West Cleveland's Best Dog Training

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Cleveland Westside Dog Training Experts

Sit Means Sit Dog Training Cleveland-Westside provides professional dog and puppy obedience training in Bay Village, Avon, Westlake, Olmstead Falls, Columbia Station, North Ridgeville, Amherst, and surrounding West Cleveland, Ohio areas.

Sit Means Sit helps families achieve happy, confident, obedient dogs. You’ve found the quickest, most effective way to have the happy, confident, obedient dog you’ve dreamed of. Sit Means Sit’s industry leading results will help you achieve the maximum control of your dog, both on and off leash, while still allowing your pet to “Act Like a Dog”.

Our dog trainers will provide you with the right combination of puppy classes, private lessons, Board & Train Immersion programs, Day Training, and group distraction classes, customized to meet your particular needs. Common Issues include, puppy manners, house training assistance, leash pulling, aggression, play biting, jumping.

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About Sit Means Sit Dog Training

Dog Training Programs

Any Dog Any Age Any Problem

Puppy Lureing

PERFECT PUPPY PRESCHOOL (Puppy Luring)

Is your puppy between the ages of 8 weeks and 4 months?

Want to help your puppy get a paw up on growing into the dog you know he can be? We can help!

Topics Include:

  • FUN-damentals of obedience
  • Basic dog care and maintenance
  • Crate training and housebreaking
  • Socialization with dogs and people
  • Preparation for vet and groomer trips

Just $125 for a four week educational and interactive puppy management program with experienced Sit Means Sit trainers! Classes are year-round and you and your pup can join at anytime! Contact us today to learn more!

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Transformation Academy

TRANSFORMATION UNIVERSITY

Your dog will be immersed in training with professional Sit Means Sit trainers. Your pet will spend each day learning from a trainer at the training center, vet’s office, pet stores, Crocker Park, or various dog-friendly stores in the area.

Our most popular programs are in our Transformation University. When your dog is enrolled into one of our Board and Train Programs, or Day Training Programs we do all the hard work for you. Depending on which program is the right fit for you, your dog will come with us and earn one of our highly successful University Degrees.

Our trainers work on having your dog understand and respond to our unique Attention Based Training System. Your dog will receive one on one training with one of our Instructors as they lay the foundations to the training by teaching your dog how to focus and respond through all types of real world distractions. After your dog completes the Degree, we continue the training in you with our Leadership Transfer Lessons. Every dog is given Lifetime Group Class Membership!

Simply put, we do all of the hard work for you!

Board & Trains are designed for the busy family who just needs a little bit of extra help with the foundational stages of training, including addressing current behavioral problems. On average, our trainers can accomplish in one week what you would be expected to accomplish in one month working with your dog on your own.

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private training

PRIVATE TUTORING PROGRAMS (Private Lessons)

Private Tutoring Programs are designed for the family who wants to be directly involved and responsible for the success of their dog’s training. With this option, you and your dog will meet with the trainer in one-on-one sessions.

They will teach you how to train your dog and how to specifically address the things that are important to you. We call this “Lifestyle Training,” where we help you incorporate the training of your dog into your day-to-day life. Each private lesson program is client focused and driven. We will teach, show and educate you, the owner, but we cannot be responsible for you. You must do your homework. Responsibility of Success in Private Lessons rest solely on the owner.

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group training

Group Distraction Classes

  • Keeps your dog socialized around strange dogs and people in a managed environment
  • You and your dog will learn advanced obedience in Group Distraction Classes
  • Your dog will learn to listen to you in a high -distraction environment
  • You will stay fresh and sharp in executing all of your dog’s training commands and skills
  • Group Class is a “must” for dogs that are aggressive or submissive
  • Receive weekly support from a trainer in a controlled environment
  • Great opportunity to practice and strengthen your dog’s off-leash control
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K9 Caring Angels

K9 Caring Angels

You can make a difference. If you have a dog that has the right stuff; contact us and arrange for an evaluation to discuss your dog’s potential for joining our team! We hold training and certification opportunities are available throughout the year depending on demand.

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Retriever Puppies

Puppies

We partnered with Cream & Sugars Retrievers in Norwalk to bring you trained puppies! Cream & Sugars Retrievers have raised English Golden Retrievers for decades and come from Championship bloodlines. Together we hope to bring trained puppies with the best temperament, health, and beauty into loving forever homes.

