Toledo's Best Dog Trainers

As Seen Training On

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Toledo Dog Training Experts

Sit Means Sit Toledo provides professional training to dogs of all breeds and ages in Toledo and the surrounding North West Ohio area. We provide programs that will build obedience, confidence, and manners in your dog. 

Does your dog jump on people, pull on the leash when you walk, bark excessively or run away? No matter what challenge you face, our professional dog trainers are here to help! We deliver a high level of dog and puppy obedience training that results in a happy, confident and obedient dog as well as a happy, confident and satisfied owner.

Upon completing our dog and puppy training programs, you will confidently:

  • Walk your dog off-leash
  • Control any acts of aggression your dog might display
  • Call your dog and be rewarded with immediate obedience
  • Gain control while still showing your affection

You will also be able to quickly control bad or annoying behaviors like:

  • Destructive behavior
  • Excessive barking
  • Separation anxiety
  • Jumping on you or your guests
  • Leash pulling
  • Nipping and chewing

We have a variety of programs available to meet every lifestyle. Which program is right for you? It depends on you, your goals, and your dog. Contact us today at 419-666-3647 for a free training evaluation!

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About Sit Means Sit Dog Training

Dog Training Programs

Any Dog Any Age Any Problem

Foundation Training

Foundation Training Program

Our Foundation Training program will help you and your four-legged friend acquire a better quality of life through obedience, confidence, and new social skills! At Sit Means Sit Toledo, we understand that each dog is unique, and therefore, we specialize all of our programs based on your dog’s specific needs.

Our Foundation Training Program comes in two different packages

  • Foundation 1-on-1 – includes 3 private lessons and 4 group classes
  • Foundation Day Train Program – includes 3 day lessons and 6 months of group classes

Benefits of Choosing our Foundation Training Program

  • Your dog will learn obedience around real-world scenarios instead of always in a controlled environment
  • Our program covers commands such as: come, sit, place, off, leave it, quiet, down, and wait
  • Fido will also learn how to walk on a loose leash with control, successfully complete distraction training, and participate in distance work
  • This program is also great for dogs that have separation anxiety, lousy car manners, jumping problems, destructive behaviors, or need boundary training

Ready for your canine companion to be the best that they can be and more? Contact us today for your free consultation!

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Day and Train

Intermediate Training Program

Our intermediate programs comes in two different packages:

The first is our Intermediate One-On-One Program which includes 4 private lessons and 6 group classes.

The second is our Intermediate Day Train Program that includes 4 day trains with lessons at the end of the day and 6 months of group classes.

These programs cover:

  • Come
  • Sit
  • Place
  • Off
  • Leave It
  • Quiet
  • Down
  • Wait
  • Walk on Loose Leash
  • Distraction Training
  • Distance Work

We will also work on any behavioral issues that you might be dealing with such as:

  • Jumping
  • Nuisance Behaviors
  • Running Away
  • Car Manners
  • Separation Anxiety
  • Destructive Behaviors
  • Boundary Training

Benefits to the programs are having a better quality of life with your dog, having control and attention, each dog is different so each program is customized to fit your dog, real world management scenarios, lifetime support.

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Progressive Training

Progressive Training Program

Our progressive training is similar to our foundation training, just more advanced! You’ll have better control over your furry friend’s attention on and off-leash in any type of situation.

Our Progressive Training Program comes in two different packages

  • Progressive 1-on-1 includes 5 private lessons and 8 group classes
  • Progressive Day Train includes 5 day lessons and 6 months year of group classes

Want more information on bettering your pup’s behavior? Contact us today for a free 1-on-1 evaluation!

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Behavior Modification

Behavior Modification

Whether you have a pooch who is starting to develop a negative behavior or a senior dog with bad habits – our Behavior Modification program is here to help. This type of training begins with relaxing your dog and then helping them learn necessary obedience skills, helping you get our dog back.

Our Behavior Modification program includes 6 private lessons and 6 months of group classes that’ll bring out the most obedient, social, and happy dog.

