I decided that I wanted to learn to use a whistle to direct the dogs in TREIBBALL so I purchased a shepherd’s whistle from Amazon. I decided to go with the nickel silver one ($10) rather than the cheap plastic one ($4) or the quite expensive Corian one ($35) or the even more expensive Avonite or buffalo one ($45).
So it arrived and I confidently put it in my mouth to blow it and …… nothing… not a sound! To the internet for instructions! That’s when I can across this article and had to print a bit and link to the rest because it is SO entertaining! Apparently I am not the only one that happened to! SO…
Whistle While You Work
The best kind of whistle you can use is the kind you are born with. ……… For those of us who can't whistle without help, some devious person, now long dead, designed the shepherd's whistle. This instrument of torture is designed to punish those of us who are already handicapped and can't make proper whistle noises with our mouths. It comes in plastic, acrylic, or metal. The basic shape is generally a half-moon.. They look innocent enough until you stick one in your mouth and blow. Nothing happens! Every whistle I tried at first was broke. Absolutely NO sound came out. This is how they are designed. The inventors figured that if you couldn't whistle without help, you really shouldn't be herding, so they designed this gadget to not work intentionally! On average, unless you really DO know how to whistle without the use of a mechanical whistle, it probably takes about 2 years to get any sound to come out of the shepherd's whistle. I'm not sure, but maybe this is the age the whistle needs to be before it can actually make sounds. I do know that when first bought, most whistles, at least those bought by neophytes to whistledom, do not work. There definitely needs to be a breaking in period.
Got your attention! A few other gems:
- The first step in learning how to use a shepherd's whistle is to tie it on a string.
- The only wrong way to put a shepherds whistle in your mouth is to put the end tied to the string in first. This tastes funny which is why you don't do it.
- …..if you wear a whistle for looks, be careful because as soon as you do, someone will ask you to demonstrate it
And now, CLICK HERE to read “The Rest of the Story!”