If I ever reference somebody as being an average dog owner, it's not to be taken negatively. My mom is an average dog owner, but a good dog owner. But being an average dog owner, many dogs just would not be suited to her.
What I mean when I say average dog owner is somebody who has a dog, but the dog is just there as a companion and nothing more. Life isn't surrounded by the dog and for the dog. The dog just fits into life. The dog doesn't go anywhere or do much of anything aside from the occasional walk, the person didn't put a whole lot of thought besides maybe looks and size into what kind of dog they wanted, the person might feed a premium brand food or they might not, but basically what it comes down to is that the dog is a dog and just that. There are no extras.
Before I got super into dogs, my family was just an average dog family. We just wanted a family companion. A dog to pet, to love, to play with. We fed the food we thought was one of the best out there, and we made sure the dog(s) were interacted with and fed, but aside from that, the dogs were just kind of... there, I guess. If that makes sense. And these dogs were totally fine with that. They were laid back, knew their obedience basics and a trick or two, went through one or two rounds of classes, and didn't know any different than just sitting around the house and playing in the yard and going for a leashed walk twice a week or so.
Why do I think I'm not average? Because I am over the top neurotic about everything regarding my dogs haha. From the rules they have, the amount of training they've had, the food that they eat, the guilt I feel when I don't get them out at least a few times a week for a good run, how I worry about them whenever I might be gone from home longer than usual, how I worry when I go on a trip and have to leave them with somebody, the amount of time and thought and research I put into my dogs' breeds and where I get them, the sheer fact that I flew half way across the country for my last dog (pet owners are totally shocked by this), the fact that I form bonds and relationships with my dogs vs. the love of just a family dog. All kinds of things.
Being not average doesn't make me 'better' than an average dog owner by any means necessarily. Every person and situation is different. Lots of average dog owners are good owners. When I say, for example, that Journey is not the dog for an average dog owner all I mean is that she is not suited to that particular lifestyle necessarily.