Ignoring Things

Ignoring things is a powerful tool for teaching. While the power of ignoring unwanted attention-seeking behaviors is recognized and recommended, this strategy is not what I am talking about.

I am referring to our reactions to the world at large. The dog pays attention to what we pay attention to.

"What is it, human? What are you looking at? What are you thinking about? What are you excited by? What are you afraid of? I'll look at/think about/be excited about/fear that, too!"

Things that we attend to are things that have some meaning to us, and therefore to the dog. Things that we "don't see" are things that aren't really there. I personally "don't see" grass or trees. The city dwellers among us "don't see" sidewalk or manhole covers. This unique fingerprint of that to which we attend is what I believe accounts for much of the "dog resembling owner" phenomenon.