By Chad Hines and Jodi Ring, Willow Creek Kennels
While I was guiding a hunt in Illinois, my lab, Abby, flushed a pair of low-flying quail. I hit the whistle, Abby stopped and sat, and the hunters made a safe shot.
Sitting to the whistle kept Abby out of harm’s way.
“Sit to the whistle” is an important command and can be used in many situations. It is a necessity for hand signals with retrievers, and can be used to stop a lab or flusher when getting out of gun range while tracking a pheasant.
Some advantages of using the whistle, rather than a voice command:
* The louder whistle is easier for the dog to hear
* The whistle does not seem to spook birds as much as loud voice commands.
TEACHING SIT TO WHISTLE
Once your dog understands a basic sit and heel, start incorporating a whistle blast before the sit command. It may take a few sessions for the dog to start to understand that this whistle blast means they have to sit.
When they have some understanding of this, they will start to sit when they hear the whistle, even before the sit voice command is given. When they progress to that point, you can give them a whistle blast and a light correction if they do not sit. Another couple sessions and the dog should be sitting to the whistle reliably.
After your dog is sitting at your side to the whistle, extend him out.
There is a big difference between sitting by your side and sitting at a distance, so be patient. Let him wander out a few feet and hit the whistle. If he does not sit, give him a light tug on the leash and blow the whistle again. He should sit. If he tries to return to you put your foot up, when he gets to your foot tap him on the chest with it. Tug upward on the leash, he should sit. If he does not, get him to sit in the original place you told him to.
The faster this happens the better. (With any correction, the quicker it is made the easier it is for the dog to understand what he is being corrected for.)
Try this in conjunction with holding up a treat. Give the whistle command for sit, as you are holding up the treat. When he sits, throw him the treat immediately. He will begin sitting quicker to get the treat. He will also watch your hands when sitting to the whistle, which will help when teaching hand signals and will also help to bring the dog and handler closer to working as a team.
BE CONSISTENT, AND CORRECT QUICKLY
One of the most important things to remember with this training is that if the dog does not sit when given the whistle command, a correction should come quickly—and you should make the dog sit where he was originally given the command to do so. If the dog learns that he can move five feet after given the command, he will—and when this becomes habit, most dogs gradually take longer and longer to sit.
Repetition is very important in dog training. Or, more accurately, consistent repetition. When the repetition is not being done correctly, the dog is learning to sit at his convenience, not to the first whistle. A command is a command, not a request.
Be consistent. Always train the way you want your dog to respond. If your dog is not sitting to the whistle on first whistle, go back to the last step your dog was successful at, or find a step in between. For instance, if your dog was sitting well at your side and you are trying to extend him out, perhaps he keeps returning to you. Try walking around a tree, so your dog is on one side and you are on the other. Put some distance between you and the dog. When the check cord tightens up, give the dog the whistle sit command. He should sit, right away, right where he is. If he doesn’t, give him a light tug on the rope.
INTRODUCING REAL BIRDS
All of this is well and good, and most people can eventually get their dogs performing consistently in the yard, under controlled conditions. But add the stimulation of other dogs, a number of hunters, the scent of a running rooster pheasant, and the flush, and many dogs forget everything they learned back at home.
Before hunting season, teach sit to the whistle with a retrieving object present, and progress to birds and gunfire. Be sure to use plenty of enthusiasm for a job well done when your dog is successful. Try to keep this fun, or you may see a lack of enthusiasm develop in your dog. (Dogs that have been taught the ‘trained retrieve’ and are solid on it will do best.)
Build through this, keeping birds out of it until later. Start with whatever object your dog likes to retrieve.
To begin this progression, snap a check cord onto the dog, give him the whistle command to sit, and throw the object. If your dog tries to go early, restrain him. Steadiness training is a topic that deserves its own article, and you may want to research steadiness if you have not already. We don’t have space to completely discuss steadiness training in this article, but we can touch on it.
Essentially, help your dog stay if he is trying to break. Put him on a ‘place board’ (a board just big enough for your dog to sit on), and throw the dummy. You will usually have to restrain him at first. After you think he has some understanding of steadiness you can start using correction. (Always err on the side of caution, and keep your corrections to a minimum.)
When your dog will stay on the board until sent for the dummy, you can move on to the next step. Hold the check cord and throw the dummy. Hit the whistle, stop him with the check cord, and have him sit. The dog will usually have more difficulty staying when he is not already in a sitting position, and this may take a few sessions.
When you are confident your dog will stop to the whistle command and wait for your command to fetch the dummy, you can introduce gunfire. Go through the same steps above, and add a gunshot, fired after throwing the dummy.
When your dog is steady to the gun, you can add birds to the drill. (The reason we use the dummy first: if something goes wrong while you’re training with the dummy, you don’t risk negatively impacting your dog’s enthusiasm for chasing and retrieving birds. Confusing a dog around birds is never a good idea.)
Pigeons are good for this, but pheasants or chukars can also be used. Clip the wing feathers on one wing, and go through the same steps you used with the dummy alone, and the gunfire. Always remember that the main thing you are currently teaching is stopping to the whistle, and not retrieving. Encourage retrieving, but do not dwell on it.
If you take time for this type of training before hunting season, it’s much more likely that your dog will obey the whistle and sit on command even when wild birds are flushing around them and guns are going off.
Sit to the whistle is a useful command, but few hunters can call for it and expect compliance when things get exciting. Just this command alone will help you put more birds in the bag safely. The whistle is easier for your dog to hear at a distance—and as a bonus your voice will be stronger for yelling as you watch the World Series after the hunt is over.
Good luck, and good training.
Notes: If you’d like help training your dog or correcting specific problems;
Contact - Chad Hines at Willow Creek Kennels in Little Falls, Minnesota,
Phone: (320)360-3603
E-mail: willowcreekkennels@hotmail.com
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