Sit Means Sit Orange County

Sit Means Sit OC has been amazing in helping our rescue pup Jasper ( 1 yo pitbull/rottweiler mix) become a calmer and more confident companion. After moving to a busier area, he had difficulty adjusting. Frequent walks with unexpected lunging were especially stressful as he was already 70lbs. My partner and I had done numerous private lessons focused on positive reinforcement which helped except when food wasn’t enough to get his attention. We walked at weird hours, tried multiple harnesses, gentle leaders, compression shirts, etc. in addition to over 6 months of anti-anxiety medication. We couldn’t meet his needs and our schedule started to revolve around his. Luckily a neighbor with a similar experience told us about Sit Means Sit OC. We booked an evaluation and were immediately impressed. When we stepped into the facility, Michael quickly accommodated our thrashing pup and put us at ease. He spoke with us at length about the training philosophy and process. I initially had some reservations about the e-collar, but was comfortable with the idea after getting to test the collar on ourselves and feel the muscle twitch it gave rather than pain. I was especially reassured when he explained the collar aimed to get the dog’s attention, not to punish, and the level chosen is the lowest a dog notices in an environment. We moved forward with the training plan that had 4 days of one-on-one time with justt the trainer and Jasper, a handoff day, followed by private lessons, and eventually a year of group classes. We started the following week with Daniel as our trainer and the change after 4 days was unbelievable. The first day Jasper was not willing to get near him, so he calmly attached a second leash to add distance, and by the end of the hour they were down to one leash. The next day he pet Jasper, which no one outside of our immediate family had been able to do. It was clear Daniel was experienced in working with challenging dogs. He taught us that much of Jasper’s reactivity was from a lack of clear expectations in each situation and he managed to build a strong foundation for Jasper in just a few days. After day 3, we were walking not only on a loose leash, but when two pre-schoolers rushed over wanting to pet Jasper, he sat calmly until they left. On hand-off day, Daniel made sure we felt confident in using the new commands and e-collar. Anxious destruction of furniture stopped, barking and mouthiness were minimized, and we were able to start having friends over. Daniel’s patience, professionalism, and ability to quickly adapt his lessons to meet our (and Jasper’s) learning needs made all the difference. We are so grateful to have had Daniel as our trainer! The private follow up lessons with Bryan helped us improve and solidify good habits with timing and positioning. We still have some ways to go but now get to work on our skills weekly in group classes. Now 10 weeks later, we continue to see Jasper grow and our communication improve every week. If anyone is considering for their pup, the team is incredible and down to earth— my only regret is that I wish we had them from the start! Really a special group of trainers and worth every penny.

We have an 8 month old lab Bella. Shes extremely high energy and absolutely terrible walking on leash with pulling and barking excessively. I had been taking her to another training program for 2 months where “rapid fire” throwing treats is their philosophy. Well it did not work for her. It made her bark and pull more!! That one cost me $500. I’ve bought every collar, leash, harness on the market and nothing helped. A friend recommended Sit Means Sit so we went to the facility and met with Cindy. Bella roared in there and everyone saw how out of control she was. Cindy was so nice and explained all the programs and prices to us. We were very apprehensive about the e-collar but she showed us how it worked and it didn’t hurt at all. We decided to bite the bullet and signed her up for the 5 day board and train class. It was about $3300. It was the best thing we have ever done! She is a different dog. Bryan was her trainer and he updated us regularly with her progress as well as pics and videos. He brought her back to our home to train us on use of collar and go over issues she had at home with counter surfing and barking. We worked with her and she’s improving daily. Chris came to our house again and worked with her. She was amazing with him. Yesterday we went back for another session with Jason at the facility so she could have distractions with people and other dogs as well as racing through doors etc. Again, she did great. We have another session next week. These trainers are amazing! BTW, she doesn’t even bark anymore!!! Jennifer who answers phones is so helpful and accommodating. We couldn’t be happier with her progress and I feel like we might be able to have a normal life and a dog with manners that can go anywhere. We will start group lessons soon and all this was included in one price. This was a last resort for us and it is really the best decision we’ve ever made!!

I’ve had a really great experience with Sit Means Sit OC. I started working with them for Buddy, and in less than a month I’m already seeing a noticeable difference. he’s significantly less reactive and much more responsive overall. What I appreciate most is how structured and practical their approach is. They teach you how to handle real-world situations, which makes a huge difference. We’ve been working on things like place, impulse control, and staying calm around other dogs, and the progress has been very real. Buddy is already able to hold place with distractions (including other dogs walking by), and I feel much more confident managing him in everyday environments. If you’re looking for training that actually translates outside of a controlled setting, I would definitely recommend them. I particularly enjoyed working with Daniel whose techniques were easy to implement.

We’ve now had three sessions with Sit Means Sit Dog Training, and this was our first in-home lesson with Ryan—easily the most impactful one yet. We started our training journey with Jason for the first two sessions, and he did an amazing job laying the foundation for Luke. Those initial lessons set the tone and gave us the fundamentals we needed to build on. Our dog Luke has been a challenge, especially with reactivity, and our biggest fear has always been how he might respond in public. We’ve worked with other trainers before, but never felt like we had a clear path forward. After working with both Jason and Ryan at Sit Means Sit, that’s completely changed. Ryan took everything to the next level during the in-home session. His level of control, patience, and awareness inside our home environment made a huge difference. He didn’t just work with Luke—he showed us how to properly communicate, create structure, and lead him in our everyday setting, which is exactly what we were missing. This session really connected the dots for us. We’re starting to see real progress, but more importantly, we now have confidence in what we’re doing and how to keep building on it. We know there’s still a long road ahead, but Sit Means Sit has given us something we haven’t felt before—real direction and real hope. Highly recommend their team to anyone serious about getting results and putting in the work with their dog.

We signed up our puppy when he was 5 months old. We were a bit nervous to start with a one week stay, but were impressed with the amount of training he received after such a short period of time. The follow up sessions have also been great as they reinforce learned skills and ensure both our pup and we are trained to continue the methods our puppy was taught. So far the sessions have been well worth the cost and we're really thankful we signed up.