In theory, dogs are great. They are devoted, loyal friends who will sit by your side after a challenging day and incline their heads sympathetically when you’re feeling down. Then again, some dogs enjoy hearing their own barking. It’s especially annoying if your neighbor’s dog enjoys barking all night or yapping whenever you come close to their house. Thankfully, there are some techniques you can use to get that puppy to shut up and give you the peace and quiet you require without being rude.
Dog whistles only work as part of training
The dog whistle is not a panacea for canine obedience.
If your dog doesn’t understand the meaning of the whistle, even if it can be heard through a wall, it won’t have much of an impact.
Your dog whistle is another tool and progression in your dog training and, regardless of breed of dog, you have a path to follow if you are going to get effective results from using a whistle.
It is necessary to introduce the whistle along with more fundamental training exercises because blowing a whistle alone won’t work miracles.
You can read more about canine fundamental training drills in my post here.
Although it discusses spaniel training, the fundamentals apply to any dog, regardless of breed or whether you want a working or pet dog.
Dog Whistles Can Be Heard Through Walls
Not by you, perhaps, but your dog should hear it with no problem. The dog whistle has been around for over 100 years, and in that time, it has been used to train countless dogs to obey specific commands.
It can be used in a variety of locations, particularly those where your dog might be off-leash and you might want to get it back, like:
It’s reasonable to question whether your dog would hear the whistle if it were indoors and in a different room from you with the door shut. That might be unlikely, but it could occur.
But when you think about it, there are a lot of outdoor spaces that put obstacles in the way of you and the dog. If a dog has been properly trained to respond to a whistle from its owner in the middle of a forest, the dog should do so. It doesn’t matter how many trees are in the way.
The same applies with a wall, fence, or other barrier. You shouldn’t have any issues even if your wall is constructed of breezeblocks. The dog will follow your instructions to come to you if there is a clear route to do so.
Humans Cannot Hear Dog Whistles, So Don’t Test It with Another Human
Normally, you’d test something out with a partner to see how loud it is and whether it can be heard from a distance. With a dog whistle, you can’t do this because they probably wouldn’t hear it even if you were in the same room as them.
Dogs have a much higher threshold for hearing than people do. You may only hear the air passing through a dog whistle if you blow it vigorously enough to produce any whistling sounds.
But for it to be useful, you shouldn’t have to blow it so hard. If you are worried that because of the thick walls where you live, your dog might not hear the whistle, you shouldn’t have to. If you don’t reside in Fort Knox, the whistle should function properly.
Look for a reaction from your dog. That’s the key. But keep in mind that if you’ve taught your dog to come to you when you blow a whistle, that’s the element that will make that happen.
FAQ
Will dog whistles work through walls?
The dogs will still be able to hear the whistle despite the wall, so it won’t stop.
How far can a dog whistle be heard?
The training whistle was designed for hunting dogs, and dogs can hear it up to 400 yards away (the direction and force of the wind may affect the distance).
Can a dog hear a dog whistle from inside a house?
Your dog can hear the whistle, but it’s curious that our human ears are unable to detect it, even though theirs can. If you’ve ever wondered if the whistle is even working at all, it’s because our ears are not as sensitive as those of your dog.
Can everyone hear a dog whistle?
Sandra Sawchuk. At the upper end of their hearing range, humans can hear sounds in a range of 20 hertz to 23 kilohertz. The hearing range of dogs is almost double that. Dogs can hear sounds made by the dog whistle in the 50-kilohertz range, which humans perceive as being silent.