Another whistle command learned / what commands do you use?

[Petepreston]

That goes for me as well as Posie. 

She's very good at "sit" (1 short peep) when she's next to me, "come here" recall (2 short peeps), "bring it back"/retrieve (3 short peeps), and quite recently picked up "find" (1 longer peep that rises at the end), but yesterday I tried again with the one I want as much as a solid recall - "stop" at distance. I waited until she stopped to check where I was from her usual 30-40m, then gave her the "sit" whistle. On 3 out of 4 attempts she gave an instant "sit & wait" to the point that I was able to walk all the way to her with a treat on show, or get her to only come once she got an "ok" or "come here" instruction.

What's so good about this is that we don't go out of our way to have training sessions, we mostly just fit them in with her walks. The number of neat little tricks that she's learned in a few attempts, and remembered thereafter, has come as quite a surprise given that we don't structure her training.

What does everybody else use for whistle commands? Is there a standard set?

[Eve]

I use the sit whistle command to train stop as if they are sitting they are unable to go anywhere else. I started by using the one peep sit whistle at the end of a training lead and went from there.

Eve

[Petepreston]

That was my thinking with the sit. I don't really care if she sits or stands, just so long as she stops. It should've been the first or second command I taught her so that we had some distance control - such as if she was in imminent danger of going over a cliff (which she has done once) or onto a road (which she has done a few times).

We don't make a huge effort to train her, hence she's got to 22 months old before getting a fundemental command introduced, but she picks things up so fast so I don't worry about her. The only time she ignores the recall whistle is when she knows we're about to go home or put her on the lead, but what she does is occupy herself with the immediate 1 square foot that she's already occupying so I haven't had any cause to worry. She has in the past broke off from a chase or playing with other dogs when I've called her.

One of the main reasons why I want her to be controlable at distance (other than her own safety) is that I simply can't run after her (or walk fast, for that matter) so I need to know that I can get her to do a few things while not close to her. Is there any rule in Agility that says you must be within a certain distance of your dog/the obstacle? With my (dis)ability I would struggle to get around the course quickly enough to keep up with her otherwise, and I'm very keen to get her into the agility.

Have I rambled off onto another subject? Oops! 

[Eve]

I also use the verbal command wait which Dexter responds to very well.

[Nicola]

She's very good at "sit" (1 short peep) when she's next to me, "come here" recall (2 short peeps), "bring it back"/retrieve (3 short peeps), and quite recently picked up "find" (1 longer peep that rises at the end),

I would question if you really need both a recall and a 'bring it back', especially as they're so similar, the recall whistle should work regardless of whether or not the dog is carrying something. The whistle cues that mine are trained to and that Caoimhe's trainer uses for trialling are one longer blast for stop, multiple short pips for recall, two short pips to turn and several longer, soft blasts for 'look for something in the immediate area around you'. These go with hand signals as well but they will respond to either or. It doesn't really matter what you use as long as you're consistent but it helps to keep it as clear and simple as possible to avoid confusing the dog.

Rodaidh will stop and sit down with a long, loud blast on the whistle and stop and stay standing with a long, softer blast, I find this useful on shoots as he knows if I want him to stop for a longer period (e.g. if there's a flurry of guns going off so we're not pushing forward for a few minutes) or if I just want him to stop and look at me so I can send him in another direction or for a retrieve. I start teaching the stop whistle straight away and I use a fairly typical gundog training method and I would say that this is absolutely rock solid in all my dogs and I do trust them to stop pretty much anywhere at any distance in any situation, I test this every day; it's vital that they are never allowed to ignore this command when it's given. I've posted before:

I don't teach a separate stop and wait, when I train them both the 'sit' command and the stop whistle mean 'stay there until you're told to move'. There are various methods for teaching the stop whistle but I do it by getting them to sit to a hand signal (and stay sitting until released) and once they can do that I start adding in the whistle and practice until their sit to the whistle is really solid in different locations etc. I phase out the hand signal while whistling during this but I still ensure that they will sit to a hand signal as well because this can be really useful if you're on a shoot and there's 10 people all whistling their dogs at the same time. To get them stopping while on the move I put them on the lead and walk them beside me, every so often I stop while simultaneously blowing the stop whistle. Once this is solid I take the lead off and practice this and then I move on to keeping walking as I blow the whistle, only a few paces to begin with and then I go back and praise the dog. Make sure you watch them so you can get them back where they were and reinforce the command if they try to follow you, you must do this instantly if they keep walking. Once that is solid I move to blowing the whistle while they're moving around off lead - starting off when they're very close so I can reinforce the command with hand signal and voice if necessary and then gradually upping the distance and distractions. This is pretty much the typical gundog method, I used it for both Rodaidh and Caoimhe and they both have rock solid stop whistles no matter how many rabbits or pheasants are running around under their noses.

[Petepreston]

Yeah, I'm not convinced I need the two commands that are basically the same, but it is handy if I don't want her to come back with the horrible thing she's discovered  or if I want her to bring back the ball/frisbee etc that she's chased after but not picked up yet. She's not that good at knowing the difference anyway. 

One of the biggest problems I have is that I can't whistle through my lips very well, so although she's quite responsive to both the clear ACME whistle and my hissing whistle, I can't mimic even the same number of whistles, let alone sound the same.

I'm in awe of dogs (and their trainer) that can do complicated commands at distance. I can get Posie to search further away or to the left or right if she's listening to me calling or sees me pointing. But on a whistle? I wish. (not that she "needs" to be that good).

[KellyT]

. Once that is solid I move to blowing the whistle while they're moving around off lead - starting off when they're very close so I can reinforce the command with hand signal and voice if necessary and then gradually upping the distance and distractions.

Nicola- what verbal command do you use for reinforcement, do you reuse stay?

[Nicola]

. Once that is solid I move to blowing the whistle while they're moving around off lead - starting off when they're very close so I can reinforce the command with hand signal and voice if necessary and then gradually upping the distance and distractions.

Nicola- what verbal command do you use for reinforcement, do you reuse stay?

No, 'sit' (or 'hup' which is what I usually say) means 'sit until you're told to do something else'. They do know what 'stay' means (and 'wait' but that's slightly different) but I teach them that sit means sit until I tell you otherwise.

[KellyT]

Thanks Nicola... Need to practice that whole sit means sit thing