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Teaching Whistle Sit -- A Key
Factor in Running Good Blinds
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Checklist
Skills
Heel, sit, sit-stay, recall, initial
e-collar conditioning for here and sit.
Equipment
Choke chain, 30-foot line, and e-collar. Heeling
stick optional.
Time
Frame
Two - Three Weeks |
BY PAT NOLAN
We’ve all seen or experienced trying to whistle sit a dog on a
blind, only to have the dog offer a big rollout or slow,
drifting sit that ends with the dog farther off line and in
worse trouble than before the whistle. Another favorite trick
of the whistle challenged is the flash sit where the dog only
pauses before auto-casting. These sloppy habits are difficult
to clean up at field distances. It is much easier to teach
quick, sure responses to the sit whistle in the yard and then
hold your dog accountable for these known responses at greater
distances.
We are going to approach this exercise in
three steps. First, we will introduce the whistle. Next, we
will teach the dog to sit from motion at a distance. And
finally, we will work a pattern to ensure that your dog does
not anticipate the whistle and will wait for further
direction.
Introducing the Whistle
Teaching your dog to sit
on the whistle is a simple matter. As long as your dog knows
how to sit on
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It is commonly accepted that one whistle “tweet” is used
for sit and several “tweet-tweets” of the whistle are
used for the “here” command. During instruction on this
drill, only use the whistle for “sit.” This helps
eliminate confusion. It will be easy to substitute the
whistle command for the verbal “here” later. |
command, in a few
minutes you can teach that a whistle “tweet” means the same
thing as the word “sit.”
With your dog on leash and wearing his
e-collar, work on heel. Every time you stop, blow a whistle
command for “sit.” Your dog already knows to sit when you stop
at heel, so it is fair to correct if he does not. For failure
to sit, repeat the whistle command and nick with the e-collar.
Work two sessions with 20 whistle sits each and your dog will
know for sure that your whistle command means “sit.”
Sit Out of Motion at a
Distance
Throughout this drill your dog should
wear an e-collar and a metal choke chain. Attach a light
30-foot line to the live ring of the choke chain. Wear gloves
and hold on to the line. In the first week, work at a distance
of 15 feet. Then, when your dog is stopping well, gradually
increase this distance until you are working at the full
30-foot length.
We will teach him to stop at a distance
using a recall, not by stopping him on a retrieve; he may
mistake this as an effort to prevent him from retrieving.
Later, after completing force to the pile, we will stop him on
the way to retrieve.
Stop your dog close to you
Leave your
dog on a sit-stay and walk out 15 feet, turn, and face him.
After a suitable pause, call him. When he is almost to you,
step toward him to block his forward progress while blowing
one whistle “tweet” to command sit. Praise him for sitting and
then step into heel position beside him. After a pause, heel
him forward a short distance and stop.
If he fails to sit on the whistle,
correct him. Reach for a short grip on the line, repeat the
whistle “sit” command, nick with the e-collar, and jerk
straight up on the line. After your correction, step back from
your dog to pause before returning to his side. After your
return, praise him and heel off.
As an option, you can stop him farther
away from you if you use a heeling stick. Step toward him and
reach with the stick to touch him on the chest. The step and
presentation of the stick are cues and not for correction.
Do six or eight of these recalls a day
for two days. Two days of work where you step in to block your
dog on the whistle “sit” should find him sitting as soon as
you move toward him. Now you are ready to begin stopping him
farther away.
Stop your dog half way to you
Leave him on a sit-stay and walk out 15
feet, turn, and face him. After a pause, call him. When he is
half way in, whistle “sit,” step toward him and, if you are
using it, present the stick as before. Your dog is seven feet
or more from you, so your step and the stick cannot possibly
contact him, but they serve as an effective cue. After your
dog sits on the whistle, pause before walking up to a heel
position by your dog’s side.
If he does not stop or tries to drift
in to sit close to you, do not repeat the command or use the
e-collar. Step in, take the line and correct him back to a sit
on the very spot you first whistled him to sit. Once seated,
whistle command “sit” and then e-collar nick. After your
correction, step back from your dog to pause before returning
to his side. Remember to vary the length of your pauses before
calling him. The varied pauses ensure he is working on command
and not on a timed response.
Generally, two more days’ work, with six
to eight recalls each day when your step in is a cue only and
not a physical block, is sufficient. If needed, work extra
sessions until your dog is stopping well at this increased
distance from you.
When to Begin Correcting with the E-collar for Failures
Now that he is stopping at these increased distances, you
can stop correcting with the line and begin to nick with
the e-collar for failure to sit and for slow sits. To do
this, simply repeat the whistle command and e-collar nick.
Alternately, after a slow sit, whistle command “sit” and
nick. Be prepared to step in and physically force the
proper response to the e-collar if needed. |
Drop cue and add more distance
When your dog is stopping well at the
increased distances, you can eliminate your cuing step. Then,
gradually increase your distance until you are calling him
from 30 feet and stopping him 15 feet away.
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Insist
on a Quick Response to the Whistle
It is important to
insist on a quick response to the whistle. Once you
eliminate the step in that blocks forward travel, be
careful that you do not allow your dog to drift to a stop.
Before calling him, pick a definite spot to stop him. It
may be a rock, a clump of grass, or a line drawn in the
sand with your boot. If he drifts to a slow stop, use the
line to correct him to a sit on the spot you had picked.
