20 replies to this topic

[bc soul sista]

Does anyone make Buffalo whistles anymore?? Custom made Corain whistles???

I can make decent sound out of my Montana light vs the trianlge shaped whistles...just think it's to small..

Any tips for finally taking the plunge and practicing whistles WITH my dog??

THANKS!!!!

[Bullet87]

A quick search on Google found these guys. But I'm not sure if they do the custom stuff like you might be wanting.

http://www.sheepdogh...g-whistles.html

http://www.bordercol...anwhistles.html

[Gloria Atwater]

Border Collies in Action offers them for sale, now. They are back-ordered, though, because they got more orders than they could readily filled. I'm patiently waiting for mine.

Here's the link:
http://www.bordercol...exd.asp?id=1168

~ Gloria

[red russel]

Ray Coapman makes corian whistles. Based in Northern California.

dave
www.leadmeontraining.com

[Gloria Atwater]

Yes, Ray makes very nice corian whistles, and they come in pretty colors! I have a lovely adobe-brick colored one.

~ Gloria

[lookback]

Any tips for finally taking the plunge and practicing whistles WITH my dog??

Yes - DO NOT practice your whistles with your dog.
You must be reasonably consistent before the dog hears the whistles, otherwise you will confuse it.
(Just the same as giving the wrong commands).

There is a whistle tutorial on the "First Steps in Border Collie Sheepdog Training" DVD - also obtainable from Border Collies in Action:
http://www.bordercollies.com/shopdisplayproducts.asp?id=89&cat=Training
(Scroll down the page).

[Maja]

And nobody towed me zhat when you put zhe dog on zhe whishtle you gotta shpeak with the darned shing in your moushe, becaushe zhere ish no chime to take zhish shing in and out all the chime. And zhat zhish too you gotta learn. Whishtling is one shing, and shpeaking wish zhe whishtle in your moushe ish anozher.



Maja

[NCStarkey]

And nobody towed me zhat when you put zhe dog on zhe whishtle you gotta shpeak with the darned shing in your moushe, becaushe zhere ish no chime to take zhish shing in and out all the chime. And zhat zhish too you gotta learn. Whishtling is one shing, and shpeaking wish zhe whishtle in your moushe ish anozher.



Maja

Too funny, Maja!!! And, don't forget to put the whistle on a string, so that you can retrieve it if you swallow it!!!

nancy

[Maja]

Shank you! I have a shtring - vewy nishe green one. And I have a vewy confuzhed dog who shingz I need help deshpawately

maja

[Tea]

You guys are fun!

The corin (Sp) whistle I put on the Shaun the sheep lanyard also has a safety line incase the main snap breaks. It is very useful to me if I am on a horse. As I whistle with both index fingers I have to drop the riens and my mare is green. She is pretty darn calm but if something happens with both fingers in your mouth it can be....er...bad.

I am teaching myself now to whistle with my index finger and thumb of one hand but it doesn't sound as good. But the last clinic I was in I was told to practice all of the above......


Whew!

[Gloria Atwater]

And nobody towed me zhat when you put zhe dog on zhe whishtle you gotta shpeak with the darned shing in your moushe, becaushe zhere ish no chime to take zhish shing in and out all the chime. And zhat zhish too you gotta learn. Whishtling is one shing, and shpeaking wish zhe whishtle in your moushe ish anozher.



Maja

Oh, gosh, YESH!

In fact, I demonstrated talking with a whistle in my mouth, the other day, and the woman was so surprised! She apparently had wondered what one did if they had to talk.

~ Gloria

[Maja]

Bonnie, in shpite--I mean--in spite of my pronunciation, manages fine and today she got the lie down whistle as a follow up after flank and walk up verbal commands. It's our second time, so I am very happy! I figured the best will be to introduce just one whistled command at a time and practice only that one, and only later start adding others together. But my minimum plan is that we need a cast iron lie down by next season - that's the one command I will give her the farthest from me, and it's the one that it so critical.

Maja

[Maja]

Oh my! Today Bonnie did the slam/splat "lie down" on her flanks. I never thought I'd have a dog that would do that that for me in the first place, not to mention doing it on a whistled command. Bonnie, I luv'ya!
Maja

[Serena+Eluane B.C.]

And nobody towed me zhat when you put zhe dog on zhe whishtle you gotta shpeak with the darned shing in your moushe, becaushe zhere ish no chime to take zhish shing in and out all the chime. And zhat zhish too you gotta learn. Whishtling is one shing, and shpeaking wish zhe whishtle in your moushe ish anozher.



