Sunday, November 3, 2013

Man in the Middle

in·ter·me·di·ate (adjective) \ˌin-tər-ˈmē-dē-ət\
: occurring in the middle of a process or series
: relating to or having the knowledge or skill of someone who is more advanced than a beginner but not yet an expert

Bolt 'graduated' from Intermediate Obedience this week. Yea! Despite missing three weeks of class and practice and having to cram some make-up in at the end, they let him pass. I thought we might have to repeat the level for obvious reasons, but not only did we pass - the instructor told us we could skip Intermediate II and go straight to Advanced. Wow and Ha Ha! That comment was made after we performed well last Saturday. Since then, we have had two more classes that confirmed for me that we will not be skipping any levels, but will continue to lay the most solid foundation we can. While it's not impossible to go back and work on things at a later time that aren't as solid as you'd like, it's just better if you take the time to get it right the first time. A dog that knows it's doing the right thing when being given a command is more confident and therefore easier to train in the long run. It's a deliciously tempting offer to 'skip a grade' and I can see the allure, but I've seen too many people drooling over what an instructor's dog can do that don't seem to want to make the investment (time and money) to get the same results with their own pups. I don't want to be that student.
Also, I know the reality of our situation - we may have a break before the next class starts, but I just don't practice with Bolt as much as I did with Z when she was going through similar classes. (Isn't that the way it always goes with the second child!?)
Maybe the teacher's offer was just a test to see if I'd take the bait ... sooooo many trainers over the years have pounded it into my head time after time - take as much time as you need to get SOLID and RELIABLE results before moving on. I guess I was the one being trained all along! Yea - I pass, too!
Celebration Beer for Bolt! (not really, don't turn me in)

2 comments:

  1. Cold stone, founders favorite.

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  2. I'm surprised you can't see swyatts ginormous head by the beer! Congrats Bolt!!!

    ReplyDelete