A finished course changes what her file should say, because the old notes describe a dog who had not yet learned this work. The refresh is not filing a certificate and stopping there. It is rewriting her cue record while the course is fresh, so that anyone who handles her next — a sitter, a walker, a groomer, the next trainer, or you in three months — works her the way the course taught, rather than undoing it with different words and different rules.
Two Lists, Not One: What She Knows Cold and What Is Still in Proofing
Split the cue list into two groups and keep them visibly separate. The first group holds cues she knows reliably: she responds promptly, in ordinary places, without the reward having to be visible first. The second group holds cues still in proofing: she knows the shape of the behaviour but it falls apart with distance, duration, or distraction, or it only works in the garden so far. Write each cue with the exact word or signal used, because a cue is the sound she was taught, not a rough idea of it. This split is the heart of the refresh. A single merged list flatters her; two honest lists tell the next handler which cues can be trusted at a road crossing and which ones are still practice.
Method and Reward Notes Beside Every Cue
Beside each cue, record how it is maintained: what reward she works for, how that reward is delivered, and any method detail the trainer insisted on. Note whether she is paid every time or intermittently, whether a marker word or click marks the moment, how her lead handling works for the cues still being proofed, and what the trainer said to do when she gets it wrong. These notes stop well-meaning handlers inventing their own versions. A sitter who rewards a half-finished recall teaches her the course standard was optional, while a sitter following the written method keeps her training exactly where the trainer left it.
The Trainer's Sign-Off, Filed With the List
Ask the trainer for a sign-off on the list itself, or file the course certificate with it, so the record shows who assessed her and at what level. A trainer's note that her recall is reliable at home but not yet proofed around other dogs carries more weight than your own summary, and it gives the next trainer a starting point they trust. If the course ended with recommendations — a follow-on class, particular distractions to proof against, a behaviour to watch — file those recommendations with the sign-off rather than trusting yourself to remember them, because they are the bridge between this course and whatever training comes next.
Date the Refresh So Its Age Is Visible
Put a refresh date on the updated pages, and keep the superseded list rather than deleting it. A dated file lets anyone see that the cue record describes her as she was at the end of the course, and it makes the next refresh obvious when proofing has moved a cue from the second list to the first. That movement is worth recording as it happens: each time a cue graduates, note the change and its date, and her file becomes a training history rather than a snapshot. An undated list quietly goes stale, and stale instructions are how good courses unravel in ordinary weeks at home.
KinsLe keeps the refresh from scattering across messages and paper, since her Pet Passport packet holds the dated cue record beside her other documents for anyone who works with her.