road. Something has definitely clicked with her.

Or rather, something has "whistled" with her! 

Petepreston, just checking - are you always rewarding Posie with a treat, and a high-value one at that (preferably one you only use for recall) when she comes to the whistle? It's really important to do so, to really positively reinforce her response deep down in her subconscious, so that when a distraction comes, she will still be more likely to come back. The reward also makes it less likely that she will get accustomed to/bored with it, and keep responding.

[Petepreston]

She's getting the high value treat that she only gets when we're doing something a bit special or I'm reinforcing her good recall when we're out. Not the most special thing she gets - that would be chicken etc from my wife's plate  , but she also gets them when we play the Sniffer Dog game when I hide them around the house and she goes mental sniffing them out, hence the name. I know I should be more structured with this training but it's still a bit hard in my personal situation.

Every single time I've used the whistle she's come flying back to me from wherever she is and whatever she's doing, so it seems to have sunk in very quickly, and even when I do my own pathetic mouth whistle she responds the same way - if she can hear me.

I blew the whistle by accident when I didn't have a treat on me, but the next time I whistled she still came back. I don't seem to have broken the association. Yet.

Yesterday she was on the scent of a pheasant out at my brother's farm, a place she has never been before, and she still came bounding back to me t get her treat then continued her flushing behaviour.

The only negative so far is that whereas before she would come back to my "come here" command and sit at my feet, with the whistle she comes running back and puts her paws on my thigh and stands there looking a little overexcited. It's always my bad leg that she leans against because it's always my left hand that has the treat. This is because my right hand is always holding my crutch. Life's tough, eh?

Still not bad for a pampered pup, so I'll keep going with the closest I can to the article routine, and watch out for any slips or reductions in response.

Oh, I did try the whistle last night while she was eating her own dinner and although she stopped and looked at me, the lure of her own bowl was too much. Fair enough I suppose.

[mooching]

It's really important for Posie to associate the whistle with the high-value treat every time. Could I just ask what you're using for this? The thing is, she's rapidly approaching her teens, and that's the time when even the most responsive dog can suddenly "not hear" you any more, so it's vital for the association to be really deep down in her subsconscious for when adolescence hits.

Every single time I've used the whistle she's come flying back to me from wherever she is and whatever she's doing, so it seems to have sunk in very quickly

It's great that she's picked up the idea quickly, but it really means little until she starts returning to the whistle when there are major distractions around, like other dogs, people, children, horses, deer, moving vehicles etc. That's when you really need it to count as well, because it could mean the difference between life and death (or at least injury) or a lost dog.

The only negative so far is that whereas before she would come back to my "come here" command and sit at my feet, with the whistle she comes running back and puts her paws on my thigh and stands there looking a little overexcited. It's always my bad leg that she leans against because it's always my left hand that has the treat.

You may be doing this already, but I'd suggest you give her a firm "Down" before you give her her treat, or even a "Sit".

Oh, I did try the whistle last night while she was eating her own dinner and although she stopped and looked at me, the lure of her own bowl was too much. Fair enough I suppose.

Well yes!

Thing is though it does say in Top Barks' article that at the start it's best to use the whistle when you've called them and they're already on their way back to you. I would definitely recommend this approach as you're still quite near the beginning of her whistle training.

[Scarlett]

Hope you don,t mind me asking where did you get the pink whistle from .   An idea for a Christmas pressie from family.

I got the pink one from here

http://www.blackgundog.com/productDetails.asp?item=acme-dog-training-whistle-210-5-special-edition

 

Just ordered my pink 210.5! Also for a good purpose! Thanks!

Scarlett is very good at recall with the exception of birds hunting
We will immediately begin whistle lessons as per COL's instructions! 

[Petepreston]

Posie's training continues at a great pace. She will now come back to us from all but the most exciting scents and will even do an about face when racing off to play with another dog - 80% of the time. We give her the same treat a few times when we first get into the park or wherever we're walking, then give her a good run about, a few more recalls with treat and then no treat every couple of blows. She will race back to us and sit instantly. She will even sit & wait while children or othe rdogs walk by.

We haven't got her to sit at a distance yet (to save the inevitable child-greeting that she does) but she's geting much better at merely weaving around their legs.

[mooching]

Petepreston,

Glad things are going well!

We give her the same treat a few times when we first get into the park or wherever we're walking, then give her a good run about, a few more recalls with treat and then no treat every couple of blows.

I'd suggest giving her a high-value treat every time, and also a lower-value treat every time she just "checks in" with you of her own volition - it might just increase that 80% to closer to 100%!