If you allow a two-foot drift when he is 10 feet away,
this translates to a 20-foot drift when he is 100 feet
away.
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The Pattern
Congratulations! Your dog now knows how
to stop on the whistle at a distance. However, for whistle sit
to be truly useful, your dog must not only sit on the whistle
at a distance, he must not sit until told and, after sitting,
he must wait for additional direction.
Dogs learn patterns quickly and we use
this to our advantage throughout training. Here, this can work
against us. By the end of the previous week’s work, most dogs
are anticipating the whistle. They have learned a small
pattern; they run half way in to the handler and do an
automatic sit.
To correct this anticipation and
encourage concentration, we will use a pattern that is too
large for your dog to keep track of. If he tries to outguess
you, he will guess wrong often. With consistent praise for
obedience and correction for disobedience, he will soon tire
of guessing and start listening.
The pattern consists of four sets. Work
three repetitions within each set. Do each set once, and work
through the pattern (all four sets) once a day.
1. Call your dog; stop him half way in before
calling him to sit in front.
Leave your
dog on a stay and walk out 30 feet and turn to face him. Pause
for at least 20 seconds and then call him. When he is half way
to you, whistle command “sit.” Pause for at least 10 seconds
and then call him to a sit in front. Pause before praising him
for the recall and then step into heel by his side. Heel him
off a short distance.
2. Call your dog; stop him half way in, walk
out, and heel him off the spot.
Leave your dog on a stay and walk out 30
feet and turn to face him. Pause for at least 20 seconds and
then call him. When he is half way to you whistle command sit.
Pause for at least 10 seconds and then walk to a heel position
by his side. Pause before praising and then heel him off the
spot.
3. Call your dog all the way to sit in front.
Leave
your dog on a sit-stay just as before. Walk out 30 feet and
turn to face him. After a short pause, command “here.” If he
comes when called, praise him for that decision and praise him
again for sitting in front. Pause before and after moving into
heel position by his side. Heel him off a short distance to
clear the spot.
4. Do a one-minute sit-stay.
Place your dog on a sit-stay. Walk out 30
feet, then turn and face your dog. After one minute is up,
return to your dog’s side and pause in the heeling position.
As always, do not praise your dog for the stay until after
this short pause. You do not want him to take your return as a
signal that his job is finished. Sit-stay complete, heel
forward a short distance to clear the spot.
This work requires your dog to
concentrate for a long time, so be sure to give him a break
after working the pattern. During the break, allow your dog to
relax quietly while his lessons soak in. A fun bumper can be a
wonderful reward and stress reducer, but do not erase all your
hard work with a frenzied festival of play retrieving.
While working through the pattern you
must address each command, and your dog’s response to it,
individually. Therefore, to avoid confusing your dog, heed the
following:
Ř
When your dog breaks the stay and you correct,
pause before returning to praise for the stay, pause again,
and then heel off. Do not correct for failure to stay and then
call your dog from the same spot.
Ř
If your dog refuses to come when called or slows
to anticipate the sit whistle, e-collar nick for “here” and
have him come all the way to sit in front. Praise him for a
good recall. Do not follow the “here” nick by stopping him on
the whistle.
Ř
If you correct for not stopping, pause and
return to your dog; do not correct for failure to sit on the
whistle and then call your dog from that sit.
During the work on this drill, the
handler must concentrate as well as the dog. Hold yourself to
as high a standard of behavior as you expect of your dog. Do
not double command; do not accept slow or delayed response to
command. Consistently control the consequences of your dog’s
responses. For obedience to command, praise enthusiastically;
for disobedience to command, correct emphatically. Provide
many opportunities for him to decide which he prefers.
Generally, two weeks of work on the
pattern will bring your dog to a point that he regularly comes
when called, stops on the whistle, and waits for further
direction.
De-bolt
All dogs will attempt to bolt or run away
to avoid pressure at some point in training. This is normal.
De-bolting is done so that you, rather than your dog, choose
the time and place of these attempts, and therefore the
outcome.
When
your e-collar conditioning is solid on sit on the whistle, you
are ready to de-bolt. Work through the pattern in areas with
strong distractions and desirable escape routes. Open gates,
your parked open vehicle, your dog’s crate or kennel with the
door propped open — all are suitable distractions that offer
hope of escape. Working near these distractions, you will
probably find opportunities to correct with the e-collar for
disobedience to command. At some point, your dog will decide
that the tempting hideouts are too inviting and choose escape
over obedience and will bolt. Let him. When he does, use your
line and e-collar to show him that he can run but he cannot
hide. After a few of these experiences, go to his kennel or
crate and kennel him up wearing his e-collar and long line.
Leave the door open and walk away. Wait for him to settle in
before calling him to you. He may choose to stay. Again, use
your line and e-collar to correct for disobedience to command.
Work calmly and methodically through different setups to show
your dog there is no “safe zone” in which he does not have to
obey. Obedience to command is the best “safe zone.”
Following de-bolting you can begin to incorporate the e-collar
in fieldwork on marks. Start with “sit” by your side and then
add “here.” Have your dog drag a short check cord during this
early work with the e-collar in the field. It serves as a nice
handle if you need to correct your dog physically, and it is a
good reminder to him that you can.
However, even though your dog is sitting at a distance in the
yard, do not attempt to stop him at a distance in the field.
Before stopping the dog on the whistle in the field, you
should first complete pile work and the T drills. |
