Changing Perceptions

Perception is very powerful.  In the sales & marketing industry, they say, "Perception is reality".  From the perspective of the perceiver, it IS reality.  Your dog may perceive that sitting opens the door of her crate.  That IS her reality. 

In the perception of new dog owners, "dog training" is concept closely related to "problems". 

• "I train my dog to prevent problems."
• "We're working on a problem with [insert issue]."
• "If I lived on a 1,000-acre ranch, I wouldn't have to train." i.e., NO problems.

No surprise, then, that dog training is viewed as a burdensome obligation.  It's what "the responsible owners do", motivated by those owners' debt to society, not necessarily any debt to their dog.

Until we change the perception to actually spoiling and indulging dogs, who are understood to crave the interaction, mental stimlation, physical activity, and stress-relief -- we are going to continue to see the problems we do in pet dogs.

Until we stop focusing on the problems, and start focusing on creating a lifestyle that is fulfilling for both dog and owner, we are going to continue to see owners resist providing training for all pet dogs.

So...  How do we do that?