JOB DETAILS:

Do you love dogs?
Are you excited by the idea of helping people and dogs every day?
Are you a good listener or good communicator?
Are you team-oriented and hard working?

If you answered yes to these questions, and are a detail-focused person, keep reading. (More on the importance of details later!)

Sit Means Sit Pittsburgh is an established business in the South Hills and we are looking for hard working, team-oriented people to help us keep up with the high demands for dog training services we are seeing. No experience necessary! We hire good people and train you to be a solid handler. We have high standards for our people, our clients and our results. See some recent graduates: https://youtu.be/x3yzuX0G45g

We think we are pretty great and so do our clients. BUT it’s not all puppy kisses and wiggle butts around here. There are some down sides. Know what you are getting into before applying. Let’s get that out of the way right now:

  1. You have to come to work every day, we operate in a physical location and you have to be here. AI can’t train dogs yet.
  2. You will be on your feet a lot and will be handling dogs of all sizes and temperaments.
  3. There is a risk of training dogs that includes scratches, nips, and (hopefully not) bites. But know the risks.
  4. And of course accidents happen, you will have to clean up after the dogs, too. Awww, poo!

Still interested? Keep reading.

Now, on to the good stuff:

  1. There are puppy kisses and wiggle butts. See for yourself: https://youtu.be/MRz9yNIj2kg
  2. This is a somewhat physically demanding position – you will get your steps in throughout the day. But that’s a good thing, right?!
  3. We value our staff. We expect you to work hard but you will have opportunity to give input on processes and changes that we choose to adopt to make work better for you.
  4. You will have weekends off and we don’t require you to take dogs home like other training companies.
  5. We will invest in your growth and success. We will send you to our apprentice training program – but you have to pass the test to keep working here.
  6. After a year here you get to participate in our profit share. Yep – a bonus for your commitment and all your hard work! If there is extra to share – the staff splits a portion of it.
  7. We operate by a set of company values that includes learning, having fun, contributing to the success of others and more.
  8. You get to work with dogs, awesome people, and we occasionally have pot lucks, river floats, fancy dinners and do other fun things together.

Job Requirements:

  1. You must have a valid drivers license and reliable transportation.
  2. You must be reasonably strong and able to lift 40 – 50 pounds, safely. (With your arms and legs, not with your back!)
  3. You need to be a good team player – we rely on each other every day to train, clean our space, stay organized, have fun and teach both dogs and clients how to listen to each other.
  4. We want you to be an avid learner, hard worker and always try to improve. But don’t sacrifice quality for speed. We’ll see it.
  5. You will become a teacher, so you must have good verbal communication skills and be comfortable talking to people.

What is it like to train dogs?
Rewarding. Every day you will have a hand in improving the life a dog shares with its human. Sure, there are hard days, but more often it’s super rewarding to see someone come in with a story of how well their dog did with new skills. We get to help reactive dogs, scared dogs, and overly excited dogs. We help owners understand how to be leaders to their dogs. We want to be a conduit through which people get to live they life they want with their dog. Training, we like to say, will be the best thing in the dog’s life – since being brought home. For some people it’s better walks, or not jumping. For others, it’s potty training or chewing. We’re always improving daily life, and sometimes it’s even life changing – keeping a dog in a home, helping a family or another situation that will give you all the feels.

Who is successful as a trainer?
You have to be strong, patient, calm, and adaptable. Our most successful trainers look at this as a career and have a passion for helping people and dogs. Every dog / client / family is a little different and we will teach you a set of skills and help you put the puzzle together with the client. You have to be a good communicator. We teach the dogs and their owners. You have to have a good sense of humor, and be willing to learn and try new things. We occasionally swear. We don’t mean to offend anyone, but sometimes a punch line requires some color. We are a team and work together as such all day long. You will have to learn a system, so even if you have prior training experience, check that at the door and let us teach you something new.

We don’t expect that you have any experience training dogs to be successful here. We are ready for someone to start immediately but won’t hire someone just to fill the position. We will teach you through our onboarding process and have weekly metrics for your improvement during the first 60 days. After six months you will have the opportunity to go to the next level and attend our Apprentice Program. There is opportunity to grow your skills and contribution to the success of the team and business.

Thanks for your interest. Now, the real test, if you are reading this far – you’ve made it! To prove that you are detail oriented and can follow procedures, send your resume to sitmeanssitpgh01@gmail.com with the subject line “Go Dog, Go”. Only candidates who take this step will be considered, because it weeds out people who send their resumes without reading the details (see, we’ve now come full circle).

We’ll be in touch!

Position and Hours:
Full Time, Monday – Friday 6:30a – 7p (shifts)

Pay:
Starting, Annually 35k+, grows with experience and as skills develop. Bonuses available for individual and team performance after the probation period. Paid Holidays. PTO. Profit Share after 1 year of employment.

We will not accept phone calls or web forms regarding open positions!