Best Dog Trainers in Newport Beach

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Newport Beach Dog Training Experts

Sit Means Sit Dog Training – Orange County Coastal provides professional dog training in Irvine, Newport Beach, Aliso Viejo, Laguna Beach, Dana Point, Corona Del Mar, and surrounding Orange County, California areas.

Sit Means Sit Dog Training – Orange County Coastal specializes in dog and puppy training for the real world. Our experienced staff works with dogs of all ages, sizes, breeds, and temperaments. By teaching your pup off-leash control around severe distractions you’ll quickly notice an increase in happiness and socialization in your new obedient dog!

Utilizing Sit Means Sit’s Better, Faster, & Smarter training system, we make it fun for you and your pup to accomplish this transition. Additionally, we back up the results with lifetime training to ensure our clients have support for all phases and changes in life. We cover Aliso Viejo, Irvine, Newport Beach, and the surrounding Orange County areas – contact us for a free consultation!

We are a certified Canine Good Citizen® (CGC) test evaluator.

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About Sit Means Sit Dog Training

Dog Training Programs

Any Dog Any Age Any Problem

Puppy Management

Puppy Management

Our puppy management program is a quick start program to help get your puppy off on the right foot and on to the road of success. We’ll give you straight answers on the frequently asked questions all puppy-parents have.  You’ll learn how to avoid the common mistakes that lead to bigger problems down the road.

  • We’ll work with you to understand the importance of management systems and to get your dog potty trained.
  • Additionally, we show you the fundamental methods for using food, praise, leashes, and toys to start the process of creating an engaging relationship with your new puppy.

Your puppy is ready to be their best self! So what are you waiting for? Contact us today for a free consultation!

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Obedience Training

Obedience Training

If your dog has behavioral problems like marking in the house, aggression or separation anxiety we’re going to help you fix that with our Obedience Training Program! You can expect a happy obedient dog that can perform their new skills on or off leash and around severe distractions. Ultimately, there will more freedom and fun for you and your dog!

  • Your canine will learn commands such as: Come, Sit, Place, & Down.
  • They’ll also learn skills like: waiting at doors and crosswalks, potty-training, & car manners
  • You’ll be able to experience loose leash and off-leash walking with your pup
  • Establish boundaries in your home and yard
  • Additionally, we teach how to stop nuisance behaviors like: Jumping up, Play biting, Digging, Chewing, Excessive barking and/or other vocalizations.

We offer Free Consultations, so contact us today to get started!

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Private Lessons

Private Lessons Program

Our Private Lessons Program is for the dog owner who wants to be part of every phase of their dog’s training. Our trainers will work one-on-one with you during these lessons to teach all the skills you and your dog require to achieve the goal of great obedience to severe distractions.

  • Lessons will be at your home or at a place near you that you choose.
  • We’ll train with you and your dog to learn the skills listed in our Obedience Training Program.
  • Once you and your dog have reached a satisfactory level of proficiency, you’ll be invited to attend lessons in our Group Training Program.

If you want to get personal with your pups progress contact us today and you’ll receive a Free Consultation!

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Board and Train

Board and Train Program

In this premiere program, your dog will stay in the care of our staff at our training facility. During their stay, your dog will be training daily with our professional dog trainers to improve their socialization and obedience skills. By working with our staff, your dog will quickly learn the commands we teach in the Obedience Training Program.

  • The understanding our trainers have of the Sit Means Sit training system makes progress with your very fast and very effective.
  • We’ll show you what your dog has learned and what you need to do to keep your dog’s obedience at tip-top shape.
  • We do the heavy lifting! At the end of your dog’s stay with us, we bring your dog home to you and provide you with private lessons.
  • We continue private training with you until you and your dog have reached a level of proficiency required to enter the stage of our Group Training Program.

During your Free Consultation, we’ll work with you to determine the best length of stay for you and your dog’s needs.

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Group Training

Group Training Program

Our Group Training Program is a lifetime program your dog can participate in. Clients must first train in the Private Lessons Program or a Board and Train Program before being graduated to Group Training. Once ready, clients can come to as many group classes as they want. Group training is designed to give our clients the opportunity to continue their dog’s training. There you’ll be able to proof your dog’s skills with the distraction of other people and dogs around while still being in a controlled & safe environment.

You And Your Dog Will Be Presented With The Opportunity To:

  • Socialize with other dogs and people in the manner of a ”Good Citizen”
  • Meet and socialize with other dog owners
  • Learn drills that help clients increase their dog’s level of attention and performance, build confidence, reform aggressive dogs
  • Have trainers point out common failing points while offering tips for success
  • Learn the skills that could enable clients to prepare for the Canine Good Citizen test and move into therapy work

Want more information? 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.