Maja

Oh, I am LMAO! Maja you are sooo hilarious about the whistle lisp!

Maja, I think body slammin' is innate for many a border collie! They love being drama queens (if it's a female) haha! Kerplop and whaaaaam! and they are noisy when they do this....like one dropped a load of bricks!

Nancy wrote: And, don't forget to put the whistle on a string, so that you can retrieve it if you swallow it!!!

[DeltaBluez Tess]

Here are my reviews of Corian and the Titanium whistles

http://deltabluez.bl...up-reviews.html

[plychen]

And nobody towed me zhat when you put zhe dog on zhe whishtle you gotta shpeak with the darned shing in your moushe, becaushe zhere ish no chime to take zhish shing in and out all the chime. And zhat zhish too you gotta learn. Whishtling is one shing, and shpeaking wish zhe whishtle in your moushe ish anozher.



Maja

Too funny

It simplay aint possibly to talk with the whistle in your mouth when speaking danish ;-)

[Michelle K]

You guys are fun!

The corin (Sp) whistle I put on the Shaun the sheep lanyard also has a safety line incase the main snap breaks. It is very useful to me if I am on a horse. As I whistle with both index fingers I have to drop the riens and my mare is green. She is pretty darn calm but if something happens with both fingers in your mouth it can be....er...bad.

I am teaching myself now to whistle with my index finger and thumb of one hand but it doesn't sound as good. But the last clinic I was in I was told to practice all of the above......


Whew!

I'm so doomed. I still can't whistle with my fingers or finger and thumb!!

[Alchemist]

I'm so doomed. I still can't whistle with my fingers or finger and thumb!!

"Doomed", I'm not sure (though I'm no expert). Upsides and downsides to everything. I haven't been to a clinic yet where someone hasn't lost a whistle. And at the Finals the summer before last, one leading handler undoubtedly suffered some stress when they discovered at the last minute that they'd left their whistle in their trailer. All this could be avoided if you could whistle with your fingers. But... If you whistle with your fingers, you have to keep in mind where those fingers might find themselves, right before you need to stuff them in your mouth.

I'll take my chances with a mechanical whistle.

[Smalahundur]

I thought I wouldn´t ever be able to learn how to whistle on my fingers, but it turned out this border collie thing is a strong motivator...
Now I can do it, and am working on better modulation, that could improve a bit.
Though I can whistle on my thumb/middle finger of one hand, I discovered the tone is easier to keep high/clear when I use the pink and index. The reason for single hand whistling is twofold,
1. same reason as Tea´s, whistling from horse back withpout having to let go of the reins.
2. being able to practice while driving.

There are supposedly people who can produce such a whistle without the use of their fingers, that would really be practical; the other day I stuck my fingers in my mouth without considering the fact I had just lifted a pretty dirty horse foot with it, yuck...

[gcv-border]

I thought I wouldn´t ever be able to learn how to whistle on my fingers, but it turned out this border collie thing is a strong motivator...
Now I can do it, and am working on better modulation, that could improve a bit.
Though I can whistle on my thumb/middle finger of one hand, I discovered the tone is easier to keep high/clear when I use the pink and index. The reason for single hand whistling is twofold,
1. same reason as Tea´s, whistling from horse back withpout having to let go of the reins.
2. being able to practice while driving.

There are supposedly people who can produce such a whistle without the use of their fingers, that would really be practical; the other day I stuck my fingers in my mouth without considering the fact I had just lifted a pretty dirty horse foot with it, yuck...

Although I only have one 'fingers in the mouth' whistle, I recommend learning it as a useful talent. There are times when I have really needed a strong, ear-piercing whistle.

I learned many moons ago when I was a teenager living in Vermont. I played softball in high school which was ~30 miles away from home. Because there was no 'late bus' to get us home after practice, another girl and I had to ride home in the back of a pick-up (a friend of our parents who was going home from work every day). Darned cold pick-up ride!! My friend knew how to whistle with her fingers, and I thought it was really cool and was determined to learn. So I spent a significant amount of time, while riding in the back of the pick-up, trying to learn from her. After much drool and spittle, I finally was successful.

I use my index finger and thumb. I never considered using other fingers. I will have to try it. Maybe I can also learn how to do different sounds.

DH can produce the same type of whistle sound without fingers. I don't think I can learn that - although it would be helpful when your hands are otherwise occupied.

As far as finger-whistling with dirty fingers - Yes, I have done that too, probably too many times. It happens without me thinking about it - until after. To lessen the gross-out factor, I just tell myself that I am keeping my immune system activated with these mini-exposures to unknown antigens.

Jovi