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FAQs

Get answers to some of our most commonly asked questions:

Each of our training programs is custom tailored to the specific situation. There are a number of factors that we evaluate prior to building a training package for you such as your dog’s age, temperament, previous training, as well as the desired goals of the owner. What will work for one dog and owner, won’t necessarily fit well with another. Because of these factors, we offer a free demonstration & consultation as an opportunity to meet with your family as well as your dog to gain insight into the unique circumstances that affect your dog’s training. During the demonstration we will evaluate the factors and develop a training plan for your dog and family. From the training plan we will be able to give you an accurate idea of cost to accomplish your goals. There is no cost or obligation associated with the free demonstration.

Sit Means Sit uses a variety of training methods and tools to achieve the goals of the customer and their dog.

The Sit Means Sit mission:

Revolutionizing the quality of life with happy, obedient, and confident dogs.

With this mission in-mind, we customize our training approach to meet with our customer's personality as well as what will result in the best possible training experience for both dog and owner. As you view our portfolio of dog training videos, we hope that you will pay close attention to the attitude of all the dogs trained by Sit Means Sit. We pride ourselves on being able to maintain a happy and relaxed attitude in our dogs.

Sit Means Sit specializes in a diversified approach to dog training. We use an attention-based dog training system developed by Founder and CEO, Fred Hassen. This approach utilizes a variety of training tools to enable our trainers to gain the dog’s attention even in distracting situations. One of the tools that we use often in our training program is our customized Sit Means Sit Collar (remote electronic dog training collar). The reason we choose to utilize technology in our training is obvious when you understand the advantages that technology allows us.

Firstly, Sit Means Sit firmly believes in safe dog training. The technology we employ is 100% safe for dogs and humans. The Sit Means Sit Collar uses state of the art digital technology to control the output from the collar to prevent it from harming your dog. The technology that is utilized in the construction of our collar is similar technology to “electronic muscle stimulators” and “TENS” units. You may be familiar with the use of these devices in the medical field (they are very common in the Chiropractic and Physical Therapy fields) or perhaps you’ve seen devices advertised on TV as “electronic muscle massagers”. These devices essentially use low-level, adjustable electronic stimulation to creating muscle contractions. In the medical field, they are used as tools to help alleviate pain, promote blood circulation and encourage healing.

In the dog training field, specifically Sit Means Sit, remote dog training collars are used as a tool to provide a remote controlled cue. The cue is designed to neither cause pain nor to disrupt the dog’s emotional state, but rather to function as an adjustable “tap”. The approach used by Sit Means Sit trainers is to treat the “tap” from the collar as a cue for the dog to pay attention. This is no different than tapping a person on the shoulder to gain their attention. The goal of tapping them on the shoulder is not to hurt them or cause emotional distress, but rather to let them know that you want to communicate something to them.

The “tap” delivered from the Sit Means Sit Collar is a highly adjustable sensation that can be set to levels that are often imperceptible to people. Obviously this adjustability is necessary because some dogs are sensitive, while others are quite tough. There is no way to determine what levels your dog will respond to until you begin to train them with a collar. Another reason why the collars are so adjustable is because distractions from the environment are never consistent. Relate this to training with a treat. How many times will that treat work perfectly indoors, but fails to maintain your dog’s attention when a cat is running by. Sit Means Sit has found that dogs can be taught to pay attention around extreme distractions very effectively.

During the fundamental Sit Means Sit training, the dogs and handlers are taught how to condition their dog to the collar in a constructive and positive manner. By adjusting the level of the collar appropriately for the dog and the situation, as well as linking the tap from the collar with an item of high value, we can effectively teach the dog that the “tap” from the collar is related to something of value. This approach to fundamentals allows for a smooth transition into distraction training and off leash control through attention to command.

You can relate the advantages that a Sit Means Sit Collar can provide you in dog training with the advantages that a state-of-the-art smartphone provides you. Cell phones these days are no longer just phones, but mini-computers with built-in cameras, internet access and applications. These tools enhance our communication with others, allow for a diversified means of gathering and sharing information as well it’s just flat out cool what can be done with them, provided you have the knowledge. You can still choose to use you old-fashioned wall-mount telephone in your kitchen if you like, but now you’re restricted to the the length of the cord, and it’s not exactly easy to send photos to your in-laws using that wall-mount phone. Effectively limiting what you can do while you’re talking on the phone. There’s nothing wrong with doing things that way, it’s just limiting. This same relationship can also be said of using a leash to train your dog. It’s just limiting. With a smartphone you can do it all from the convenience of wherever you want.