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Puppy Primer

Puppy Primer

Our Puppy Primer is made for furry friends that are 4 months and under because the first 20 weeks of your pup’s life are the most important when it comes to training. Our puppy training classes will teach Fido the proper way to behave from the start, helping to prevent negative habits and aggressive behaviors down the road.

Why Invest in Puppy Training?

  • You recently just got a puppy and want to ensure they’re on the path to a lifetime of success.
  • You’re already seeing troubling signs of disobedience and aggression in the first 20 weeks of your pup’s life and want to put a stop to it before it gets out of control.
  • You’re afraid your furry friend is too shy and needs to better their social skills to increase their confidence and happiness.

Ready to help your pup become their best self? Contact us today for a free evaluation!

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day training

AKC Evaluation

What does it mean to have your puppy AKC S.T.A.R.? It means your precious new furball will be starting out on the right paw with great obedience and social skills to last a lifetime. At Sit Means Sit Toledo, or professional trainers will help evaluate your pup to ensure they meet the AKC certification requirements, which include –

  • AKC S.T.A.R. Puppy classes that last for 6 weeks
  • Canine Good Citizenship certification
  • Urban K9 CGC
  • Community K9 CGC

Being a puppy-parent already comes with an abundance of responsibility and stress, with Sit Means Sit Toledo you’ll have one thing less to worry about! Contact us today for your free consultation.

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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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Trainers & Staff

Professional trainers. Attentive friendly staff.

Mark Allen

Mark AllanOwner & Head Trainer

My relationship with Sit Means Sit started when I became a client in 2011. I was so impressed with the speed and quality of the training I decided to leave the trade I had known for 24 years and get into training full time.

I have had dogs all my life and could get them to do some simple commands, however, I could never really get them to listen when I needed them to the most. Especially outside, or when distractions were involved.

The great thing about the training is that it is attention-based. I have my dog’s attention. I can trust that my dog is going to listen to me under any distractions. The quality of life we share is so much greater.

My dogs have freedom through obedience and yours can too!

Service Areas

We proudly serve the following areas in Toledo.

Counties

  • Lucas County
  • Fulton County
  • Hancock County
  • Ottawa County
  • Sandusky County
  • Wood County

Cities

  • Toledo
  • Arcadia
  • Bowling Green
  • Bloomdale
  • Clay Center
  • Cygnet
  • Ballville
  • Bradner
  • Burgoon
  • Elmore
  • Findlay
  • Forest Park
  • Fremont
  • Genoa
  • Green Creek
  • Haskins
  • Helena
  • Holland
  • Hopewell Heights
  • Jerry City
  • Lindsey
  • Lemoyne
  • Luckey
  • Moline
  • Monclova
  • Millbury
  • Millersville
  • New Rochester
  • Ottowa Hills
  • Pemberville
  • Perrysburg
  • Portage
  • Rossford
  • Risingsun
  • Stony Prairie
  • Swanton
  • Sylvania
  • Silica
  • Tinney
  • Walbridge
  • Whitehouse
  • Willowbend
  • Woodland Forest
  • Wightmans Grove
  • Winters Station
  • Woodside

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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!

Sit Means Sit Commercial

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Leo at Bass Pro!

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5 Star Reviews

We love customers and their dogs. They love us.

Traci G.

This crew is amazing. They did an awesome job with both my dogs, a husky (4) and a 5 month old Chocolate Lab! Great place to have your dogs trained!

Renee W.

When we got Dash I quickly realized I needed to establish boundaries and control of this smart and strong willed puppy. Thanks to Sit Means Sit of Toledo, training our young puppy has given us a well behaved addition to our family!

Becca S.

Three months ago, we didn’t feel comfortable taking our Mastiffs Jade & Camo camping with us. After working with Sit Means Sit of Toledo we are now able to take them both camping. Jade and Camo will now relax on our campsite and take a nap. The trainers are really easy to work with and…

Nikki K.

Stevie loves going to training! He was very scared and had some bad habits when I adopted him. Training has helped with all of them and boosted his confidence! He is afraid of other dogs and displays fear aggression if they get too close. The training he’s had really helps keep his attention on me…