People love calling AI a “co-pilot” or an “assistant.” Let’s be honest — here in 2025, that’s generous.

AI is still a two-year-old dog.

Brilliant? Yes. Full of potential? Absolutely. But also stubborn, overconfident, distractible, and very capable of dragging you straight through a metaphorical hedge if you keep holding the leash when it decides to bolt.

Yet, when you work with it properly, that energetic two-year-old becomes one of the most powerful development partners you’ll ever have.

1. First Step: Put the Dog on a Leash (a.k.a. Bash)

Think of your codebase like a Greek phalanx. Or a Roman formation. Or — fine — a well-trained dog on a leash.

When everything moves together, it’s strong, disciplined, efficient, and reliable. But if the unit — or the dog — suddenly charges off in its own direction, the whole structure starts to wobble.

While we are on the subject of control here is another analogy to keep in mind. If you are a pilot of an airplane, no matter how sophisticated the aricraft is, always remember that you fly the plane. The plane must never fly you! Yes I am aware of automation and most planes are being flown by autopilot to some degree. However, and this is very important, you fly the plane, it does not and must not ever fly you! A professional pilot, who knows this, will always have a way to take back control if the plane is behaving in a manner that will threaten his life, the lives of his passengers and crew, his cargo or the lives of others on the ground.

So before I let AI anywhere near my project, I back up, tag a stable version, basically wrap everything in version-controlled bubble wrap… and then I open the most important tool in the entire process:

Git Bash (Windows) or Bash (Linux).

This is the leash.

Bash is predictable, structured, and immune to hallucinations — the world’s strictest obedience instructor. AI can suggest whatever it wants, but nothing happens until Bash approves. That keeps the AI walking beside me instead of sprinting off to chase imaginary squirrels in my code.

2. The Training Routine: Step, Command, Check, Repeat

A typical session goes like this:

AI: “Run this command in Git Bash.”
Me: Runs it.
Bash: Outputs cold, unemotional truth.
Me: “Okay AI, here’s what happened.”
AI: Refines the plan.

It’s basically:

“Heel.”
“Sit.”
“No, not that direction.”
“Good dog.”

If the AI pulls too hard?

I revert and say: “Back to the training line.”

Git resets instantly. Bash keeps the ground firm. AI keeps things… interesting.

3. Example: A 6-Month Project Done in 3 Weeks

I planned six months to rebuild my entire site in Laravel 12 with Livewire.

With AI — on a Bash leash?

Three weeks.

Bash kept everything safe and incremental. AI handled the grunt work:

• Full style guide in under an hour
• Complete light + dark mode in a few hours
• Tailwind architecture structured cleanly
• Components built faster and cleaner than ever

A two-year-old dog with proper training? Shockingly fast.

4. Last Night’s Walk: Reverb Installed in 3 Hours

I had to remove Pusher and install Reverb. I had no idea where to start.

So I turned it into a dog-training session:

Me: “Give me a solution that does X, Y, Z. We’ll run everything through Bash.”
AI: “Run this command.”
Me: Bash → paste → report.
AI: “Great, next one.”
Me: Bash → paste → report.
AI: “Actually, revert that.”
Me: Deep sigh. Tightens leash.

A small example of the back-and-forth:

Three hours later, Reverb was running in both dev and production.

Why so smooth?

Bash gave structure. AI gave the steps. I provided the patience.

AI can also give you amazing scripts to back up your web site without using GitHub. I run a robocopy backup script that reconciles that the backup is a mirror before I start using AI in a next development iteration.

5. Burnout: When the Dog Still Has Energy and You Don’t

Plenty of developers say they’re exhausted by AI. Some are taking “AI detox months.” And honestly? I get it.

A two-year-old dog can go all day. AI is the same — endless enthusiasm, zero concept of fatigue.

You, however, are human.

When your brain is mush, even Bash output looks like alien hieroglyphs. That’s when the AI-dog drags you through the mental bushes.

Solution?

• Step away
• Hydrate
• Take a break
• Reset your nerves

Calcium + magnesium works wonders for me — like putting a padded harness on your nervous system.

And sometimes the best fix is the simplest: code slowly and quietly by yourself. Leave the AI-dog at home and enjoy a peaceful walk.

6. Clear Commands = Good Behaviour

AI is a Large Language Model. Meaning: it hears words, not nuance.

Tell a two-year-old dog:

“Whatever you do, don’t jump in that muddy puddle.”

You already know what happens.

Tell AI:

“Don’t delete anything important.”

It somehow hears:

“delete anything important??”

Type “do NOT press the red button” and it highlights “press red button” like it’s the main quest objective.

That’s where Bash saves the day.

Bash only executes clear, explicit instructions.

Clear commands. Controlled execution. Predictable behaviour.

Conclusion: Know Your Role

You are the trainer, or pilot, or the phalanx commander, if you want to stay historical.

AI wants to race ahead, improvise, and “help” by doing twelve extra things you never requested.

Bash anchors the process:

• One command at a time
• One output at a time
• One correction at a time

You guide. You pace. You prevent chaos.

AI is the enthusiastic two-year-old dog. Bash is the leash. And you? You’re the trainer who makes the entire walk possible. Use git to backup your files or a robocopy script to mirror your web site and backed up, reset and baselined, you can now proceed with the next session of AI dog training.

Master this trio, and your development speed will surprise you.