[Judi W]

Actually, I believe people do want to solve a problem. The difficulty comes when they are told they will need to change what they are doing in order to change what the dog is doing. It comes into conflict with the "but I like to...." or "but I want to..." and then they might become cranky when there is not a quick easy fix. Certainly not everyone does this and we have some terrific examples of listening, taking action and ending up with great dogs!

I particularly smile when I remember a probably very nice lady who wanted to know how to get her dog to quit pulling her down when she tried to walk it. There was a decent discussion about training and so forth, and she was quite annoyed. She did not want to do training or know about training she said. All she wanted to know was how to get her dog to quit pulling and if we couldn't help her with that just forget it.

The above is one of the more humerous of examples. Some deal with more serious issues but with the same logic. They do want things with the dog to change, but without effort or changes in their emotional committment to pleasing themselves. Rule of thumb which I apply to myself as well, is if things are going askew, look at what you are doing more than what the dog is doing. That is where the solution usually lies.