When I play
Buster Douglas, a Yorkie, ignores it as expected,
the 2 cats (cat a and cat b) generally leave the room, but
Heather, the Sheltie collie, likes to sit near as if she is watching me play. No matter how bad/good I am that session, she always sits in.
That’s what dogs are for, I guess.
Good old Heather. Does she ever join in?
Blaine
Mitu, my 15 year old Chow will wake up when I play, esp in the high octave, and ask to leave the building!
The cats can hide, but cant run, as we don’t let them outside for fear of the road and coyotes
When Colin moved over, my cat Jacques was used to drums, all kind of rattles, shakers and didges. Low whistles were no problem from the beginning and higher whistles he can stand more or less now (depending on his mode). BUT recently a new instrument moved in our house, called Hümmelchen (german bag pipes) 
Brigitte
The outdoor cats sit in the tree outside my bedroom and watch, fascinated, through the window… (maybe they mistake the higher octave and squeaks for something chase-able) the indoor cat stalks off in that haughty fashion that cats are so good at… most of mom’s aviary ignores me, but my 'keet will try his darndest to hide somewhere (anywhere!) in his cage.
The only one who seems to actually like the sound of anything I play is my Lovebird, who is actually a feathered metronome. Yup, folks, it’s true - he actually keeps time with whatever I play, and it drives him crazy when I get off tempo. He sits on my music stand and chews the corners of whatever music I’ve got there… and thinks watching his reflection in my whistle is fun. Of all the pets around here, at least HE has the right idea!
My mom is always making me play my flute and whistles for her 'big" birds, aka parrots. Our African Gray, Merlin, loves hearing flute and whistle. He will fluff up his feathers and dance. My cats on the other hand, just ingore me, probley thinking let her play now, then steal her whistles later, to hide in the litter box.
My dog doesn’t seem to mind my flute playing to much, but when I pick up my D whistle, she gives me an alarmed look and moves a safe distance away.
I used to have several pet rats, and they seemed to appreciate the tin whistle. They used to come up to the side of the cage and listen intently.
I actually choose which whistles to play regularly based on my cats’ reactions. They love my Abell d. They sit contentedly in the room with their eyes closed when I play it. They don’t like loud whistles. They don’t run away, but their ears move and their eyes open widely.
Jessie
It doesn’t matter what I play, high D, low D, or Bb fife; or the brand, Clarke, Overton, or Copeland; our miniature Dachshund Spunky will generally take a running leap at my lap and start “singing” when I blow the first note. It’s cute for a little while, even if you have to watch that he doesn’t bump the whistle down your throat, but his “note” is a little more piercing than that of my fife – which is saying something. I adopt my growly voice and tell him he’s much too noisy. Eventually he’ll lie quietly next to me and apparently listen.
There’s one particular song that really sets him off: “The Parting Of Friends.” Late in the evening, he can be upstairs under the bedcovers ( a favorite place for a Dachshund, you know ) when I start the song downstairs in the living room, and I’ll hear him hit the floor on the run to come down and sing.
He’s taught our Border Collie to sing, too, which is quite something as well.
It can get crazy at our house when Dad practices.
Interesting topic…whenever I play out on our deck…it seems to attract the birds…Hank the Heron seems to be mesmerized…either that or he’s too frightened to move…the geese stop whatever they’re doing and just listen. The young man we just lost last week…always said the fish would bite when I was whistling. Must be something to it. Gm
My cat Ceili doesn’t mind my low whistles at all, but the high whistles she doesn’t like. She’s the cat who took a bite out of my Walton’s Little Black a long time ago…that pretty much sums up her opinion of the whole whistle thing. Tho it still plays surprisingly well for having 8 holes instead of 6
Well, my cats will all hang around for the mandolin & guitar sessions, but are a bit intimidated by the size of the acoustic bass. As far as the whistles go, they are fine with the low ones, and the really soft chiffy ones, they seem to find them relaxing. Give them a faster song on a higher whistle though, and they either start to look a little panicky or start boxing with each other.
I usually end up practicing my higher whistle work in the bedroom alone so I don’t have to break up the fights.
stimps the referee
One of my cats refuses to be anywhere near me when I am playing. It could be that I’m not that great… but who knows. In fact he informs me very clearly that he doesn’t want me playing when he’s in the house. He yowls loudly and even tried to take my whistle from me once.
My other cat is fascinated by it. Probably because he appreciates true talent when he sees it. grin
I have two dogs - Jake, a Border Collie, and Tessie, an Australian Shepherd/Border Collie. Jake has this habit of going around in circles, all day long, he’ll be going around in circles. Whenever I play my pennywhistle in my room, Jake will go crazy and start going around it these tight little circles and bark. It drives me mad. Unlike Jake, Tessie will sometimes lay on my bed and just watch me. It’s really funny. Thankfully Tessie hasn’t picked up the habit of going in circles!
~§ara~
I have this goldfish..and it seems that no matter what I play, all she does is swim around and wait for food to fall from the sky.
This doesn’t exactly fall into the “pet” theme, but there is a conclave of skunks in Storrs, Connecticut …
Just returned from the Amherst Early Music Festival, held in Storrs on the UConn campus. I’d sit outside the dormitory at night by my lonesome, just before the no-more-music curfew of 11pm and play soft gentle airs. I freaked when I saw the first skunk nonchalantly mosey by … lept into the air and beat a hasty retreat. But I quickly realised if I sat very still and continued whistling, the skunks would stop, apparently appreciating the aural addition to their evening routine,and then be about their nocturnal way.
Two nights before I had to leave, I was joined by a man who played historic harp. The skunks hadn’t made their appearance yet, and I was asking the fellow all sorts of instrument questions. I then asked him to play me something, which he obligingly did. You’d have thought KMart just announced a Blue Light Special … those skunks couldn’t assemble fast enough!
Fickle critters! And all that time I thought they were loyal to me and my whistle!
FE
P.S. To keep this on-topic, my cat abhors my whistle-playing … he yowls madly and scratches maniacally at the outside door if I so much as look at a whistle. Maybe I should look into skunks as pets?
I prefer to practice in the den(as that is where my computer, and more importantly, my music software is located) but it can be diffucult with my conure as she hates the noise. I like to think of it as music . . . but can you call repeating two or three bars of a reel as music? Practising is sometime painful. Of course, I don’t mind the ill-sounding squeaks, but the high notes are hard on her ears.
She will not tolerate my blowing into the flute head of my Tony Dixon combo(I like to blow without the body, just to get the feel of it).
However, the canary enjoys my whistling and sings along.
I can’t say his tastes are too discriminating. He sings along with the vacuum cleaner, too.
My cats seem impervious to the music, but the birds are another story. The macaw is fine until the high registers and then he starts vocalizing unhappily, the caique twitters non-stop, the parrotlet (much like the lovebird from the earlier post) chirps.
But during the summer I spare them and my husband and head outdoors. To my astonishment I assembled three Carolina wrens who darned near perched on my shoulders to get closer! The blue jays squawked and left the vicinity.
Am I the only one here who’s tried training birds to sing with a whistle a la the bird flageolet?
Heather passed on 2 years ago.. Buster Douglas who is now pushing 13 missed her so my wife Andi and I went out and got a miniature pinscher puppy, Kellie.
Buster cant hear, cats dont care, and Kellie only pays attention when I stick a Snausage in my whistle.
Thanks for the memory.