Building on the premise of safety, the use of a remote controlled cue allows for greater freedom of communication, and in turn more efficient training through the enhancement of near-instantaneous timing. Being able to re-direct your dog’s energy or attention while he is at a distance from you greatly enhances the reliability you can achieve in a short period of time. It's also allows for you to communicate with your dog without confrontation from yelling. Also, the uniqueness of the Sit Means Sit approach stands head and shoulders above other technology-based dog training systems because of our ability to establish a neutral communication system allowing for unprecedented problem solving abilities, and through our enhanced communication skills a truly politically correct training approach. We invite you to view our training first-hand by contacting us for a free demonstration with a local trainer.

Training with a remote dog training collar like the Sit Means Sit dog training collar is really no different than training your dog with a leash or with treats. Reinforcement in any form is a required and necessary part of your dog’s life. Even after they are trained, it will still be necessary to maintain your rules and boundaries. This is really no different than we encounter with people learning to drive a car. Obtaining your driver’s license only shows that you understand the rules of the road, and have demonstrated your ability to operate a car safely. It does not guarantee that you will stop at every stop sign, and drive the speed limit all the time. Obviously there are a lot of factors that change as you drive, and some drivers are more honest than others. The bottom line however is that there are police officers responsible for maintaining the law and enforcing the rules that we have agreed to.

When looking at dog training from this standpoint, it easy to see how reinforcement of rules will be inevitable at some point. Every dog is different though, and some dogs require more or less reinforcement than others.

The good news is that proper and thorough training will result in your dog being more reliable even without training equipment or training ‘aids’ as we call them. Training your dog to be reliable without a Sit Means Sit dog training collar on is a matter of transferring attention through conditioning. There are three broad phases of training that you will encounter as you train your dog. Sticking with the your training and reinforcing your rules consistently over a long enough period of time will get your dog as reliable as they can be. The phases of training are as follows:

Phase 1: The Teaching/Control Phase ~ 6-12+ weeks

During phase one, the goal is to achieve control over your dog, teach them the rules, boundaries and desired behaviors you want. It also the time to teach the dog to pay attention and perform these commands around distractions. This phase lasts between 6-12 weeks on average, however in certain situations it may take longer to gain the reliability needed before moving on to phase two. Once your dog is capable of performing commands quickly and reliably around a variety of distractions with minimal problem solving required, then your dog and you are ready to move on to phase two.

Phase 2: The Reinforcement Phase ~ 6-12+ weeks

During phase two, the goal is to begin phasing out your training aid (remote dog training collar). In phase one, we use the dog training collar on a regular basis to regain attention and maintain our rules. Now in phase two we begin to reduce our dependence on the dog training collar and introduce consistency via variable reinforcement. You may or may not need your dog training collar, but we want to teach the dog that you are still in control even if the perception of the dog is that you are not. This phase will last between 6 – 12 weeks on average, and will require you to stick with phase two for longer than average. It’s also not uncommon as dogs mature and age to have to revert back into phase one training again for several weeks depending on how your dog’s performance and behavior is. When your dog is capable of performing commands without the need for reinforcement for approximately 6 weeks, then your dog is very likely to be reliable without their training aid present. We are ultimately looking to have your dog learn how to filter our distractions entirely. When this is achieved, your dog is much less likely to act out in an unwanted manner because of distractions.

Phase 3: The Maintenance Phase ~ Ongoing

The third and final phase of training a dog is the maintenance phase. During this phase, you will likely be using your dog training collar or other dog training aid very little as your dog is capable of ignoring distraction. The catch however is that they are still capable of distraction (they are not robots). A smart trainer recognizes this and is ready to maintain their rules, commands and boundaries at anytime. It is not uncommon to have a dog who sense the lack of maintenance and begins to revert back in their behavior. The benefit of having done your dog training properly to begin with is that regression is easily minimized and dealt with by simply jumping back into training for a short time to remind the dog of the expectations.

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(440)-331-7487 Contact Us

Trainers & Staff

Professional trainers. Attentive friendly staff.

Michael Homan

Mike HomanOwner / Head Trainer

My journey to become a trainer and owner with Sit Means Sit started as a customer. I met Paul Pollock and his trainers at the RV Show at the IX center and signed up for the free in home demo. Their dogs were amazing, but I was a bit skeptical that they could help us. We had just rescued Dozer, an adorable Basset mix. Though he was loving and affectionate with us, he was incredibly aggressive with strangers and guests. During the demo, the trainer was able to get Dozer to calmly come and sit by him and allow him to pet him. We were amazed and signed up Dozer and Penny, our 6 month old SUPER energetic (destructive) chocolate lab puppy.

