Dog Whistler

Summary

How many of you have a dog at home? Man’s best friend isn’t just a loyal companion, but also usually very faithful and obedient. Besides verbal commands, dog whistles are often used to give dogs certain commands. Imagine blowing a dog whistle directly from your phone!

Unlike humans most animals respond to a wider spectrum of frequencies, which is why dog whistles can be so useful. The whistle generates a high-pitched tone that is undetectable to the human ear. Cats also seem to respond to the pitch; my cat at home reacted to the “silent” sound by looking confusedly at me and my phone.

Since I don’t have a dog, I had to ask a good friend of mine to help me compose this test report for dog owners. She and her two dogs are volunteer helpers in a canine unit that helps search for people after natural disasters and crimes. That’s why both she and her two dogs are used to dealing with dog whistles. Please keep in mind that it is crucial for the dogs have had dog whistle experience before trying out this app. Without the experience and training, the dog may have an unexpected reaction such as whimpering, barking, running around in circles or jumping like crazy. Make sure to ask the dog owner’s permission before trying out the dog whistle.

You can adjust the tone frequency using either the slidebar, an entry field or two buttons. After a few trials and errors, we found the right frequency somewhere around 20,000 Hertz. The frequency should match up with that of a real dog whistle, which is difficult to accomplish since you can’t actually hear the sound. Once you’ve set the correct frequency you can save it to one of the presets by pressing and holding one of the four bones.

The commands worked very well, but according to the dog owner an actual dog whistle is more practical because it’s easier to use on a daily basis. Nevertheless, the app’s commands all worked perfectly with the app. It was a lot of fun to watch! If you would like to create longer whistle tones, you can turn on Continuous Mode.

This app can be fun even without a dog because a person’s hearing deteriorates with age. Older people can no longer discern high-pitched tones that younger people can hear. At around age 30 the number of ear hairs usually starts to decrease. Personally, I can detect a whistle around 18,400 hertz whereas as my good friend (just over 60) can only hear sounds around 10,000 hertz. You can try out this app on friends and family members to see who’s got the best pair of ears. You could also try and annoy your classmates at school by making them suffer from a high-pitched whistle without the old teacher ever knowing about it. Not a bad prank, right?

That’s about as much fun as this app can offer. This app is a great dog whistle replacement for dedicated dog owners

The controls could not be any easier: just press the whistle icon to make a sound. A whistle symbol shakes on the screen letting you know when the whistle is being blown (since you won’t be able to hear the actual sound). Press the i button to get additional information and details about frequencies and hearing capabilities.

The app force closed once on my Milestone, but restarted without any problems.

The app is free, but an ad banner is permanently displayed