FAQs
We offer a lifetime training support guarantee for the life of your dog. What this means is that you can call, email, or text us to receive training guidance and support as you solve previous and new problems. We will even guide you on advancing your dog!
Ideally, we resolve most of the issues in our program, however, we know that situations change, and we want to make sure we are there for you.
Managing behavior can be lonely, so you can consider us your trainer resource for life!
Yes! We offer both paypal credit and affirm to make training more affordable.
Paypal credit is offered through Paypal and will break your training cost into 6 monthly payments with no interest. Terms and conditions apply.
Affirm is a flexible installment option that will break your training cost into your preferred length. There can be interest depending on your borrower profile. Terms and conditions apply.
Training with the Sit Means Sit collar implements the same principles of any learning program that uses a variety of teaching aids. Reinforcement, in any and every form, is a required component for proficiency and a necessary part of your dog’s life. Even after they are trained, it will still be necessary to maintain your rules and boundaries both in and out of the home.
The good news is that with proper progression and thorough training, your dog will become increasingly more reliable. This translates into more freedom for the dog and less stress for the owner. Proofing your dog to be reliable without the use of the Sit Means Sit dog training collar 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 your training and reinforcing your rules consistently, over a long enough period of time, will define your dog’s level of reliability in every case.
We advise all our clients to implement the use of the Sit Means Sit collar consistently and without hesitation for 90 days post-program completion. Our focus at this juncture is on generating the smallest deviation between commands given and commands executed. Translation: if you are having to repeat your command 5-7 times, it’s not because your dog can’t hear you, it’s because he doesn’t understand the skill in that particular working arena and current level of drive. The answer to solving this scenario is to go back to basics and ensure you are following the protocols for progression.
Day train programs are a lot like traditional board & trains, yet have a few key differences.
The first difference – You!
Day train programs and meant to be immersive like a board & train, but they include you, the owner, as an integral part of the training.
During a day train, you will drop off your dog at one of our facilities, where a professional trainer will work with them throughout the day. At the end of the day, we will have a private lesson with you so we can transfer everything your dog has learned and you can continue the process at home.
After years of doing board & trains ourselves, we’ve learned that including owners in the process is critical to enduring results because it builds trust and a strong emotional bond between you and your dog. Moreover, learning basic training skills will help you maintain and advance your dog’s behavior even after your program is over.
The second difference – affordability!
Though immersive like a board & train, a day train is substantially cheaper; sometimes even 50% so. We’re able to do this by training your dog on the fundamentals ourselves, training you on how to maintain those skills, and giving you support as you hone in on what you want to achieve. This process of building trust between us, you, and your dog leads to better outcomes and more affordable rates.
Our training programs vary considerably from dog to dog and depending on your training goals and your lifestyle. They vary both in the structure and layout of our programs, as well as in the cost and duration of the training.
Each of our training programs is custom-tailored to your specific needs. To build you the right training package, we evaluate factors such as your dog’s age, temperament, previous training, your lifestyle, as well as your desired goals. What will work for one dog and owner won’t necessarily fit well with another. Because of these factors, we offer a free consultation as an opportunity to meet with your family and your dog to gain insight into the unique circumstances that affect your dog’s training.
The Sit Means Sit collar is a micro stim modality that is very similar to the micro stim units used in the medical and athletic fields. These micro stim units essentially use low-level, adjustable electronic stimulation to create a muscle contraction. In the medical field, they are used as aids to help alleviate pain, promote blood circulation and induce healing. For our SMS collar, an adjustable micro stim signal is manually sent from a remote, which translates into a “tap” delivered to the Sit Means Sit Collar. This tap starts at such a low level that it is often imperceptive to people. This signal from the Sit Means Sit collar is also adjustable in the same way that your voice is, and is completely controlled by you, the handler.
Sit Means Sit uses an attention-based dog training model developed by Founder and CEO, Fred Hassen. This approach utilizes a variety of training modalities that enable our trainers to gain the dog’s attention, even in some of the most distracting environments. The Sit Means Sit Collar allows us to use this medical technology in a way that is counterintuitive to the old school “correction /compulsion” approach. The “tap” is the cornerstone of teaching attention both in close and long distant proximity, as well as in distracting environments. Our ability to generate consistent quality levels of attention allows us to provide the dog a quicker learning path than any other training model.
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 get their attention. The goal of tapping them on the shoulder is not to surprise or intimidate them, but rather to let them know that you want to communicate something to them. Adjustability in the tap levels is necessary because while some dogs are “tuned in,” so to speak, others can be less so. There is no way to determine what levels your dog will respond to until we begin to interact and teach them with our collar. The versatility of the collar’s long-range capacity, the weather and waterproof tolerances, and micro stim levels allow a “training effect” to move into areas of high distraction and new environments. The integration of our collar will also significantly shorten the time period spent training, simply because a major challenge in teaching has always been about gaining and maintaining the dog’s attention.
The unique Sit Means Sit training model uses Attention-Based Training to modify behaviors and teach dogs new skills and proper manners. This approach to training allows our Sit Means Sit Austin trainers to use a variety of attention-based modalities such as leashes, flat collars, food, toys, and our patented Sit Means Sit Collar.
Just as in sports and academics, no one is ever punished into excellence. We teach with a healthy level of clear guidance, direction, and enthusiastic praise. Through repetition and proper progression, excellence and proficiency are then achieved.
We are best known for our off-leash results around distractions, both on and off the owner’s property. We address many different areas of training, such as:
Housebreaking
Barking
Aggression
Basic Obedience
Leash pulling
Jumping
Chewing
Advanced Obedience
Our training is safe, and it is free of confrontation, conflict, and confusion. There is no yelling or punishment in our training progressions. The collar (as is with all other training modalities), does not train a specific skill such as “sit” or “down”. We (and you) as the trainers train the skill. The collar simply acts as a neutral attention aid, and once we have the dog’s attention, we begin shaping a skill by guiding and directing the dog. As you view our portfolio of dog training videos and pictures, we hope that you will pay close attention to the attitude of all the dogs trained by Sit Means Sit. We direct our focus on generating and maintaining a happy and relaxed attitude in all of our dogs. This is why we are committed to showcasing our training online in order to share our training options.
Sit Means Sit Austin offers different types of training models with a variety of programs within each model. Each program is tweaked to the specific needs of your dog, your family, and your circumstances.
We offer:
Your success is ensured with our results-oriented year-round support, including lifetime phone consulting. This means we truly are your dog’s lifelong trainers!
We have free parking located around our building at both of our locations for any visitors.