Whistle Advice

I have never used whistles before, not even for sheepdog work, mainly because I actually hate the noise myself! So as a result I have no idea which to choose, been looking at the Acme ones as i understand they are the best.

Can I pick the brains of anyone who uses them in training as to a) is it better to use a 'silent' one or an ordinary one, b) do you use a different whistle for each dog or just train different tones c) which one is the least high pitched?

Is there a way of altering the tone so that you don;t acquire everyone's whistle trained dog along with your own when you blow it??

The actual training should be pretty simple as it's just a matter of pairing the whistle with already trained commands, but I'm tying myself in knots trying to pick the actual whistle in the first place!

I wouldn't overthink it. :)

I use a whistle for field work. One that I get at Gun Dog Supply, not a silent whistle. Usually this one: SportDOG Roy Gonia Whistles and MEGA Whistles. because it doesn't blow my eardrums out and I don't need one for extremely long distances, personally. Different pips and tones for different cues. You might do a youtube search on whistle commands for field dogs or something like that to get some ideas.

I've never seen another dog go to a strange person using the whistle or even try to do so while at a hunt test or training. Dogs are contextual, so it's not like you'll be walking your dog off leash and someone uses a whistle and your dog takes off to a stranger. I mean, I guess it could happen, but it's not something I'd be concerned about.

I train all my dogs to the same tones.

Labradork's suggestion of the Roy Gonia made by Sportdog is a good one. We start all our beginners with this whistle. Make sure you get one with a pea. Learn to trill with a tweet, tweet, tweet to get your dog coming back to you. If you are planning to do hunt test this whistle should be all you need.
I have gone through several different whistle, the mega, the green monster and dalhasie (sp). I always fall back to the Roy Gonia for yard work and short distances.
Right now I am using a modified wind whistle with the horn off a mega-whistle. The sound carries a great distance and can be heard over splashing water.
I don't like pealess whistles for myself as I find that they only have one tone and the sound does not carry all that far particularly on windy days. Others may disagree. The one whistle to stay away from is the Fox40. These are very shrill and the sound carries back instead of forward. If you hunt test or field trial the judges hate them as the shrill sound blows right back to them.
I use the same whistle for both dogs. I have seen very well trained dogs respond to another handler's whistles in the field. but this is rare. Field trial dogs know get the butt down when you hear that whistles so if someone is running a blind close to you, you may get a pop on their whistles.
Your dog will get used to the way you blow your whistle and will become a tuned to your sound.
I just bought a whistle made by Remington and my dogs do not respond to it at all. Guess it will be passed on.

Many thanks for replies, yes, something that i had never thought of, changing whistles after training, just been told another story of dogs only responding to the original whistle - she lost it and when she got another similiar one to replace it, the dogs ignored it!!

Sorry I've been off the forum for a while. Interesting thread. I have about a dozen mega-whistles. Why? 'Cause I'm a ditz and keep misplacing them. But what I've found fascinating is that they are not all the same. I keep gravitating to the same two. Dave Rorem talks about this in his handling seminar. He says he buys them by the box, tries them all, keeps the ones that are the most lively, and gives the others to clients of competitor pros. (I think he was kidding...)

The mega is a little front-heavy and was hard on my teeth. I put calf castration bands on the mouthpiece and problem solved.

TMI

But the big thing is that Labradorks is right. You'll see dogs in holding blinds at FT or HT and they are ignoring the whistles intended for the working dog. It's no big deal to them. They know when you're blowing it.

Aye Mates,
Personally, I really enjoy me Fred Rose made Irish whistle crafted in African Blackwood with sterling silver ferrules. Wouldn't want to lose one in the muck on the training grounds. Me dog's are highly responsive to them preferring a sweet Irish air as well as the occasional slip jig.

Caveat ~ NEVER IMBIBE WHILST TRAINING. 😂😂😂😂😂

THE DOG WHISTLER 🍀🇮🇪🇺🇸

WET YE WHISTLE