Stop whistle

[colin]

My yellow lab two years old will stop on the whistle almost every time unless he's got something on his mind then getting his attention is nigh impossible.
no cheeky answers please: what in your experience is the best way to get a dogs attention at distance? i know he hears the whistle but if he's got a pheasant up his nose or a pee he wants to cover i may as well not bother.
What i have tried so far is a long check cord and stopping him at closer distances which works but the blighter knows when i take it off.
help Colin.

[robertmark2006]

Go back to getting your dog to be more responsive to the stop whistle at close range. Insist he stops to the command everytime. Be consistent and only when you are happy, slowly increase the distance. Keep away from any ground that holds game until your dog is 100% on the stop.

[baguio]

Colin, do a search on the forum for this. It's been covered lots of times so you should find what you're looking for. We've all been there!

[Andrew]

Just a few thoughts, allthough its a stop whistle problem it is also an attention problem, the dogs attention is not on you as you are not interesting, nor do you do anything to make the dog give you its attention.
The answer in most cases is straight forwards unless there are some underlying issues that would prevent the dog from holding an attention span, or not taking kindly to correction.
Address each situation as there isn't a panacea for all.

[Polmaise]

I'm not being cheeky', but maybe it doesn't understand what the stop whistle command means.

[stevew]

I am also working on getting the stop whistle to mean STOP. My pup is younger but the same issue, once he has found something interesting he goes deaf. The key here is not to blow stop if you think he will ignore it; you will just teach him it's OK to ignore it. The stop should be instant when the dog is right next to you. Once this is the case gradually extend the range a couple of feet at a time. It's best to do this in the garden where there are not so many distractions. Be prepared; this may take some time.

[Hepe]

To me the stop whistle is an attitude thing and should be way way far from being a stop signal to the dog. I want the signal to be the START signal! The start of the next fun thing i give the dog to do. That is how i want my dogs to view my 'stop' signal, that way i get the instant response i want with a dog waiting in ancipitation for my next command rather than seeing the signal as something interrupting the fun, stopping it from doing something.

Also, try avoid using such a powerful tool as a NO signal. Never ever use it that way, instead use the word NO to stop the dog continuing with whatever it is you want it to stop with.

I begin the training of the stop signal at distance with having the dog sitting. I then do different things which i know the dog knows, find the lady or maybe i've hidden a small retrieve exactly where the dog sits and do hie lost or if i got a helper throwing a mark which i allow the dog to fetch. All this i do after walking away at a distance i want to train at and i always always begin with the stop signal, after all that is part of what i want to train. So, prep the task, sit the dog, walk the the walk, turn around, pause, give stop whistle plus body signal, pause, give command with whistle or voice plus body signal. Did it go pearshaped, walk the walk aaaaall the way back, while you walk, ponder why it didn't work and how you can make it work next try.

And here comes the super important part, if things go wrong i assume the dog didn't understand and walk out to redo the practise, maybe i try again with me at a distance but often i have to shorten the distance or practise the thing i asked the dog to do at close distance a bit more. Even if it's 200 meters out or more you have to walk out and put things right. If the dog had time to pick the wrong dummy or finding the hidden retrieve after running wild, leaving the right area, you still have to walk out, put back the item, telling the wee dog, nope this wasn't how i wanted it done, let's try again.

If you got short fat legs as i do, then pick even ground without big obstacles because you are in for some walking back and forth.

When you have done all your stuff at 'distance' and then at distance with light cover between you making it a bit difficult for thr dog to see you clearly, Then and only then it's time to train temptations at distance. For example, have someone fire a gun and throw a mark, ask the dog to hie lost for a hidden retrieve. Did it work? Brilliant, let the dog fetch the mark as a reward, next time in real life the dog will be keen to do as you ask,i promise. Did it fail? Back to basics, do the same at 10 meters rather than 100.

Hmmm i need to go out and train!

Helene
Helene

[SLB]

Fantastic advice Helene!

I trained mine different. Gundog training is fairly new to me, Ok it's totally new to me. Louie started off in obedience/training classes and we have a distance control lesson/emergency stop (a few of them) and what we did was have someone restrain the dog (or have them in a wait) call them to us then say the stop command, at this point I just wanted an instant down. (Louie finds down easier on their flooring). If the dogs don't stop we go towards them and make them stop - sounds awful but it isn't as bad as I describe..

At first I started with gradually changing the distance. I had my stay signal (one hand up in the air) and he was one of the best in the class.. however moving onto a sit to a whistle was harder - because he knew down when I did distance work I had to get him out of that habit - luckily Louie has decent commands - so if he laid down I could make him sit before I clicked and gave him his treat.. Anyway I ramble. I started by blowing the whistle next to me and using my hand signal for sit, then tying him up and calling him, before he got to me I would blow the whistle and tell him to sit. If he didn't do it - he would be stopped by the lead anyway (we were indoors - so no great speeds or chance of injuries)

Then when I was confident he sort of knew it, I got rid of the lead and practised that way. I then moved on to throwing food from me - whilst he was near me - of course he chased it, I blew the whistle, he sat, I walked over clicked and treat, picked up the bit of food on the floor and walked back with him..

Since that class I have practised in the garden, out on walks and even got him to sit to a whistle when he was searching for a dummy and was going the wrong way - so I could direct him where I wanted him to go (our next lesson is following directions ) I may not be doing it right, trained it right or whatever but it works for us. I probably don't need it yet as he isn't working (soon hopefully!) but it does come in handy when walking in the woods and there is a gate - so he can wait till I get there instead of running off ahead and also on the horse trails - instead of me recalling him, faffing with leads etc - so he sits whilst the horse passes/bike passes/children pass.. so it comes in handy on our everyday walks too

[ChrisM869]

I need help/tips on training my dog to the stop whistle as she has never experienced it before
ANY IDEAS?!

[trekmoor]

Depends on the age of the pup/dog and on whether you want a sit/stop or just a stop. A search among some of the older posts should show several ideas on this subject. I often use dummies to get the stop with pups and then add the sit later. This means the pup must love retrieving and that it must still be at the running-in stage to begin with.

Wullie