Mentoring
Click here to read the complete article
By Amy Fernandez
Mentoring is a hot topic in the sport these days. Too much? Not enough? Should AKC scrap the whole program and reinvent it? Mainly, why doesn’t it seem to work?
Needless to say, mentoring has always been the primary conduit for imparting knowledge and shepherding new recruits in the right direction. It’s also intensely personal, simply because there is no formal detached way to actually teach highly technical skills like trimming or whelping management. And from a broad perspective, these are just a couple of the educational essentials that are rapidly disappearing from our demographic. My point is that true mentoring is a one-on-one deal. Yes, we all know that AKC has been making a herculean effort to reproduce that educational experience on a broad scale. Sometimes it works, often it falls short. But that’s another story. I want to talk about the most intense real-time mentoring experience possible– learning from your parents.
Regrettably, that option has become increasingly rare these days. Multi-generational involvement in the sport of purebred dogs is no longer a primary feature of the game. That subject also deserves more discussion but let’s attempt to keep this on track. For a long time, like several centuries, family relationships were the conventional source of expertise. Those Terrier dynasties like the Brumbys and the Murphys are just a couple of outstanding examples of how these intricate skillsets were shared rather than being lost. Terriers are complicated and true experts recognized that fact long ago. Apprenticing under someone like George Ward or Ric Chashoudian was basically like an Ivy League scholarship. Many aspire, few succeed. So just imagine the luxury of growing up with that kind of educational opportunity right there at the dinner table.
That brings me to Louis Krokover, who enters the discussion with three generations of background in the sport. “We don’t get to pick the family we are born into, but we get to pick the people we hold closer than family throughout our lives.” In terms of mentoring opportunities Louis was blessed with both.
Click here to read the complete article
Short URL: https://caninechronicle.com/?p=218085
Posted by AnthonyA
on Dec 25 2021. Filed under Current Articles, Featured.
You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0.
Both comments and pings are currently closed.
Comments are closed
