I have no idea what 'proofing' means, and Saba is a work in progress. He's not bothered by cats, rabbits, cows or sheep, but a bit wary (rightly so) of horses. He loves hooman beanz, especially those in our family, and is selectively deaf when off the lead. I am his biggest problem. Saba suffers from Operator Error. Apparently, I'm too soft on him, too quick to praise, and not quick enough with instruction. Poor puppy doesn't stand a chance! It's me who needs training and proofing - whatever that is - my beautiful puppy, currently lying on my feet and snoring gently, is completely oblivious to the fact that he is in the hands of a fool!
Sallie, proofing is when you teach your dog for example to walk without pulling on a lead, so you would start along your road for a short distance and when he has achieved this a number of times you would then build up the training by walking him somewhere a little more busy and so on, you are upping the distractions for Saba to enable him to be able to cope with all manner of environments. You can do this with off lead training too which is really important as you say Saba goes deaf. Have you thought about buying Total Recall which helps with proofing all kinds of behaviours including recall and explains step by step how to achieve this? Of course you need some good value treats You are not a fool we all have to start somewhere x
Here is an article: http://www.thelabradorsite.com/proofing-an-essential-part-of-labrador-training/ Most people, it seems to me, fall into a routine, get their dogs to be 'more or less' ok in that routine, then are surprised when they go somewhere new, or the distractions massively increase, and their cues don't work. That's because they haven't proofed them. Of course, if you never actually do anything new with your dog, or don't massively up the distractions....you'll never know. All very unlikely. You don't mention lots of super yummy treats. It's possible you are being too slow on the super yummy treats.
I have all the books, but Saba can't read! He does have training treats from his daily food allowance, and we regularly tackle new stuff. He's brilliant around the local shops, waiting nicely, and every day, he's calmer around the grandchildren. I learn best by doing; being shown and then doing it myself, so we're auditioning trainers to find one with whom I can work. We've met a couple so far. One made me feel like a total failure completely undeserving of a lovely pedigree puppy, and the other - well, least said about that, the better. Saba is off to kennels this week while we go in search of sunshine, so I'll do a bit of reading, and start afresh when we return.
@Saba's Boss Enjoy your search for sunshine and come back refreshed and ready to start a new search for a trainer. Anyone who makes you feel bad is really not a trainer worth considering. There is someone out there who is just right for you and Sabo.
I seem to have the same problem with Ella! I spent so long looking for a breeder that had dogs with great hips and elbows that I forgot to ask about their English skills and ended up with an illiterate puppy!
