You’re out at your favorite bar with your best girlfriends. All but one of you is flirting with hot, older men and letting them pick up the tab for your next vodka soda. All but one of you? You look around to see if you can spot your missing gal pal and realize that, as per usual, she’s managed to attract the only guy in the bar who looks like he needed a fake ID to get in. She is… THE COUGAR IN THE TRAINING.

What’s her type?

Your typical cougar in training is rarely seen with someone her own age, and never with someone older. She probably met her last hookup when he tried to convince her to buy cigarettes for him, and you can’t invite her to your family functions without glancing over your shoulder every few moments to make sure she hasn’t pounced on your younger brother.

While a regular cougar is generally an older woman dating a much younger man, a cougar in training has yet to work her way up to those ranks and might start with someone only a few years her junior. Although a few years may not seem like that much- the younger you are, the larger an age gap will feel to you (and to others).

When it’s intentional:

This cougar in training has a plan and she sticks to it. She’s on the prowl for younger guys because they lack experience. (Not to mention, he’s probably easily impressed…) She’ll snag someone and teach her eager learner all the right moves before he’s had the chance to develop any pesky bad habits. There aren’t very many things better in life than someone who knows exactly what you like in bed and also knows exactly how to do those things. Then, when she’s through with her boy-toy, she’ll do us all a favor by sending him out into the world as a fully-fledged sex god.

A slut like this likes her relationships to have an expiration date. Eventually, her hookup will get too old to be fun and risqué, and it will be on to the next one. A cougar in training likes to keep things fresh in the bedroom with one new young fling after the next. Younger guys also tend to be more carefree, relaxed, and spontaneous than their older counterparts, all of which are excellent traits to have in a casual relationship. As this cougar in training becomes older and approaches the day when she can drop the “in training” addendum, she loves knowing that she still has what it takes to attract the young hotties her friends are only dreaming about.

When it’s not:

This cougar in training likely looks a lot younger than she really is and throws guys off with her youthful beauty. A girl like her has teenage boys hitting on her because they don’t know she’s long past her high school (or college) days, and older men are ignoring her for that very same reason. She also could be someone who simply doesn’t place very much emphasis or focus on age, and doesn’t even realize she has cougar in training status until her latest hookup shows up for a booty call wearing his “Class of ____” jacket.

The unintentional cougar in training spends far too much time asking herself, “How does this always happen to me?” But she probably spends an almost equal amount of time deciding that age is just a number (within legal limits, of course) and a cute guy is a cute guy. She promises herself that next time she’ll find out her new love interest’s age upfront, but she never ends up actually following through on that promise.

At the end of the day, age doesn’t equal maturity. Go get ‘em girl!