Michael worked part time for Sit Means Sit Raleigh for 3 years, loving every second of it, before deciding to leave his career in Sales to focus on dog training full time and open his own Sit Means Sit Dog Training franchise. In 2015, Michael spent a full month in Las Vegas fully immersing himself at the Sit Means Sit Dog Training school and brought those skills back to Raleigh to officially open Sit Means Sit Apex. With Michael’s well-rounded background in psychology, coaching, sales, and most importantly, dog training, he is able to utilize his patience and natural teaching ability to help dogs and their owners build stronger relationships.

Since opening their doors, Michael and his team have trained over 2,000 dogs in the greater Raleigh and Wilmington areas! Michael has also been certified as a Canine Caring Angels Therapy Dog Trainer, an official AKC Evaluator, and in 2019, Cary Magazine named Michael as one of their “Movers and Shakers”, recognizing local business owners under the age of 40 who have made incredible achievements in the community! Additionally, Michael’s first location, Sit Means Sit Apex, has won numerous local awards including the WRAL TV Voter’s Choice Award for “Best Pet Training Service” in 2017, 2018, 2019, & 2020!! But what tops all of that, is that Michael’s dog, Ripken, is the official Bat Dog for the Durham Bulls Minor League Baseball team! It’s with all of this success, that in 2021, Michael and his team decided to expand their footprint and begin helping dogs and their owners in the greater Charlotte area as well!

So, if you’re looking for a local Dog Trainer you can trust, and one who will patiently coach both you and your dog, look no further than Michael and his incredible team of trainers at Sit Means Sit Charlotte!

North Carolina is where Melissa and Michael met and eventually got married in 2014. With Melissa’s most recent experience working as an Account Executive for a local television station, even developing a “Responsible Dog Ownership” PSA campaign in partnership with the American Kennel Club/AKC Reunite, she and Michael knew that their combined experience and huge love for dogs could be a great combination for Sit Means Sit Dog Training and officially opened their first location in Apex, N.C. in 2016.

Melissa and Michael have two children along with their 2 dogs and enjoy spending their spare time with close friends and family, and when time allows, traveling anywhere between the beach and the mountains.

Ale was born and raised in Puebla, Mexico where she quickly fell in love with any and every animal she encountered (namely cows, rabbits, chickens, horses, cats, and obviously dogs). Because of this, Ale developed genuine interest, not only in their care and well-being but also in understanding how to effectively communicate and otherwise enjoy the incredible bond we as humans can create with domesticated animals.

After having her Belgian Malinois, Mara, attend the 10 Day Board & Train program with Sit Means Sit Dog Training in Apex, N.C., her positive experience as a customer, combined with her natural ability to connect with animals and otherwise train them, led to her being offered, and ultimately accepting a position as one of their lead Trainers. After years of being one of their top performers, Alejandra accepted the position of General Manager for Sit Means Sit’s newest location in Charlotte!

When Ale is not training dogs, she is throwing frisbee with Mara, playing video games, binge-watching groundbreaking television with her cat, creating digital graphics and learning to ride her new motorcycle.

Meghan has always had a love for animals of all kinds and after working her way through the Corporate world, she decided it was the right time to join her brother’s quickly growing business as Office Manager. Meghan is excited about her future with Sit Means Sit. With the passion she has for the industry and working alongside her family, the sky’s the limit!

While in school, Emily enjoyed working in the pet industry, and in 2017, she adopted her baby Doberman, Koda.  Emily immediately knew that Koda was too smart for his own good and would need a tremendous amount of training! Emily began teaching Koda every day, working with him on basic obedience and even some fun tricks, however, now that they have learned the training methods at Sit Means Sit, Koda is the best he has ever been!

Emily has now worked for the Sit Means Sit family since 2019 in Apex, Wilmington and Charlotte where she is a Training Manager as well as Training Consultant.

Dominic graduated college with a degree in Digital Filmmaking & Video Production and as fate would have it, he got pulled into the dog world again when he landed photography and video projects at several pet resorts in Florida, later turning into more involved roles with Pet Paradise where he became a Playtime Coordinator and gained a myriad of knowledge in dog behavior, body language, communication and handling.

When Dominic and his partner, America, decided to move closer to family in Charlotte, he jumped at the chance to continue developing his experience and joined the Sit Means Sit team as a Trainer and a Training Consultant!When Dominic isn’t evaluating and training, he is playing video games, doing sports or finding a new adventure to enjoy with his partner and their 3 dogs, Koda, Lucy and Cupid.

Moving to Charlotte by herself she started her career as a caretaker for all kinds of reptiles and fish and even though she loved the animals, she knew something was still missing. A few months after the move they unfortunately lost Rilla to cancer. Being without a dog for several months made her realize how much she loved having the companionship and she quickly adopted her fur baby, Shiloh, regaining her passion for training. Realizing that coming home to train Shiloh was always the highlight of her day, as soon as she saw the posting for Sit Means Sit she knew she had to apply.

When Meg isn’t training dogs at work she’s out with Shi working on new tricks, playing video games, or off somewhere on an adventure.