With our initial three lessons, we learned that Dozers aggressiveness was from fear, and we were taught how to help him manage it and increase his self-confidence. He now has the self-confidence to be as lovable and affectionate with others as with us.

Penny was the opposite of Dozer; an abundance of self-confidence and drive. She was always into something and had a mind of her own. She rarely came when called. By the end of training, she was off leash with us and was able to listen to what was asked, regardless of the distractions! As a Registered Nurse, I would take her to work with me. The patients loved having her around to brighten their day. She never could have done this without the self-control Sit Means Sit helped us teach her.

When I had the opportunity to come work with Paul and his team I jumped at the chance to help people get the happy, confident, obedient furry family member they had dreamed of.

The longer I worked as a trainer the more I knew this is what I wanted to do. Paul encouraged me to open a franchise. I attended The Sit Means Sit Dog Training and Business Franchise ownership school, in Las Vegas, NV.

Leslie Richards

Leslie RichardsDirector Of Operations

I have been an animal lover my whole life. Even as a little girl I chose stuffed animals over baby dolls. While my brother was the babysitter of the neighborhood, I was always the one who was outside playing with everyone’s dogs. Growing up in West Virginia we always had a variety of animals, dogs, cats, horses, birds, hamsters, fish, rabbits, racoons and even turtles.

But there has never been a day that I haven’t had a dog in my household, all of which I have trained. My boyfriend, Duane, and I currently have four dogs and two cats. We have our mother and daughter black lab duo Kloe and Skyy and our rescues Gigi, a terrier mix, and Honey, a pug. Our cats are Boo who we rescued the week of Halloween and Gran her son.

With the wonderful help and support from Duane, I began my search for a new career path after working 9 years as a supervisor in retail and 3 years as a loan officer in banking. That is when my cousin, Mindy, introduced me to Mike and I knew that I found my calling. Working in the office at Sit Means Sit Cleveland-Westside gives me the opportunity of working with great clients who also share the passion for animals that I have. Not to mention I get all the doggy kisses I want all day long whether I’m home or at work. Working here is truly a dream come true.

Service Areas

We proudly serve the following areas in Cleveland Westside.

Cities

  • Amherst
  • North Ridgeville
  • Olmstead Falls
  • Vermilion
  • Birmingham
  • Tiffin
  • Avon
  • Lorain
  • Bay Village
  • Sandusky
  • Lagrange
  • Avon Lake
  • Sheffield Lake
  • Brookpark
  • Berlin Heights
  • Wellington
  • Berea
  • North Olmstead
  • Westlake
  • Milan
  • Norwalk
  • Columbia Station
  • Lakewood
  • Oberlin
  • Wakeman
  • New London
  • Elyria
  • Fairview Park
  • Huron
  • Kipton
  • Collins

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Sit Means Sit has 157 locations across the US and Canada.

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Dog Training Videos

Check out a few videos to see our dog trainers at work!

Dock Diving Fun

Politely passing puppies!

Flyer shopping & 1st group class

Kicking it with Kenny from FOX 8 Cleveland

5 Star Reviews

We love customers and their dogs. They love us.

Kelly & Thor W.

I can not begin to say enough wonderful things about my experience so far with Sit Means Sit. From the moment Michael came to our house and gave us our first evaluation of Thor, I knew that was the training company I wanted for our dog. I had gone and looked at other companies based…

Elijah C.

I just want to say what a pleasure it has been working with sit means sit. They are so great at what they do! In most cases it is probally harder to train the humans then the dogs and I know I’m no exception to that rule. This picture shows our dogs jessie(brown) and tucker…

Katie P.

After our baby was born we were worried about some fearful tendencies our (almost) one year old puppy Darwin had begun to display. He was jumping on walks, pulling, lunging and barking at strangers and the last thing we wanted him to do was behave like that when we were walking with him and the…

Linda and Edwin C.

I wanted to comment on our SIT MEANS SIT experience with our instructor, Michael Homan. First, this was both An excellent and worthwhile experience! Michael Homan was very pleasant, helpful, and competent in training both Vito and us. We would recommend both SIT MEANS SIT and Michael strongly. Thank you for the assistance in our…