"Fixing people"

He quit. So far two boys have dropped out. One was replaced right away. This boy will not be replaced. After 2 weeks, it's just too late to come in and get caught up. Even though we work as a group, the boys need plenty of one on one instruction. The challenge of the teacher is to keep them all engaged, all the time.
We are only at the facility for such long hours during the first 2 weeks. Then we fade away as we are not needed so much. Everyone gets comfy with the schedule and both the staff and the kids know better how to handle their dogs in different scenarios.
I was asked if there was much down time when we work from 7am -9pm. Not really. There is time just observing while all is calm. There is time talking to teachers and specialists and maintenance men. It is never boring. I never look at my watch and think "only 2 more hours". I love being there and there is always a need, a question, an "incident", a problem to solve, constant reminders of what to do.
The boy who quit just didn't feel he could focus on the dog or the training. He "wanted to reflect" he says. He tells me that "he just found out that one of his homeboys was killed" and he needed to have time to think about everything. I gave him the speech about not quitting, about leaning on his partner for awhile till he felt better, about commitment, about wanting him in the program because he was good. Didn't matter. He has essentially disconnected and keeps himself very isolated from his entire group. Bummer.
We sign virtual contracts with the boys. They are made aware of all of their Rights and Responsibilities. I have not had any experience that this is a valuable tool for eliciting desired behavior. We will present, agree to and sign them, but just because it necessary protocol, not because it makes one iota of difference to these kids. It's not relevant on a daily basis.
On the up side, the other kids are doing really well. The kids with learning issues are helped immensely by TAGteach.
The truth is that although I was really disappointed to see this child drop out, that's the way it goes. You do your best to make the best choices for the program and find who will be most helped by working with dogs this way. Reality check. We (me) are not always right. If we start with 8 and end up with some good successes with 6, that's still a winner. Isn't it?