whistle help

[fudges mum]

hi, we have managed to learn recall and to sit at my side using the whistle (probably the wrong way as i do one long blast for recall and two short blasts to sit.) but my next step is to get him to sit at a distance.  but have no idea where to start, fudge is doing so well, he is only 5 months old and i am so proud of his progress so far. we just need a little pointer in the right direction please.

[Aearoniel]

Hey, not sure if this is the proper way to do it but with Callie this is how I did it.

I created a stop command first, do you work with a long line? If so wait until he is in front of you and step on the line (ensure he isn't running) and do the signal, when he stops and looks at you praise him etc and issue a release command so he can go again. It takes some practice but eventually he will stop on the whistle rather than you having to step on the line every time. I think the stop is quite important as it gets their attention (especially when they are young) and it means you can redirect them or get them to wait until you catch up etc.

Once you have a reliable stop and he looks at you once you have issued it you can train the distance sit (which can be the same as sit by your side) I add an extra pip to the whistle for this (eg My stop is one short blast, then sit is a short low pip and if I do it again she goes into the down). A hand signal helped me, so when she sits anywhere I have the hand signal it helps as you can train it close and then move the distance away and the signal is the same.

So once he is stopped and looking at you, get him to sit (either by speaking or hand signal) once he is doing that add the whistle command (still speaking the words aswell) gradually move over to just the whistle. The next stage could be to get him to go immediately into the sit (if that is what you want) which is quite easy as they often do it automatically if every time you stop him you tell him to sit.

HTH

[fudges mum]

we dont use a long line.  i introduced the whistle to fudge at about 10 weeks to come back in from the garden, and then carried this on when we went on walks. He stops when i blow the whistle and looks and then comes straight to me. i have tried blowing the whistle to sit  at a distance but he takes no notice, he sits when he gets to me.

[Rich]

What you want to do is perfect him to sit on the whistle as you say he can do, Then start by him walking on a lead and blowing his whistle command to sit when he does this perfectly everytime then start him off of the lead and a big tip now is (DONT LET HIM GET TO FAR AWAY FROM YOU) keep him close then try the sit/stop whistle. If he has been doing this perfectly on the lead then he knows what the command means and should do this off of the lead.
Again if he wont do this close to you then for sure he wont do this at distance.
Start close then work further away only after he will do this every time no matter what.
If he does ignore your command and he knows what you are asking from him then you need to gently tell him and show him what he should have done.

It will come with practice and the key i have found with all Cocker training is consistency if they get away with it once they will always keep pushing you and there luck...

Good Luck

Richard

[Cazzie]

Just something I learned this weekend and its true, its something that ive been guilty of with goose 

Never give a command you cant correct, especially the recall, as that is training them to ignore you and they learn that very quickly. 

It makes no difference how many peeps you use for a command just as long as you stick to it and dont change them 

As far as sitting at a distance is concerned, id get him sitting close 100% without moving first and then just gradually build up your distance from him, dont turn your back on him when you move off, if he does put him back into a sitting position the exact position he moved from. This is where I have spent alot of time with sweepie as she creeps in but with practice, and her knowing that im not joking about asking her to sit and stay, its paying off  (You see I gave sweepie very mixed messages because of her clingyness and i was not consistant in her training, so this was making her decide when I gave her a command if she would do it or not.

I will say though, cockers are cockers  and if they are having an off day, dont continue, just leave it till the next day, it soon clicks, how long it takes to click depends of the dog and the quality and consistancy of the training 

Im sure he will do well, he sounds just a wee smasher 

[Aearoniel]

Never give a command you cant correct, especially the recall, as that is training them to ignore you and they learn that very quickly. 

Definately agree here hence the need for a long line, if I can't get her back I don't give the command. Especially important as you get up to the teenage months he'll have ears that shut or he'll go deaf frequently!

[Rich]

Never give a command you cant correct, especially the recall, as that is training them to ignore you and they learn that very quickly. 

Definately agree here hence the need for a long line, if I can't get her back I don't give the command. Especially important as you get up to the teenage months he'll have ears that shut or he'll go deaf frequently!

Sorry got to disagree here about the long line as if the training would have been completed after each stage correctly i.e: they should never know that it is acceptable to work to far out from you(the curse of all spaniels) then you should never need a long line.....

Horses for courses and all thet tho..

[wrenside]

Good advice given.
The only thing I'd add is that when you give the "sit" whistle introduce a hand signal too. I raise my right hand and arm vertically above my head and pip once on the whistle to get my dogs to sit at a distance. Basically the hand signal is useful to reinforce the sit command at a distance because the dog can hear the command as well as see it.
You can take this to the extreme  I can now get my dogs to sit at a distance by just raising my hand, which is nice!  This is quite useful if you're out on a shoot and there's lots of people whistling for their dogs, all you have to do is raise your hand and your dog can see that you want him to sit. Although obviously this only works if the dog is in the habit of looking back at you on a regular basis, which thankfully both mine are. 

Good luck with Fudge he looks gorgeous 

Best wishes

Mary

[Rich]

Good advice Mary

[Cazzie]

Never give a command you cant correct, especially the recall, as that is training them to ignore you and they learn that very quickly. 

Definately agree here hence the need for a long line, if I can't get her back I don't give the command. Especially important as you get up to the teenage months he'll have ears that shut or he'll go deaf frequently!

Sorry got to disagree here about the long line as if the training would have been completed after each stage correctly i.e: they should never know that it is acceptable to work to far out from you(the curse of all spaniels) then you should never need a long line.....

Horses for courses and all thet tho..

Thats very true, I did buy a long while ago a long line, but then thought, what the heck did I buy this for 

[Cazzie]

Good advice given.
The only thing I'd add is that when you give the "sit" whistle introduce a hand signal too. I raise my right hand and arm vertically above my head and pip once on the whistle to get my dogs to sit at a distance. Basically the hand signal is useful to reinforce the sit command at a distance because the dog can hear the command as well as see it.
You can take this to the extreme  I can now get my dogs to sit at a distance by just raising my hand, which is nice!  This is quite useful if you're out on a shoot and there's lots of people whistling for their dogs, all you have to do is raise your hand and your dog can see that you want him to sit. Although obviously this only works if the dog is in the habit of looking back at you on a regular basis, which thankfully both mine are. 

Good luck with Fudge he looks gorgeous 

Best wishes

Mary

Agree 100% all my labs do it even Otter and daisy, but still not mastered the art of cocker training 

[fudges mum]

thankyou for all your help, and thanks mary i will try introducing a hand signal, he does always recall to the whistle so i dont feel the need for a long line, it was just the sit at a distance i wanted to introduce, so thankyou all, we will be in touch

[wrenside]

Good luck with him 
I'm sure he'll cotton onto the whole idea very quickly, you've clearly done a really fab job on his training so far and I'm sure he'll grow into a fantasticly obedient young dog  A credit to you.  (and if you ever don't want him, I'd love a well behaved little choc cocker!!  )

Best wishes

Mary x

[turbobert]

I bought one at vast expense at Crufts - I have now lost it!  Where is the best plce to buy these ?  Maybe I get two next time!

[Nicola]

I bought one at vast expense at Crufts - I have now lost it!  Where is the best plce to buy these ?  Maybe I get two next time!

www.canineconcepts.co.uk sell the full range of Acme whistles or www.blackgundog.com do pink ones