The whistle

4414 Views 13 Replies 8 Participants Last post by summertime, Jan 9, 2008

JetEngineMech

Discussion Starter · Jan 5, 2008

I have been doing fairly well trining Diggity on "come" and "drop it" but having kids in the house has been hurting things. I want her to really have those commands down-pat before the rest of the family uses them but things weren't going so well. The kids keep saying, "Diggy come! Come! Come Diggy!" over and over and though I keep telling them that they are undoing my training, I still catch them doing it. But if you have kids I'm sure you know, you can't tell them nothin! LOL Anyway, the big one I wanted Diggity to learn was "come" in case she got out. Sure enough, it happened. In the house she did OK when I'd say "come", but this time she just looked at me and kept on going. She mostly just sniffed around the neighbor's yard and the kids caught her but I wanted to have a better recall. Then it hit me. I got a dog whistle and started training her to come when I blew the whistle. This way the kids couldn't undo it because I was the only one to have the whistle (or the wife). The other commands she still does well enough for my wife and I but the kids she could care less. I'm guessing she sees us a dominants and the kids as equals perhaps? Anyhow, I'm really pleased with that whistle. Whenever I use it to keep her in practice inside the house, she runs like a lunatic to come find me and her reward.

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Marley's Mommy

· #3 · Jan 5, 2008

see how inventive Beagle owners can be! Great job on thinking out of the box on this one. I agree with the post above, maybe get some training time alone with pup? Take her into different rooms where the family is not. Also, as far as recalling outside, sometimes pups have a one track mind. What you train them on in one room they may think only applies there. Train her outside as well so she begins to understand it all applies wherever you are.

On my walks, I use sit, and come with Marley so he gets used to hearing it outside. I did a lot of "come" practicing in our back yard so that hopefully if he gets away he comes back. He slipped from me early on in the training and my heart was in my toes but I calmly said "marley come" and he did.

Also, even if the 'come' is because the pup did something bad, or got away, try to use the same pleasant calm tone. Diggity Come, or whatever you use. Get the pup excited about coming to you. Use of the whistle and treat sounds great. More practice with it and pup will get it.

However, so true with Beagles, if their noses are so very on at the time, they will be distracted and may not "hear" you.

good luck.

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Marley's Mommy

· #9 · Jan 8, 2008

when you say come, and she gets to you practice timing on grabing her behind the neck a bit and treating at the very same time. Not hard, but a little grab for a second. THis will help her get used to you grabbing her so if she gets away and comes running to you on command, she won't flinch and bolt when you try to grab her.

So say come, when she gets there, do a quick grab at the back of her neck and treat in her mouth right away. You can then also introduce sit, if she has that down. So she knows to sit when she comes, and if outside, she will sit when she gets to you. Some of this is advanced once they learn come and sit basic commands but you get the idea. I also like how you do the second treat!

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