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.

Skills needed

Heel, sit, sit-stay, recall, initial e-collar conditioning for here and sit

 Equipment needed

Choke chain, 30-foot line, and e-collar; heeling stick optional

Time needed

Two to three weeks

We will 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. 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

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.

Teaching your dog to sit on the whistle is a simple matter. As long as your dog knows how to sit on 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 tap 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, tap 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 tap. 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 Refusals

Now that he is stopping at these increased distances, you can stop correcting with the line and begin to tap with the e-collar for failure to sit and for slow sits. To do this, simply repeat the whistle command and e-collar tap. Alternately, after a slow sit, whistle command “sit” and tap. Be prepared to step in and physically guide 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.

  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. 

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. Do a recall, stopping your dog half way in before calling him to sit in front.

2. Do a recall and stop the dog half way in; walk out to your dog and heel him off the spot.

3. Do a recall where you call your dog all the way to sit in front.

4. Do a one-minute sit-stay. 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.

Do 3  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.

Do 3 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.

Do 3 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.

Do 3 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.

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:

* 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.

* If your dog refuses to come when called or slows to anticipate the sit whistle, e-collar tap for “here” and have him come all the way to sit in front. Praise him for a good recall. Do not follow the “here” tap by stopping him on the whistle.

* 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.