Cindy Hunt

Cindy HuntOwner/Trainer

Cindy has been working with dogs for over 20 years and is dedicated to helping you achieve your goals with your dog. Cindy has achieved AKC Champion Titles on 9 dogs and qualified for the AKC National Eukanuba Invitational two years in a row.

She enjoys many dog sports including DockDogs and AKC Conformation. Most recently, Cindy has been competing her Belgian Malinois, Ghent and Ezra, in a protection sport called Mondioring.

Clay Hunt

Clay HuntOwner/Trainer

Clay joined Cindy in training at Sit Means Sit in 2009. Having watched Cindy perform miracle after miracle transforming the lives of people and their dogs, it was an easy decision. Clay especially enjoys working with the troubled dogs.

There is no greater feeling than changing lives for the better. The satisfaction that comes from seeing an aggressive or fearful dog becoming an upstanding confident member of society is difficult to describe.

His own dog, Watson, is a rescue that had behavioral problems – you’d never know it now! Clay loves living, training and working with his dogs, Watson and Scooby – they’re great partners in the training other people’s dogs.

Michael

MichaelHead Trainer

Michael grew up in Minnesota and moved to California in 2008.  He has a Marketing Degree from California State University, San Marcos.  After a few years in the marketing field, he decided that it just wasn’t for him.  Michael got his first dog, Tyson, in 2018 and happily fell into

dog training thereafter.  Tyson is a Pitbull x German Shepherd mix.  When Michael is not training dogs, he likes to spend his time at the beach, camping, skateboarding, playing golf or exploring California.

Chris Tran

Chris TranTrainer

Chris grew up in Texas and eventually moved to California in 1987.  He is well-traveled, living in Asia for 4 years and another 3 years in Central America.  Chris has owned several businesses, including textile and photo booth, but decided he needed a change. 

He grew up with dogs and knew he wanted to work with them and once he discovered dog training, he was hooked.  His passion was evident from the start and in 2 short years, Chris became Sit Means Sit Orange County’s manager and lead trainer.  He has 3 amazing Boston Terriers, who he also considers his business partners, Harrington, Joseph and Maisie Williams.

Bryden

BrydenTrainer

Bryden was born in Canada and spent his early childhood years there.  His family decided to acquire a second foundry which led them to Vermont, where he would live until completing high school.  It was here he would fall in love with soccer, motorcycles and snowboarding.  He

would return to Canada to pursue a business degree before moving on to taking over operations of his family’s metal casting company.  He ran this for fourteen years before making the decision to move west in search of greater adventure in his life.  Always having a dog, naturally becoming a trainer was inevitable.  Currently, he has several amazing dogs including Rollo, a chocolate lab and Scooby, a black field lab.

Bryan

BryanTrainer

Bryan was born and raised in Orange County California.  He realized he had a passion for dog training, while attempting to train his own dog Scratch.  He started his career as a professional dog trainer with Sit Means Sit in June of 2019.  Determined to succeed, he’s eager and

passionate to learn which carries through to today.  His true passion is helping people better communicate with their dogs.

Scratch is a 4 year old 85lb Alaskan Malamute rescue.  His hobbies include playing football and pulling Bryan on a skateboard.

Service Areas

We proudly serve the following areas in Newport Beach.

Cities

  • Newport Beach
  • Dana Point
  • Laguna Beach
  • Aliso Viejo
  • Newport Coast
  • Irvine

Zip Codes

  • 92625
  • 92629
  • 92651
  • 92656
  • 92657
  • 92660
  • 92661
  • 92662
  • 92602
  • 92603
  • 92604
  • 92606
  • 92612
  • 92614
  • 92618
  • 92620

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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!

SMS Dog Training Overview

What Are You Waiting For?

Sit Means Sit Franchise Graduation Test

Protection Training

5 Star Reviews

We love customers and their dogs. They love us.

Nikki E.

Sit Means Sit’s training program has seriously been one of the best investments I have ever made. I picked my dog, Biggie, up last week and the changes in her behavior and previous aggression have been unbelievable! She’s a better listener, less territorial, and just an all around better behaved and happier dog! My dog…

Shannon H.

We took our two pitbulls to Sit Means Sit for training. Sit Means Sit did a wonderful job training our dogs. Kileaux was always easily distracted and Nikita was a rambunctious puppy. The staff was very knowledgeable and helpful in teaching us how to work with our dogs on continued training. It is hard to…

Marie B.

I am so pleased and impressed with Sit Means Sit in general. My Aussie puppy did a three week board-and-train since my work schedule limited my ability to go to group classes. They were very understanding and did an excellent job of explaining every aspect of their training methods, their e-collar, and were very open…

Ryan G.

The Sit Means Sit program enabled me to take my two dogs Gaea and Dayzee on mountain hikes without worrying about them chasing wildlife. It’s great to hike with my dogs and not worry about spooking the wildlife, thank you!