Pet Training QuestionsFollow

I noticed (or I think I noticed) the last time I upgraded my pet's Natural Armor (now Rank 7) that it didn't add the full amount to his existing armor value. I have trained every Natural Armor on my boar up to the current maximum, and I'm fairly certain that when I add a new Natural Armor, it only adds the difference between what the last Natural Armor gave and what the new one does.

(ie, of the top of my head, if Natural Armor Rank 6 gives 350 armor and Rank 7 gives 450 armor, it only adds 100 armor when I upgrade).

So first of all, is that correct?

Also, can you train (for example) a Rank 7 ability on a pet without first training ranks 1-6 on it?

The reason I ask is because I have more training points spent on Natural Armor than I really care to think about. My boar tanks like a champion. Versus melee mobs, I can (in an emergency) have him round up 3-4 (sometimes 5) mobs at my level and have him hold them while I pick off the one my pig is currently focused on. In these scenarios, 1 or 2 strategically timed Mend Pets is ample to get him through the fights and if I'm careful I won't pull hate.

On the other hand, a stamina boost to my pet would be nice. Very nice. But I don't have the training points for it. Also, mage type mobs hurt my pet badly. If I had the training points to upgrade his elemental/arcane resistances, I'd do it in a heartbeat and would probably be that much more effective. As it is, I find myself avoiding humanoid mages/warlocks like the plague (fortunately I'm on a PvE server), and even mage critters wear my piggy down faster than I like.

So in other words, if I were to untrain everything off my pet and start over giving him only the highest ranked defensive abilities (natural armor, stamina, elemental/arcane resistances) or would I still have to tier the ranks of the ones I want the most and be lacking in other areas?

Thanks in advance for any tips or ideas ^^

Thanks ^^ I untrained my pet...3 times before I got it as close to what I wanted as I could. Piggles the turbo boar is no longer afraid of warlocks lol I was a little disappointed that even after stripping the reduntant abilities I couldn't afford Rank 3 in all resistance categories, but he's currently sporting Rank 3 Shadow resistance and Rank 2 in the rest. (Previously he had only rank 1 in all resistances because so many points were tied up in 7 ranks of armor).

I did throw some stamina on as an afterthought because I had some points left over and nowhere to spend them. Not Rank 7 Stamina, but a bit of a boost nonetheless. It wasn't until I started leveling other classes (I have pally, rogue, and mage alts that I'm taking to 20 (atm) for professions) that I realized just how much I rely on my pig, so every little advantage I can throw his way is a huge bonus.