How an online dog whistle works
A traditional dog whistle is a small pitch pipe that produces a high tone, often above the range most people hear clearly. This page does the same thing with your device's speaker and the Web Audio API: it generates a clean, steady sine wave at the frequency you choose, from a clearly audible 8 kHz up to an ultrasonic 22 kHz.
An honest note on what this can and cannot do. A whistle is an attention and training aid, not a remote control for your dog. It works when it has been paired with something your dog cares about (a treat, praise, a recall). On its own, a high tone will not reliably stop barking or fix behavior, and results vary a lot between animals. Never use it to startle, punish, or hurt an animal, and keep the volume moderate, the same way you would not blow a physical whistle directly into a dog's ear.
Dogs, cats, and the frequencies they hear
Humans typically hear up to about 20 kHz when young, and less as we age. Dogs hear considerably higher, to roughly 45 kHz, and cats higher still, to around 64 kHz. That gap is the whole idea behind a "silent" whistle: a tone can be faint or inaudible to you while still being clear to your pet. It also means you often cannot tell by ear whether the whistle is doing anything, which is exactly why we built in a speaker self-test.
Why the 1 kHz test tone matters
If you play a 20 kHz whistle and hear nothing, there are two very different explanations: either the sound is playing fine and is simply above your hearing, or your speaker is muted, the tab has no audio permission, or the hardware rolls off before it gets that high. The 1 kHz test tone is squarely in the range every speaker and every person can hear. If you hear that clearly but not the whistle, your audio works and the whistle is doing its job, you just cannot hear the high pitch. Tiny phone speakers in particular struggle above 17-20 kHz, so for serious ultrasonic work a dedicated physical whistle can be more dependable.
Getting the best results
- Pair it with a reward. Play the whistle, then immediately give a treat or praise. After enough repetitions the sound itself becomes meaningful. See the marker training guide for a step-by-step routine.
- Start lower if your dog ignores it. Some dogs respond better around 15-18 kHz, where the tone is louder through a phone speaker, than at a true ultrasonic pitch your hardware can barely produce.
- Use pulse mode for attention. A pulsing tone is often more noticeable than a steady one. It is the basis of the rodent-repel preset and can help with recall outdoors.
- Keep sessions short and positive. A few clear repetitions beat a long, nagging tone. Stop if your dog looks anxious rather than curious.
Ready for a specific goal? Try the guides for recall and attention, curbing nuisance barking humanely, clicker-style marker training, or getting a cat's attention.