How do Dog Whistles Work?

Dog whistles work on a simple concept that is based upon the fact that dogs are capable of hearing sounds in a much higher frequency range than people can.

The optimum frequency range for humans is around 2,000 Hz. For dogs it is around 8,000 Hz. The maximum frequency limit for humans is 20,000 Hz and for dogs it's 48,000 Hz.

A dog whistle works by forcing air down the length of a cylinder and out of a hole that is split by a sharp edge. The longer the cylinder is the lower the whistle's pitch will be.

Likewise, the shorter the cylinder, the higher the pitch. In order to generate the right pitch and frequency, dog whistles must be very short, around one inch or less.

Because sounds in this frequency range do not occur very frequently in a dog's world, they perk up and pay attention when they hear it. It's not a "normal" sound and it causes them to stop and think "I wonder what that noise is?"-- or the equivalent thought in dog terms.

These whistles do not have magical powers by themselves. If you haven't trained your dog to perform a certain task whenever he hears the whistle he isn't going to do anything in particular. That's why dog whistles work only when used as part of a training regiment.

The sound is easier for a dog to understand than spoken words because there is no confusion on his part. He hears the sound and if trained to react, knows exactly what you want him to do. You can use different sound patterns to trigger different responses. Two short toots can mean "Stop" and one long toot could mean "lie down".

There is no right or wrong pattern for teaching commands so just choose a pattern for each task and stick with it. Don't get too complicated by using patterns that the dog couldn't possible remember. Keep them easy to respond to.

Dog whistles are great training tools and have been used successfully with all breeds.